The Trials of Arthur Whitty is Tim Walker's personal homage
to one of America's greatest short stories, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by
James Thurber.
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. In his dreams, Arthur always
wins.
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.
BUY LINK
Amazon Universal Link: http://mybook.to/ArthurWhitty
EXCERPT
Arthur at the Pet Shop
Just three doors down, Arthur entered the pet shop and stepped into a
different world, like Mr Ben starting a new adventure. The smell of musky
animals assailed his nostrils in the dimly lit, claustrophobic space as he
strode to the counter, passing stacked rows of subdued creatures. A snake
wriggled; its diamond patterned scales catching his eye. A wheel span as a
hamster tried its best to attract a buyer to rescue it from this dingy holding
cell for captured animals.
“What can I get for your loved pet today, Sir?” a cheerful teenaged girl
trilled, clearly sticking to the script.
Arthur noticed a poster of a man whipping a dog sled team across a snowy
landscape behind her. It had tried to snow a few days earlier, but now it was
nothing but mush. “Mush, erm… dog biscuits please.”
She smiled sweetly and blinked her long fake lashes twice. Arthur
noticed a silver ring hanging from her nose that swayed when she leaned forward.
“What brand and what size?”
“The one that says, ‘see your
dog’s coat shine like a dewy morning’ on the packet. Make it a medium.”
She slipped behind a curtain into a back room, leaving Arthur staring at
the poster…
“Mush! mush!” dog sled champion Art Whitty urged, cracking his whip over
the heads of the lead dogs. The team rewarded him with renewed effort as the
sled dropped a foot onto the flat, icy surface of a lake. Beyond the pine trees
on the far side was the finishing line.
The ice cracked and groaned under his racing sled and Art glanced down
to see thin tendrils spreading outwards. Looking over his shoulder he saw one
of his main rivals, Calgary Kate, flop her sled onto the ice with a loud crack.
Too loud, as the surface gave way and her sled fell through the ice into the
freezing cold water. Her scream and cry for help caused Art to hesitate. Should
he go back and save her, or drive on to the finish line? He could clinch the
six-race championship today.
With a sigh, he turned his sled around. He would haul her out by the
ring on her nose if necessary. There would be other races…
“Here you go, Sir.” A kilo packet with convenient handles was plonked on
the counter between Arthur and the picture. “That’ll be nine-ninety-nine. I’m
sure your pooch’s fur will shine with these.”
“Award-winning Schnauzer, actually.” Arthur tapped his card on the
machine, instantly regretting the cheap, unnecessary lie. They had a mongrel
rescue dog with bald patches caused by anxiety. “Good day,” he cheerfully
quipped as he left the shop. Arthur put the bag down to check his phone. No
messages and five minutes to spare.
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.
Author Links
Tim’s Amazon author page: www.author.to/TimWalkerWrites
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/678710.Tim_Walker
Tim’s website: www.timwalker1666.wixsite.com/website
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/TimWalkerWrites
Instagram: www.instagram.com/timwalker1666
X (Twitter): www.twitter.com/timwalker1666
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@timwalker804
BlueSky: www.bsky.app/profile/timwalker1666.bsky.social
