The Trail to Freedom
Posted on: 20 June 2025
I returned from Sweden after my son’s wedding to work on the last proofreading of my new novel, The Trail to Freedom. Working without distractions, it is now time to design a new marketing strategy for 2025-2026 and organise book signings across the UK.
Emerging from three years of isolation, I was unsure how to proceed. I was severely ill, which nearly halted the completion of my new book. Despite this, I resolved to press on.
The Trail to Freedom is a heartwarming story set in World War II. In 1995, my father, Harry Twidle, passed away. A lifetime of smoking cigarettes (a grim souvenir from the war), coupled with his already frail constitution, led to a protracted illness and his untimely death aged seventy-six. The six years he’d spent with the Green Howards Regiment had taken a heavy toll, leaving him with lasting health problems. Haunted by his past, he escaped into books about Hitler, spending hours comprehending the events leading to his imprisonment in German and Italian camps. The war had left an indelible mark, and, like most of his comrades, he kept his memories locked away, unspoken.
In 1964, nestled on a shelf in a cupboard, I found a black leather box passed down from my grandmother. From under the lid protruded sheets of blue writing paper, offering a tantalising glimpse of the hidden wonders inside. To my astonishment, my request to see this revealed many letters and aerograms, their envelopes proudly displaying their era’s stamps. New to stamp collecting, I scrutinised the colourful stamps and excitedly asked to see them. My mother didn’t seem too bothered. They meant little to her, and I doubted she knew what they contained. She allowed me to cut the stamps from each one, which was indeed a mistake. None of us realised the significance and value of the flimsy blue aerograms. As I grew into the 1970s, I sought my mother’s permission to look through the box again. Sadly ,I procrastinated about getting around to reading them until eventually I got married and had family of my own. It wasn’t until we retired that I used the information from the letters to help me write the book.
Fifteen years ago, I sat down, carefully read the letters, and saw their potential as a novel. My family moved to the Netherlands, where we bought a house and lived for 15 years because of my husband’s work. Prior to that, I qualified as a driving instructor and spent 25 years teaching both learners and instructors. Unfortunately, moving abroad meant giving all that up.
The story in the book is a work of fiction, yet the letters are cleverly integrated into the narrative. Go to the home page, where you can read a short synopsis of the story. Please let me know if you enjoyed the book which is planned to be published October – November 2025.
I would also be happy to link with other sons and daughters of those men who were with the Green Howards Regiment in Yorkshire, during WWII. Please contact me through the website, but suggest you read the book first.
