C.L.R. James"s correspondence with Constance Webb, the young American woman who eventually became his wife, began in 1939 and lasted for over a decade. Passionate, erudite and highly personal, the letters are simultaneously a record of an intense romantic relationship and a profound meditation on American civilization. Something powerful was unlocked by James"s experience of America and his relationship with Constance, and he sought to articulate it through his attempt to bridge the gap of background, race, gender and age between Constance and himself. Already celebrated in their unpublished form, these letters form one of the major resources in James"s life and thought during his American period. The film "Special Delivery" is based on these letters.