A HUMOROUS novel written by a former principal of Okehampton College has been published to raise money for good causes.

Ever since Philip Herriman died four years ago his wife Coleen has wanted to publish some of the fiction he so enjoyed writing after he retired.

Now she has done just that with The Seduction of Mr Pettigrew by Philip Herriman.

She promises it is a riotous read, which she is selling in aid of St Margaret’s Hospice in Somerset and the Brain Tumour Research Campaign.

Both charities supported the family when Philip was diagnosed with a brain tumour. He died in 2015 aged 76.

The stories follow the adventures of the hapless Mr Pettigrew as he negotiates life after the deaths of his domineering mother and long-suffering father. He has, the author writes, ‘an uncanny ability to snatch the defeat from the jaws of victory’.

His adventures are many and varied. He manages to end up in court after unintentionally stealing a baby from a supermarket.

He gets attacked by a seagull while trying to scatter his father’s ashes in the sea. And then he meets formidable widow Mrs Mountjoy.

Coleen said the book reflected her late husband’s ‘lovely sense of fun and humour’.

‘It really is laugh out loud funny,’ she said. ‘A friend of mine bought it for her husband’s Christmas stocking. She later told me that when she came home from work, he was sat there reading it. He told her it was the funniest book he’d ever read.’

Philip was principal at Okehampton College from 1984 until 2002 and also served as an independent parish and borough councillor for Sampford Courtenay, where he and Coleen lived with their family.

Coleen hopes people in the Okehampton area who remember Philip might like to buy a copy of the book.

She said Philip had always liked writing, but it was only after he retired that he had the time to devote himself to it wholeheartedly.

He joined a book club and started writing. The stories in The Seduction of Mr Pettigrew grew out of that, said Coleen.

‘He wrote stories and then others in the group were asking him to write more,’ she said. ‘He and his colleagues used to get a great deal of pleasure sharing their stories.’

Email Coleen at [email protected] or call her on 01458 253571 to find out more.