'I want him to fly over the edge of the Downs and in at my bedroom window. I want to kiss his mouth.'

So wrote Aimée McHardy of her fighter pilot lover William Bond in 1917. The two enjoyed a racy and passionate life together long before they were married and Aimée speaks of their pre-war vagabond existence which included a flat in the Latin Quarter of Paris, a cottage on the Seine and winters in St. Moritz.

But then war intervened and Bill went to serve on the Western Front from where, to the ever present sound of gun fire, hardly a day went by without him writing to his sweetheart. Letters of unconditional love which also described in detail his service life and experiences.

And Aimée replied in kind. By now Bill was a captain and an ace and when, tragically, he was taken from her one July day, she completed her book about their extraordinary love affair as he had urged her to do.

It was first published in 1918, hailed as the period classic that it is, and then disappeared without trace, as indeed did Aimée. Reissued here in paperback, with helpful annotations, it is as readable and moving today as it was then.

Reviews

'Written with passionate candour of her longing.'    The Guardian

'A poignant tale of love and war, this is a surprisingly candid and vivid picture of a life and love experienced on the edge.'    Eastern Daily Press