Always: A Love Story

"It's only a movie..." At least, that's what Hollywood up-and-coming screenwriter Gregory Thomas tells himself. But that doesn't explain the intense emotion evoked by his first glimpse of a long-dead 1940s actress. Nor does it explain his growing infatuation with her. And it certainly doesn’t explain his actions when that infatuation mushrooms into a full-blown obsession.At first, Gregory knows just one thing: He has to discover everything he can about Brooke Ashley and her mysterious death. But then he realizes that someone, or something, is determined to end his quest. Something that is willing to destroy him to stop him.From the superficial and illusory glamour of Hollywood into a twilight zone in which nothing is real—even death—Gregory tries to find his way, with only his heart as a guide.

From the Publisher

Trevor Meldal-Johnsen's fiction has been called "gritty, compelling and sophisticated," by Emily Vernon in the 'New York Daily News', filled with "rich details and tasteful style," by 'Publisher's Weekly', and "full of pleasant surprises," by the 'West Coast Review of Books'. ALWAYS was his first published novel. Originally published in paperback in 1979 by Avon, it was immensely successful then, selling more than a million copies. It was translated into several languages and made into a film. Since then, he has published many more novels, all imbued with the rich experience he has acquired through his travels and his contact with many different peoples and cultures, but so many readers have been asking him about ALWAYS and where they could find it that we decided to republish it in a luxury hardback edition with a new afterword by the author.

From the Inside Flap

"It's only a movie!" At least that's what up-and-coming Hollywood screenwriter Gregory Thomas tells himself. But that doesn't explain the intense emotion evoked by his first glimpse of a long-dead actress. Nor does it explain his growing infatuation with her. And it certainly doesn't explain his actions when that infatuation mushrooms into an uncontrollable and full-blown obsession. At first, Gregory knows just one thing: He is compelled to discover everything he can about the beautiful Brooke Ashley and her mysterious and tragic death. But then he realizes someone--or something--is determined to end his quest. Something incorrigibly evil that is willing to destroy him to stop him. From the superficial and illusory glamour of Hollywood, into a mysterious twilight zone in which nothing is real--even death--Gregory follows his heart and moves closer and closer to the stunning actress, the woman he has always loved. Still relevant since first published, this page-turning and insightful novel provides an insider's view of a Hollywood in which greed, power and jealousy form an eternal triangle. And with consummate and heart-stopping skill, novelist Trevor Meldal-Johnsen also takes the reader into an even stranger world, one in which realities shift like rising waves of heat.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter One. She had long fair hair and a heart-shaped face. Unwavering blue eyes. She moved with grace. Her tremulous mouth mirrored the complexity of her nature. Gentle as night, yet it promised pleasure. She was, he thought, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He shifted in his seat and narrowed his eyes for a more intent look at her. Beautiful, yes. "Oh God strike me with a bolt of lightening and leave me for dead". As beautiful as love. His breath stopped. She was looking directly at him. Her eyes were clear and guileless. "I love you," she said. His mouth went dry. His pounding heart shook his body. "I love you," she repeated, her voice calm. "I've loved you since the sun first rose. I've loved you through God-sent catastrophe and man-made disaster. My love has no shame, no pride. It is only what it is, always has been, and always will be. It is yours. All yours. Only yours." He began to cry. He tried to stop, but the tears fell freely, coursing down his face. He took huge, ragged breaths, but there was no stopping. There was only the weight of grief and regret from some unknown source. The woman sitting beside him turned to look, her face pale in the dim theater light. "What's the matter?" she asked. She placed a hand on his arm. He ignored the woman and stared through his tears at the screen. She was kissing her lover now, silken eyelashes veiling her eyes, her hands cupped softly at the nape of his neck, her honey-mouth melting. "The End" flashed across the film in that slashing script they had been so fond of in the forties. It faded from view like a lost dream. They did not talk much on the way home. He drove automatically, allowing his hands to find the way. It was fortunate they could do the job so well, he thought, because he felt strangely lost himself. Once the woman turned to him and said lightly, "I wouldn't have insisted on seeing that film, Greg, if I'd known the effect it was going to have on you." "I found it moving," he said with a shrug. But he felt foolish. The inappropriate force of his response in the theater bewildered him. He couldn't remember when he had last cried. Sometime during childhood, when tears had been closer to the surface, he supposed. "God, I didn't think it was that moving," she said. "No, I guess not," he replied. But his thoughts had a will of their own. Beneath his now calm exterior, they buzzed and hummed in frantic circles. They demanded an answer he could not provide. And yet, through it all, there was an intangible feeling of something there, like having a word on the tip of the tongue. ....

About the Author

Trevor Meldal-Johnsen's fiction has been called gritty, compelling and sophisticated," by Emily Vernon in the New York Daily News, filled with rich details and tasteful style, by Publisher's Weekly, and full of pleasant surprises, by the West Coast Review of Books. Meldal-Johnsen moves freely between non-fiction and fiction, with more than twenty books to his credit. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

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