Always & Always

John Murray (hardback) 1995 ISBN 07195 54721
available at www.amazon.co.uk

These letters between a famous actor and one of the great beauties of her generation are some of the most passionate and moving to emerge from the Second World War.

By the outbreak of war Hugh Williams had appeared in thirty five films including Wuthering Heights with Laurence Olivier; he had also starred both on Broadway and in the West End. In 1939 he threw up this successful career to enlist in the army, where he served at home and then with the Phantom Intelligence Regiment in Tunisia, Italy, France and eventually Germany itself. He visited Belsen only days after it was relieved.

Margaret Vyner left her birthplace in Australia for Europe, where she modelled for the great couturiers Jean Patou and Norman Hartnell. Cole Porter mythologised her loveliness in his famous song "You're the Top" from the musical Anything Goes: "You're the top, You're an ocean liner/You're the top, You're Margaret Vyner." She and Hugh met in 1937 and were married in 1940.

Always and Always is the story of two people deeply in love, but separated by war. Their letters are full of frustration at not being together yet also of pride at being part of the battle, and of dreams of their future. While Hugh brings an actor's wit to his account of life in the army and a sense of drama to the history he is witnessing, Margaret's replies contain news from the Home Front and of Hugo their son; they are at one moment intimate and tender, at the next full of London gossip. Both write intensely vivid letters (after the war their combined talents were to create such West End hits as Charlie Girl), and their correspondence brilliantly conveys the shattering impact of world war upon private lives.

Praise for Always and Always

"...a rare sort of privilege, private access to an inner reality, the spirit of Then speaking to Now"
The Daily Telegraph.

"The most moving and evocative Second World War book I have ever encountered..."
Sheridan Morley, The Times.

"Kate Dunn has edited this collection faultlessly. Generally unobtrusive, she is always on hand when needed to guide us."
Charles Duff, The Spectator.