WINNER OF THE VIRGINIA PRIZE FOR FICTION

As young children, Rudyard and his sister ‘Trix’ flourished in the brilliant warmth and colour of India. Their happiness ended abruptly when they were sent back to England to live with a strict and god-fearing foster family.
Both became writers, although one lived in the shadow of the other’s extraordinary success. The name Rudyard Kipling is known to millions, but what became of his talented younger sister? She was careful to hide her secret life even from those closest to her.

Mary Hamer’s fascinating novel brings both Kipling and Trix vividly to life. In this fictionalised account of their lives, she goes to the heart of the relationship between a difficult brother and his troubled sister. Hamer peels back the historical record to reveal the obsessions which fuelled Kipling and his sister. Was he really better equipped to deal with conflict, heartbreak and loss than his beloved Trix?

Review

'A historical delight' -Waterstones
'Hamer's book opens up the complex world of the Kiplings, moving between continents and momentous world events' -Daily Mail
'Illuminating new study… She writes clearly, pleasantly, and with a blessed absence of jargon.' -Times Literary Supplement
'Mary Hamer's Kipling and Trix elegantly walks the borders between fact and fiction in her retelling of Rudyard Kipling's story and his relationship with his sister Trix' - Historical Novel Society
'The childhood scenes are particularly compelling, revealing how brother and sister, though dependents, were gradually becoming rivals….The book is a rich collage of potent scenes — you shift viewpoint and we see Rud and Trix through the eyes of many others.' - Pam Johnson, Words Unlimited

About the Author

Mary Hamer was born in Birmingham. After reading English at Oxford she taught for the next twenty years and published works of non-fiction, before embarking at last on the adventure of imaginative writing.Kipling and Trix is her fifth book and first novel.
Mary travels widely and has lectured in many countries. Her work has appeared in the Economist, the Guardian and the Independent. She has contributed to television and radio programmes, such as 'In Search of Cleopatra', Women's Hour and Night Waves. Mary is the Chair of the Kipling Society in London.

Alternative History