The Rough Road

James “Doggie” Trevor is a man shaped by odd circumstances from the moment he was swaddled in cotton‑wool by a mother who treated him more like a cherished toy than a child. Raised in the quiet cathedral town of Durdlebury, he never expected to leave its tranquil streets, yet the looming shadow of the Great War pushes him over the brink and into the mud‑filled trenches of Flanders. His nickname, earned long before any battlefield glory, hints at the blend of humor and hardship that defines his reluctant march toward adulthood.

The story paints a vivid portrait of a world where ancient spires and sleepy meadows clash with the roar of artillery, all seen through Doggie’s unpretentious eyes. Family ties—an overbearing canon father, two sisters whose marriages reshape the old house, and a mother’s lingering influence—anchor him even as chaos erupts. Listeners will be drawn into a narrative that balances gentle satire with the stark realities of war, following a man who, though far from a celebrated hero, persists and survives to tell his tale.