My dear Bessie : a love story in letters

AS HEARD ON RADIO 4'Utterly wonderful' NINA STIBBE, author of Love, NinaTwenty hours have gone since I last wrote.

I have been thinking of you. I shall think of you until I post this, and until you get it.

Can you feel, as you read these words, that I am thinking of you now; aglow, alive, alert at the thought that you are in the same world, and by some strange chance loving me.

In September 1943, Chris Barker was serving as a signalman in North Africa when he decided to brighten the long days of war by writing to old friends.

One of these was Bessie Moore, a former work colleague.

The unexpected warmth of Bessie's reply changed their lives forever.

Crossing continents and years, their funny, affectionate and intensely personal letters are a remarkable portrait of a love played out against the backdrop of the Second World War.

Above all, their story is a stirring example of the power of letters to transform ordinary lives.