Diary secret set to be revealed
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A BLACK Isle author’s 10-year labour of love inspired by the pages of her grandfather’s war diary finally sees the light of day at a special local launch next week.
The discovery of a family secret sparked a decade of research by Vee Walker which has now led to the imminent publication of a debut novel which was snapped up by a London publisher.
Major Tom’s War was inspired by Tom Westmacott, Walker’s grandfather, and centres on a character who flees a dark past in Calcutta in 1914 for the horrors of the Western Front.
The intricate plot weaves together real events set in India, England, Wales, Scotland, Belgium, Germany and France, encompassing the suffragette movement, the multicultural Indian Army on the Front, executions by firing squad and the retreat from the Somme in March 1918.
Walker says she is particularly proud of her Highland soldier/laird Lochdubh.
She said: "Lochdubh is Tom’s nemesis. He represents all that was rotten within society of the time. It would have been easier to write him as a two-dimensional ‘baddie,’ but I needed to make him a character with whom the reader could also empathise. For that it was essential to construct a believable back story based in a challenging west coast childhood".
She said Lochdubh is a fictionalised character based on three real people who feature in her grandfather’s detailed unpublished war diary.
The local launch at High-flight bookshop in Dingwall on Wednesday, September 26 is eagerly anticipated by the store’s owner, Bill Anderson.
He said: "Major Tom’s War offers a unique, detailed and well-researched view of a hideous conflict which ended almost 100 years ago. It is so many things – a war story, a study of women’s history, a romance and even a murder mystery of sorts!"
He said he "jumped at the chance" to host the launch and predicts the first edition will quickly sell out. Free tickets are available via Eventbrite.com under Major Tom’s War. The book can also be ordered via www.KashiHouse.com
