This is the first biography of Ursula Vaughan Williams (1911 – 2007), a distinguished poet, novelist and librettist and second wife of the internationally-acclaimed composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. Drawing on narratives and important insights from a fascinating collection of papers, diaries, letters and photographs that until now have been in Ursula’s family, Janet Tennant presents Ursula’s story – a journey which covers her background and early years in a peripatetic army family through to her becoming Ralph Vaughan Williams’s muse, lover and, ultimately, his inspirational second wife.

The significance of Ursula’s positive influence on Ralph Vaughan Williams through her creative work and artistic collaboration is emphasised throughout this biography. Following the composer’s death in 1958, Ursula embarked on another rich period of activity until her own death in 2007.

Ursula was a gifted poet and some of the most revealing and intimate aspects of her life are reflected in her poetry which is quoted at length. She was a vibrant, energising force, a powerful personality with a love of life who offered and received the gift of friendship. Her story is one of passion but also of sadness, particularly with the death of her first husband, Michael, and her brother, John, in the Second World War. Janet Tennant traces the remarkably varied life and loves of Ursula Vaughan Williams with affection and objectivity.