{"product_id":"9781514498163","title":"My Friends Call Me Jamie","description":"The story evolves in England in the year 1876 and follows the life and adventures of James Wilkinson, a twenty-six-year-old army lieutenant and professional soldier who is a renowned and outstanding athlete and the youngest son of wealthy landowners, Sir John and Lady Anne Wilkinson.    Following an indiscretion with a general’s daughter, as retribution, the general has him transferred to the Indian army in Peshawar, a northwest frontier city near the Khyber Pass. He has an embarrassing introduction to India through an incident with one of the twin Macdonald girls, who are wards of the rahja of the province.    During his early days in Peshawar, he has a brief business and sexual relationship with the raja’s daughter, Indra. While involved in this relationship, he is unintentionally associated with another ward of the benevolent raja, a half-caste girl named Irene Macgregor who, to conceal her mixed breeding, dresses like an Indian boy and, to avoid notoriety, adopts the self-appointed role of Indra’s personal handmaid.    Later Jamie marries Elizabeth, one of the Macdonald twins, and settles comfortably into his new army life. Organized by his army commander to uphold the respect of the regiment’s officers, he is forced to participate in a boxing match.   After a short time as a happily married couple, Elizabeth unexpectedly dies during childbirth. His remorse causes him to descend into a state of depression, and he seeks refuge in the whiskey bottle. Indra, shocked over her friend’s decline, sends Irene Macgregor, her half-caste adopted sister, to help rehabilitate him.   Following his recovery in 1879, the Afghan war erupts, and he is sent to the Khyber Pass on a dangerous mission. He is badly wounded and is returned home in a coma. Indra, concerned for her friend again, sends Irene together with a nurse to attend him. Irene, in the meantime, has undergone a major transformation. She has discarded her male attire and reverted back to being feminine. During his months of convalescence, while personally attending to his daily needs, Irene succumbs to her feminine feelings and falls in love with him. Following his recuperation, he is awarded the VC for gallantry in the Afghan war and, as a result of his wounds, is repatriated from the army.   Margaret, the other Macdonald twin, marries his friend Scotty, and they return to England. After a few years of marriage, they eventually become estranged.    Irene and Jamie marry and move to Bombay where their son Richard is born. Soon afterwards, Richard survives a merciless kidnapping attempt. In a short space of time, life returns to normal, and Irene has developed into a beautiful and accomplished socialite.    In their own right, in separate business ventures, they both become wealthy and establish successful business in both India and England.    Following the death of Jamie’s mother, they leave India and return to England to live on the family estate. Irene, through her personal achievements, becomes a celebrity and adopted as the ideal role model for the women’s equal rights campaigners. Through their later years, Jamie and Irene are happy and contented, and their life’s ambition is complete when Richard marries and they become grandparents. During the years of the great World War, they endure the heartbreak of losing friends. Then an untimely death brings to an end the adventurous and loving lifetime they had shared together.","brand":"Xlibris AU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47171864396016,"sku":"9781514498163","price":4.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781514498163_p0.jpg?v=1763726118","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781514498163","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}