History in the Attic

Major Tom’s War, by Vee Walker

By Liz Treacher

Do you have a box of old letters written by your grandparents and stashed away in the attic? Yes? So does Vee Walker, a local author living in the Black Isle. Unlike the rest of us, Vee has opened the box, read the adventures of her grandparents and used them as a springboard to write an extraordinary novel set in India, France, Belgium, London and the Scottish Highlands during the First World War.


Major Tom’s War (Kashi House, 2018) is a personal and gripping tale about the conflict, with Vee’s grandparents, Tom and Evie, at its heart. Tom is a short-sighted Indian Army Cavalry Officer; Evie is a nurse treating wounded soldiers back home. In 1914, after losing his first wife Mary in mysterious circumstances, Tom flees to the war where he fights alongside his Indian regiment. Evie, who was Mary’s best friend, initially holds Tom in low esteem. Then, as the war unfolds, she begins to correspond with him and their relationship changes.


Tom and Evie provide a focus for the reader against the vast backdrop of the conflict. The inclusion of snippets of their letters brings the story to life. ‘I have still got the song of the shells in me,’ writes Tom.

It’s wonderful to discover fantastic books by local authors and Major Tom’s War is no exception. The story is meticulously researched and based on real people and events. ‘It is all about ordinary people, just like you and me, caught up in the Great War,’ says Vee of her novel. Yet, like so many in the First World War, those ordinary people turn out to be heroes.

Liz Treacher is a writer and teacher based in Dornoch. Her two romantic comedies (The Wrong Envelope and The Wrong Direction) are set in 1920 and tell the story of an impetuous artist and his determined post lady. Both titles are available to buy from Dornoch bookshop.