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‘Dear Michael, Dear Laura’ was not an easy book to write, according to author Geoffrey Hamilton. The 96 page novella is based on his own life, and the letters which comprise the bulk of its narrative are directly inspired by letters he exchanged with his late wife Ruth, while working as a prison officer.

It Michael and Laura, a young couple with a newborn baby, forced to live apart for the first time as Michael trains to be a prison officer

Mr Hamilton, from Bognor, said he decided to write the book after rediscovering the letters in his home.

"I’ve been doing an autobiographical archive; collecting letters, photographs, documents, that sort of thing. I was putting all that in order and I came across the letters we wrote to each other and I thought ‘this would make for a lovely book.’

Geoffrey Hamilton said he hopes the book teaches readers 'not to give up'.

It’s not all autobiography, though. Mr Hamilton has given his story the kind of dramatic flare that real life often lacks, but he hopes he’s captured the ‘overwhelming sense of love’ he felt reading back over his old letters.

"It’s a love story, really. So I suppose I just want readers to enjoy that, but I think I want people to know never to give up.”

Dear Michael Dear Laura is available on Amazon and at Heygates Bookshop in the Bognor Regis Railway Station.

Mr Hamilton is also due to appear at Heygates Bookshop on July 16 to sign books and talk to readers. He will be at the shop from 11am to 1pm.

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