Alun Lewis: Letter to my Wife

Soldier and poet Alun Lewis wrote frequently to his family, friends and other writers such as Robert Graves. Mostly these letters are uncollected. Those that have been published received high praise, and were compared to Keats's letters by critic Walter Allen. Letters to My Wife includes over 240 letters to his wife Gweno Ellis, beginning with his enlistment and continuing until his death in Burma in 1944. From them emerges a unique account of daily army life, of the phoney war in Britain and with descriptions of the journey to India via Brazil and South Africa. The letters also shed light on Lewis' development to become the writer of World War Two, with first hand references to his popular poems and stories, how they originated and how they were first published. Above all, Lewis's letters testify to his love for his war bride Gweno, whom he married in July 1941 before embarkation. Letters to My Wife is the story of Alun Lewis's war.