School friends come together to finish dad's unfinished novel after he dies
As the Christmas season invites reflection on family, memory, and legacy, Bromley resident Robert Mitchell is marking the end of the year with a remarkable literary achievement: the completion and publication of the unfinished novel of his school friend’s late father, bringing a long-lost story vividly back to life.
More than a decade in the making, ‘A Limey at Gettysburg’ was originally begun in 2008 by Eric Dennison, who passed away the following year, leaving the manuscript incomplete. The story lay untouched for almost ten years until Eric’s son, Craig, asked Robert to help finish what his father had started. That request sparked a deeply personal creative partnership rooted in friendship and a shared determination to honour Eric’s legacy, a project brought to fruition during a season traditionally associated with remembrance and togetherness.
“Eric died leaving the story unfinished,” Robert explains. “I added new sections, carried out fresh research, and reshaped the narrative to make it historically accurate and more readable. Eric had a deep fascination with the American Civil War, and much of his own experience is reflected in the characters.”
The result is a sweeping historical romantic drama set during the American Civil War, weaving themes of love, identity, and survival. Working carefully to stay true to Eric’s original voice, Robert enriched the narrative with additional detail and structure, ensuring the novel remained faithful to its creator while becoming a complete and compelling story for new readers.
“Eric could be tough,” Robert adds, “but he had a softer, romantic nature too, both sides appear in the main character.”
Now available in print and digital formats, ‘A Limey at Gettysburg’ offers readers a meaningful Christmas-season read: a powerful cross-generational collaboration that bridges past and present, and a tribute to friendship, memory, and unfinished dreams finally realised.
About the Book
In February 1861, as the United States edges toward war, English reporter Firth Brown is sent across the Atlantic to document the unfolding conflict. Amid the chaos, he finds new friends, fierce enemies, and an unexpected romance.
When a battlefield injury leaves him with total memory loss, Firth must rebuild his identity and confront the fragments of a life he can no longer remember. A tale of resilience and the search for belonging, A Limey at Gettysburg asks: can Firth rediscover the past he lost, or must he forge a new future entirely?
About the Authors
Eric Dennison (1927–2009) lived an extraordinary life spanning military service, agricultural work in Nigeria, scientific publishing, business leadership, and artistic pursuits. ‘A Limey at Gettysburg’ was his first novel.
Robert Mitchell (born 1962) served as an RAF electronics engineer before a life-changing accident ended his career. A lifelong friend of Eric’s son Craig, Robert completed Eric’s novel as a tribute to their decades-long friendship.
‘A Limey at Gettysburg’ is published by The Conrad Press and is available to order from Amazon and all good bookshops, making it a poignant and thoughtful read this Christmas.