A new novel from an author with links to Callander is set to transport readers around some of the sights and sounds of wartime Stirling – and focus on a close personal story along the way.
‘Lotte’ is written by Martin Raymond and is set almost entirely within Stirling and the surrounding region – with key locations in the book including Snowdon Place, Baker Street and other parts of the Top of the Town.
Other scenes are also depicted in Port of Menteith, while the plot of the text is a fictionalised account inspired by Martin’s discovery that his maternal grandmother had died in the city’s asylum in 1933.
It tells the story of Martin’s grandmother Charlotte, as she attempts to leave behind the world of poverty and secure a position at the top of Stirling society for herself and her family.
But when her children are asleep, she wanders the city’s streets driven by the guilt and ghosts she isn’t able to run away from, leading her into an asylum never to be heard from again.
A century later, a chance remark leads to her grandson delving into the past to discover her fate and unravelling stories bundled up in small-town living.
Martin grew up in Callander, with his father a well-kent face around Stirling for 40 years as the owner of the J M & M Nimmo clothing shop.
Martin told the Observer: “Lotte is a fictionalised account of how I recently discovered that my maternal grandmother had died in Stirling Asylum in 1933. It was a closely guarded family secret.
“In the process of uncovering the facts around her death I discovered much about the role asylums played in the public imagination, the ways women have been written out of history and the long shadow of World War One.
“I also grappled with my own concerns about whether secrets are best left uncovered and how revelations about the past can change the way that you view your family.
While Lotte is work of fiction the locations. the local references and the historical facts are all accurately portrayed.”
The book is published by Indie Novella and is available at Waterstones’ stores across the UK, as well as independent bookshops both in the UK and online.