My Soul A Shining Tree

In 2014 I edited a collection of short stories to commemorate the outbreak of the First World War. That anthology was called Stories of World War One, and the first story in the book was a brilliant tale called The Man in the Red Trousers by Jamila Gavin. So I’m delighted to report that Jamila has now turned that story into a novel called My Soul, a Shining Tree, published by Farshore. The title is from a Siegfried Sassoon poem, so the novel’s strong anti-war stance is pretty clear from the outset.

Both the original and the expanded version were inspired by the true story of Khadudad Khan, one of the 1.5 million soldiers from India who fought for Britain in the First World War. He came from the Punjab, and found himself in Belgium in the autumn of 1914. There he and his fellow-soldiers were pitched into terrible fighting with the invading German army, his courage winning him the first Victoria Cross awarded to an Indian soldier, something he is remembered for to this day.

As the writer of The Wheel of Surya trilogy, Coram Boy and many other books, Jamila needs no introduction. In My Soul, a Shining Tree she has crafted a gripping, poignant story about Khadudad Khan and several children devastated by the war, who are finally brought across the English Channel as refugees. What struck me in the original, and even more in the novel, is the madness of a war in which soldiers from India fought for the British Empire against Germans, in Belgium a country with its own tensions, divided as it is between French and Flemish speakers. All this is explored in the novel, but always from the viewpoints of the young characters Jamila has created. And as ever, it’s the young and vulnerable who suffer the most.

At just under 150 pages, My Soul, a Shining Tree is quite short, but it’s a terrific read suitable for top Primary and lower Secondary, especially if you’re planning to tackle the First World War this term. There’s certainly some contemporary relevance to be talked about as well. I cannot recommend it highly enough!