Nom de Guerre

They don’t use the phrase “nom de plume” in France. It’s not actually a French phrase; it’s one of those phrases made up by the English using French words.

The French term is “nom de guerre”, war-name.

Sophie is my “real” first name, but my surname is… cumbersome. It’s not a name that fits well on the cover of a novel. When I took on “Acton”, I did so for two reasons. The first is because “Acton” is the name Anne Brontë used, when she and her sisters took on male pseudonyms in order to be taken more seriously as writers.

Anne by her sister Charlotte

The second reason is because of a man called Lt. Armar Acton.

My grandfather was a Major in the British army, the Parachute Regiment. When he was stationed in Egypt, he was asked to lead a risky patrol in a cemetery. He had a young family then, stationed with him (my grandmother was in the military police), and Armar told him not to go. He said to my grandfather, look mate, you have young kids here. This is going to be a dangerous mission. I don’t have a family. I’ll go instead.

He did. He was shot, and died.

My grandfather lived to be 83, 60 years older than Lt Acton was when he died. I like to think that in the next world, they’re having a drink together.

So that’s the story of my nom de guerre. I hope my grandfather would approve.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *