Melbourn and District u3a

Simon Keable-Elliott will explain how he uncovered the true story of Robert Keable* and his scandalous WW1 novel, Simon Called Peter. He discusses the sources he used – including photographs, books, letters, census findings, passenger lists, government documents, diaries, interviews and a visit to Tahiti – to discover the truth. He details some of the research successes and failures he faced along the way. In doing so tells the story of Robert Keable’s life and the impact and reception to his novel.

*Robert Keable was a chaplain in the First World War who, after the war, wrote Simon Called Peter, which shone a light on life behind the front lines during the war. The central story centred on an affair between a chaplain and a nurse. The book was slated by the critics and considered so ‘utterly immoral’ by F Scott Fitzgerald that he mocked it in The Great Gatsby. Simon Called Peter became a huge international bestseller and despite being banned in parts of America went on to spawn a Broadway play and the sequel became a Hollywood Movie.