OUR DESTINY
OUR DESTINY (written for a presentation to the sixth form of a local college in 2016) Would we study
It is May 1960. Twenty-four-year-old trainee manager Bernie Baker, picnicking with his mother and cousin, watches a cricket match at Epping Green. He catches sight of an odd incident, which, when reported, leads to the slow unravelling of a web of criminal activity and black secrets stretching back to the Second World War.
Entangled in love, loyalty, and a dangerous underworld, Bernie’s career and personal life collide as he struggles to protect those he cares for. A coming-of-age story set against the shadows of history, The Supervisor explores truth, deception, and the price of survival.
London, 1910. Charles Stoker, a brilliant young engineer and inventor, seems destined for greatness. But the First World War shatters his dreams, leaving behind tragedy, secrets, and unanswered questions.
As the story moves forward to 1928, his son Charlie enters college life — caught between youthful temptations and the haunting legacy of his father’s past. When crisis strikes, Charlie must confront painful truths and chart a path to the future with courage,
honour and responsibility.
Themes: Social conflict and the rise of fascism. Love, passion, and personal sacrifice in times of turmoil.
It is 1931. Charlie Stoker, now a young man, is drawn into London’s East End business world under the wing of Stephen Collick, his late father’s benefactor. With his reputation rapidly rising, Charlie balances principles with practicality, but his life is upended when he falls in love with Sally Cutter.
As fascism spreads across Europe and tension grows on London’s streets, Charlie’s personal and moral struggles deepen. Loyalty, love, and integrity are tested against the harsh realities of a darkening world.
Themes: Love in times of turmoil, social conflict, the rise of fascism, personal sacrifice.
January 1940. Europe is at war, and Charlie Stoker faces his greatest test yet. Admired by friends but burdened by inner conflict, he is caught between loyalty, duty, and survival as the world crumbles around him.
As he fights against tanks in the flaming streets of European cities, Charlie must confront not only the brutal battles of wartime, but also the unresolved truths within his own life.
Acceptance delivers a powerful conclusion to the Stoker saga — a story of love, resilience, and loss; the search for peace in the face of chaos.
Themes: No.2 Commando at war; the resilience of those at home; one man’s peace.
Tod Benjamin is a novelist, poet, and storyteller whose work spans decades of lived experience, history, and reflection. His writing draws on a rich life that has taken him from the classrooms of Palmer’s School to service in the Royal Air Force, and on through diverse careers in retail management and the international chemicals industry.
From 1995 onwards, Tod devoted himself fully to writing and to voluntary service. His community work has included supporting patients in hospital wards, tutoring literacy and numeracy, and giving time to Age UK and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. These experiences deepened his empathy for human resilience and informed the themes that run through his fiction.
Tod’s published works include The Supervisor and The Stoker Trilogy (Charles and Charlie, The Tally Man, and Acceptance), alongside poetry such as The Constant Truth. His novels often explore how history leaves its imprint on ordinary lives — weaving together memory, loss, and the search for truth across generations.
Beyond writing, Tod has been a keen sportsman, playing golf for more than forty years and representing the Royal Caledonian Curling Club on tour in the United States in 1986. In recent years, following the loss of his beloved wife, he has honoured her final wish: to continue living fully and to keep writing.
Today, when not at his desk, Tod enjoys snooker, watching sport, reading, and above all, music. Through every pursuit, his enduring passion remains the written word — capturing the stories of people navigating the great shifts of history and the intimate truths of the human heart.
Tod Benjamin reflects on his writing journey, his inspirations, and the real-life experiences that shaped The Stoker Trilogy and The Supervisor.
Gold tag: 2025
— Finalist
Recognised among the year’s standout manuscripts for elegant prose and emotional candour, cementing Tod’s reputation as a timeless storyteller.
Spanning three generations, The Stoker Trilogy follows the Stoker family through love, loss, and survival against the backdrop of two world wars and a changing Britain. From Charles’s promise and tragedy in the early 20th century, to Charlie’s struggles with loyalty, morality, and the rise of fascism, and finally to the chaos and resilience of wartime London, the trilogy weaves together personal lives with the great shifts of history.
At its heart, it is a story about inheritance, identity, and the enduring human search for truth and acceptance.
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OUR DESTINY (written for a presentation to the sixth form of a local college in 2016) Would we study
AN ARRESTING EXPERIENCE The last thing an ageing, retired English businessman wants on arriving at a foreign airport is
