John Little

The Lost Boy John Little

In 1907 a nine year old boy went missing, with no food or equipment, on the Lake District fells. His disappearance made national headlines. He came of age in time to serve during the First World War, and it is a reasonable leap of imagination to think that he might have got lost again, but this time in the deserts of Iraq. This is the story of a boy who kept turning left, and for good reason, when he really should have turned right, which would have changed his fate entirely. Life hinges on such choicesBased on real evidence, a true story, and actual events, this tale weaves Tom Martindale's life into plausible history; it also retells more closely, the story of The Hero of the Fells, a boy once so famous that he featured on picture postcards. A story of Westmorland, of Penrith and Cumberland and of Mesopotamia, in telling of Tom's ordeal, it picks out the grit, the directness, the honour and honesty, as well as the doggedness, determination and courage embedded in the local character. It does have plenty of lessons for a wider audience as well, mostly of an ordinary lad thrown, as so many were, into extraordinary circumstances.