A PENSIONER has completed his life-long dream of publishing a book.

Tony Annereau, 86, from Witham has just brought out debut book The Policeman’s Daughter after 20 years of working on the novel.

Tony, who lives in Park View Care Home, in Witham, based the book in France after he was inspired by his French ancestry.

The novel follows the fictitious tale of how it might have been living in a village in south-west France during the Second World War.

The cover of the book features Tony and his wife, Janet, who died four year ago.

Tony said: “I can remember where that photo was taken, it was almost 60 years ago on Southend Pier.

“My wife was doing all the editing for me for a while.

"When I got to the care home I didn’t touch the book for a year – I was still in a state of shock from losing my wife.

“Eventually I thought I should get back to living again and started writing.

“Its taken a lot of research on my part, but I’ve always wanted to publish a book.”

Good friend Mary Brace took over the editing after Tony’s wife passed away and he began writing again.

She also helped the book to make it to Amazon Kindle after seeing its potential.

Mary said: “I have been reading it the whole way through and I still enjoy it every time.

“He has worked so hard and we are eagerly waiting for the sequel to follow.

“He has some more books that are half written and we are hoping to see some more.”

Care home manager Eiluned Evens said: “We are so proud of him here, he is such a lovely gentleman.

“We recognised his writing skills, we just can’t believe what he has done, its an absolutely beautiful book.

“We have ordered copies for all the home and the marketing team have also ordered copies to send out.

“We knew he was writing it.

"It’s been a while coming, but we are so pleased that he has managed to get it published.

“He has worked so hard on it.”

The Policeman’s Daughter is available to buy on Kindle or in paperback online from Amazon.