Praise for the Book

Prizewinner – SAHR Military History Fiction Awards 2019

'A personal and moving perspective on the First World War. Unputdownable.'
DAME PENELOPE KEITH DBE DL

‘Finishing this book is like being snatched from the company of old friends – a gem of a story, beautifully told.’
JOHN KEAY, historian and author of India: A History

‘A tour-de-force.’
The John Buchan Society

‘A true tale of love in a time of war ... incredibly moving.’
WhatsOn

‘Compulsive and intriguing ... an excellent novel of war, and indeed of life.’
Adventures in Historyland

About the Book

In 1914, Evie, a would-be suffragette, receives a letter from India-born Cavalry officer Tom, whom she has good reason to detest.

In 1918, she marries him.

Major Tom’s War explores how the destinies of a stubborn former Calcutta solicitor and an equally-obstinate VAD nurse are changed forever by the Great War.

Author Vee Walker sets her authentic story (with chapters located in India, Britain and Europe) against the shattering backdrop of the Western Front. Her family archives provide a satisfyingly-intricate yet real plot, woven from the true experiences of her unlikely grandparents and those they love – and hate.

Meet Tom’s brother officers: the two Sikhs Amar Singh and Harnam Singh, one his steadfast friend, and the other his self-appointed protector; the impetuous young lieutenant Reggie Durand; and Tom’s nemesis, the ruthless Highland laird, Major Lochdubh. Wonder at the courage of gentle Gaston Derome, mayor of Bavay, a sleepy Franco-Belgian border town struggling to adapt to German invasion.

Who will survive the catastrophic conflict in northern France? And who will not?

Kashi House’s first ever novel, this revised and expanded second edition includes an additional chapter set in Marseille as the Indian troops arrive and a variety of new images/illustrations.

A book to read and re-read, one to savour and to cherish.

About the Author

VEE WALKER spent twenty years as a museums and heritage consultant before writing Major Tom’s War. An almost-forgotten family mystery surrounding her grandfather Tom’s first wife prompted Vee to explore his 1914–18 war diary and turn it into this award-winning novel.

A digital archive with 400+ rare images and documents will complement the publication of this unique publication and can be seen here.

Vee is currently researching her next book, in which readers will encounter her second set of grandparents, with storylines set in 19th- and 20th-century Punjab, Assam, Australia, Canada and England. Her most recently commissioned client work, #FindAleckie (2020), will encourage visitors to the National Trust for Scotland’s Culloden Battlefield to engage with the chaotic aftermath of the battle. Her short story Cinder Toffee (2019), about the eminent Victorian geologists Peach and Horne, won first prize in The Hugh Miller Writing Competition 2019.

A Scottish Book Trust listed author, Vee visits or ‘Zooms into’ classrooms and book groups all over the country. She always enjoys hearing from her readers.

For author events, talks and interviews see our What's On page.

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www.scottishbooktrust.com/authors/vee-walker

Design: Paul Smith
Publication Date: 19 November 2020
ISBN: 9781911271239