This novella is the story of plain old Arthur Whitty, a man whose dreams are never dull and whose vivid imagination and sense of humour carries him through a series of sometimes challenging situations. Arthur has retired to a pair of slippers and jigsaw table in a quiet cul-de-sac in Berkshire, England. He walks his dog, Max, and lets his mind wander to a series of dreams in which he is more daring, skilful and adventurous that his real-life humdrum self. He is an irritant to his orderly wife, Emilia, and has succumbed to irksome cancer treatment following a run-in with skin cancer.
Once a date has been set for corrective surgery, Arthur sets his mind on organising a real-life adventure – a bucket list trip to Machu Picchu in Peru where he finds peace and a calming of the spirit. Arthur’s bullish nature carries him through a series of situations but there is little the retired couple can do about the onset of dementia. But Arthur is well supported by Emilia and their daughter, Holly, as the family rally round to make his declining years as comfortable as possible. And there’s always escape to his secret world of risk, responsibility and danger.
The author has drawn on personal experience and observations of elderly men in a support group he helps run for Men’s Matters charity in Windsor, Berkshire. Half of all royalties from the sales of this book will be donated to Men’s Matters, who support older men by encouraging social interaction and connecting them to health and wellbeing support services.
I'm delighted to be joining the blog tour for The Trials of Arthur Whitty today. Many thanks to Tim Walker for inviting me and for my advance digital copy of the book.
The Trials of Arthur Whitty is a different book to my more usual fare but having read a few of Tim Walker's novels and short stories in the past, I readily agreed to trying it, particularly as half of all royalties from its sales will be donated to Men's Matters. This charity supports older men and so is especially fitting as the eponymous Arthur Whitty of the title is an elderly man himself.
Arthur is a lovely character who copes with the restraints of his quiet retirement and declining health with his Walter Mitty-like imaginative daydreams. These brief interludes pepper the main narrative throughout as Arthur imagines himself in various roles, such as a spy, soldier, dog sled champion or even Surgeon to the King. Tim Walker captures the tone in these scenes well; they evoke the sort of Boys' Own Adventures stories that a young Arthur would no doubt have enjoyed and are a humorous counterbalance to the poignant exploration of the challenges he faces in his real life. In his introduction to the novella, Tim Walker informs us that one part, a story within a story supposedly penned by Arthur, was actually written by AI. It does introduce a discernibly different style to the book and fits the character's voice but it's not something I personally like, especially as authors are under such threat from AI.
That small criticism aside, it's obvious that Tim Walker has drawn on his own experiences and The Trials of Arthur Whitty is an empathetic, touching character study and thoughtful social commentary. As much as Arthur's flights of fancy are amusing, it's actually the portrayal of a man having to come to terms with ageing and his ill-health which really stands out here. Arthur's fortitude when he embarks on an ambitious solo trip to Machu Picchu is a reminder that rich, eventful experiences can happen at any stage of life. Meanwhile, the relationships he has with his wife, Emilia and adult daughter, Holly are believable throughout – Emilia's scolding is clearly motivated by concern given his worsening dementia. The final chapters mark a more rapid deterioration as his diminished memory eventually reduces his world to his four walls and the blurring between reality and his delusions are genuinely moving.
The elderly, particularly those with reduced cognitive abilities become increasingly invisible in our society and so I commend Tim Walker for his heartfelt, insightful novella; The Trials of Arthur Whitty is a sensitive, bittersweet read.
The Trials of Arthur Whitty can be purchased here (half of all proceeds go to Men's Matters, a charity in Windsor, Berkshire which supports older men by improving their social lives.)
Follow the blog tour, details are below.
About the Author
Tim Walker is an independent author living near Windsor in the UK. Born in Hong Kong in the Sixties, he grew up in Liverpool where he began his working life as a trainee reporter on a local newspaper. He went on to attain an honours degree in Communication Studies in South Wales before moving to London where he worked in the newspaper publishing industry for ten years.
In the mid-90s he opted to spend a couple of years doing voluntary work in Zambia through VSO, running an educational book publishing development programme. After this, he set up his own marketing and publishing business in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital, then managed a mineral exploration company before returning to the UK in 2009.
His creative writing journey began in earnest in 2014, as a therapeutic activity whilst recovering from cancer treatment. In addition to short stories, he researched and wrote a five-book historical fiction series, A Light in the Dark Ages. The series connects the end of Roman Britain to the story of Arthur in an imaginative narrative. It starts with Abandoned, then Ambrosius: Last of the Romans; Uther’s Destiny; Arthur Dux Bellorum and Arthur Rex Brittonum, the last two books charting the life of an imagined historical King Arthur.
More recently, he has written a dual timeline historical novel set at Hadrian’s Wall, Guardians at the Wall. His two books of short stories, Thames Valley Tales and London Tales combine contemporary and historical themes and are now available as audiobooks. Somewhere along the way, he co-authored a three-book children’s series with his daughter, Cathy, The Adventures of Charly Holmes.
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