MY SOUL, A SHINING TREE started as a short story named THE MAN IN THE RED TROUSERS for a collection of First World War stories. It told the story of gunner Khudadad Khan, the first Indian to receive the VC and a vital player in the defence of a ridge during a pivotal battle in the early stages of the war in Belgium. It took its title from the impractically bright-red trousers worn by Khan’s regiment, who had been brought to Europe from India and deposited in the mud of Flanders.
In conversation with us at Farshore, Jamila Gavin took the story and expanded it into this brief, jewel-like book with its four viewpoints: Khudadad Khan; a Belgian farmgirl whose family farm lies at the heart of the conflict; a teenage German cavalry officer whose heroic notions of war have been brutally stripped to the bone; and most lyrically of all, the wild walnut tree which shelters them all one terrible, battle-torn night. It won the Nero Children’s Book Award, where one judge described it as ‘if War and Peace had been condensed into 150 pages’. Reviewers have called it ‘flawless’, ‘superb’ and ‘exceptional’, and The Telegraph has listed it as one of the best children’s books of all time. It’s an extraordinary testament to Jamila’s empathy and skill that she manages to tell not just one, but four stories in such a petite and perfect package. The result truly is a 360° view of warfare, and a timely and vital insight into how war affects everyone, regardless of who is on the ‘winning’ side.
