Whilst researching the chapter on Tahiti for my book Utterly Immoral, I came across two letters that Jolie Keable had written to Wuffy, (the nickname for the mother-in-law of her good friend Rita Elliott). Robert had first met Jolie in France during the First World War and she was the inspiration for Julie, the free-spirited nurse in Simon Called Peter. When Robert Keable returned to England from Basutoland at the end of 1920 he secretly met up again with Jolie and the two made plans to run awa…

Robert Keable lived in Zanzibar for over a year, before the First World War, working as a missionary for the Universities Mission for Central Africa. Whilst there he wrote, and had specially printed, a series of letters which he sent to friends and family. Later he collected these together and published edited versions in his book City of Dawn. It was in this book that he developed his reputation for descriptive writing. The Church Times wrote in their review:

Mr Keable has the two grea…

Robert Keable moved with his parents to Croydon at the turn of the century and he attended school there up until 1905, before winning a scholarship to Cambridge. He lived at 40 Friend’s Road in the centre of town. When I first went looking for the house, I found myself circling a large building with cameras tracking my every move. Only once I had peered at the building from all angles did I realise it was the main Croydon police station which had been built on the site of his old hou…