Books Written by the KGV Community!

While researching for this article, what started as a tentative search for KGV alumni authors turned into an unexpected & inspiring number of them sharing their published books! Out of over 40 books, with topics ranging from music to entrepreneurship, these are the highlights:

These Dimorphic Angels by Rosie Sun

You might recognise my name on the cover of this book. That’s because I wrote it! & published it a few months ago. Brace yourself for three paragraphs of self-conscious self-promotion for which I apologise in advance.

These Dimorphic Angels, in one word, is about ‘death’: the anxieties, coping mechanisms, and societal perceptions surrounding mortality. It follows two protagonists, Elias Adams and Dahlia Dane, through chronologically fragmented narratives. Both are haunted by The Orphosis Show, a mysterious TV program that interviews the deceased, hosted by an equally mysterious woman named Madame Orphosis who only wears red. But while Elias contends with near-death experiences and his own misgivings, Dahlia finds herself increasingly estranged from rationality and reality.

That being said, I’ve always loved experimentation and avant-garde-leaning stuff. As a result, Dimorphic has a non-chronological mosaic structure and strong postmodern influences. There are also sections written in the form of essays, charts, and interviews.

I worked on it for 2 years so I’d be really grateful if you checked it out! (Available on Amazon/Kindle OR in our school library!)

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A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth

Booth, who graduated KGV in 1964, is probably the most famous author among our alumni, and he actually attended KJS as well! 

A Very Private Gentleman narrates the life of a man nicknamed Signor Farfalla - ‘Mr. Butterfly’ - as he paints rare butterflies and keeps to himself. A foreigner who pretends to be English, he has decided to settle in the Italian village he finds himself in, befriending Father Benedetto, a Catholic priest. However, all this is simply a facade for his real job: making custom firearms for assassins.

Even more excitingly, this book has been adapted to the screen in a film called The American, starring George Clooney in the titular role.

[QR code] / While this book isn’t available in our KGV LRC, other books by Martin Booth are! This book is also available in a lot of public libraries.

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Screens That Eat Children by Ross Parker

Parker, who graduated KGV in 1998, is an expert in digital technology, and deputy head of school at an international school in Hong Kong. He is concerned about the growing prevalence of technology, digital entertainment, and social media, especially in the lives of young children.

One of our editor in chiefs, Rachell, read the book and found it ‘insightful and useful’ and that she’s noticed herself applying the principles mentioned in the book in her own life. This book is structured ‘like a casual academic essay, with jokes but also some technical language.’ Rachell also noted that it made her investigate ‘how I am currently being parented through another lens’.

At the centre of this book is his argument that instead of just being a new habit, the rise of AI/social media is also ‘a way of life into which we have sleepwalked’. What I found particularly interesting was the hope that served as an undercurrent throughout the book: instead of assuming that the times are changing, a whole section is titled ‘Resistance is not futile’ and we should start from reclaiming our sense of self.

[We’ll add a QR code here linking to the website - https://screensthateatchildren.com/] 

Drawing on the Inside by Fiona Hawthorne

Hawthorne, who graduated KGV in 1983, entered Kowloon Walled City and spent three months there creating artwork. When she visited for the first time, she found it an ‘astonishing and compelling mini-city unlike anywhere I’d been before’ and was thus compelled to create artwork of it.

While the complex and hectic nature of the city fascinated her, Hawthorne’s primary goal was to ‘capture the warmth of the people who welcomed me’. Her work featured in this book was on display in London. However, after the city was demolished and social media focused only on the dark side, Hawthorne was motivated to do more with her art. Hence, she turned those original artworks into a coffee-table book to ‘celebrate the strange compelling beauty of the Walled City’ as well as the ‘astounding and resilient community that thrived upon it’. 

[We’ll add a QR code here linking to the book] / Available at some public libraries

Bone Lines by Stephanie Bretherton

Stephanie Bretherton attended KGV in 1973 and now lives in Cornwall. In addition to her novel, she has also had short stories published in literary magazines and anthologies.

In her novel Bone Lines, she examines what it means to be human and how those values transcend time. A geneticist named Eloise Kluft finds herself split between cutting-edge scientific development and the troubles in her own past. Meanwhile, in an ancient barren landscape, a woman has no knowledge of anything beyond her most primitive survival instincts and her desire to survive & protect her child.

She described the writing process as ‘dogged by doubt, thrilled by emergence’. Bretherton is also working on a sequel to Bone Lines, the first in a planned The Children of Sarah series.

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Overall, no matter what kind of book you’d like for your next read, chances are one of our KGV alumni has written something you’d love!