We are thrilled to have confirmed so far two very well-known China figures and authors for our Annual HK Book Fair - Michael Sheridan and Paul French who cover two different and fascinating people: Xi Jinping and Wallis Simpson, who will both take part in the ‘In Conversation with the Authors’ part of the evening.
Date: Tuesday 13th May 2025
Venue: Oriental Club, London
Cost: £40 (HKS members); £50 (non-members) price includes a welcome drink and 7 delicious canapés
Timings:
18:00: Book Sales and Signings with authors & welcome drink
18.30: ‘In Conversation with the Authors’ & Q&A with author Simon Roberts (HK Beat) moderating
19.30: Meet the Authors/Book Sales, Signings, Canapés, Cash bar
20:30: End
All of the books listed below will be available for purchase and signing on the day or feel free to bring your own copies to be signed.
Paul French - Her Lotus Year: China, The Roaring Twenties and the Making of Wallis Simpson. In her memoirs, Wallis Simpson described her time in China as her ‘Lotus Year’, referring to Homer’s Lotus Eaters, a group living in a state of dreamy forgetfulness, never to return home. That year, however, was also used to damn her in the eyes of the British Establishment. Full details on this book can be found by clicking on this link.
Michael Sheridan - The Red Emperor: Xi Jinping and His New China. The Red Emperor presents an eye-opening portrait of Xi Jinping, the man who presides over 1.4 billion people and the second largest economy on earth. Born a 'princeling' to one of Communist China's ruling families, the young Xi was exiled to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution. Full details on this book can be found by clicking on this link.
Olivia Cox-Fill - Walking A Tightrope: Memories of Wu Jieping, Personal Physician to China's Leaders. The compelling personal account of Dr. Wu Jieping (1917 - 2011), one of China's most prestigious Physicians, who experienced the great revolution of the old China and developed from a former style of intellectual into a national leader of the new China. Dr. Wu established his global reputation in the field of Urology with significant medical achievements. His thought-provoking reflections, shared with his friend the author Olivia Cox-Fill, illustrate the lifestyle and demands of the hierarchy against a background of the conditions experienced by the populus, at a time when people disappeared unaccountably and mistrust became a tool for survival. Full details on this book can be found by clicking on this link.
Ian Gill - Searching for Billie. Ian Gill's first visit to Hong Kong takes an unexpected turn when he meets his Chinese mother Billie's friends, colleagues and fellow ex-prisoners of war, lifting the veil on a tumultuous past in Shanghai and Hong Kong. He moves to Asia and unravels her intriguing journey: from controversial adoption by an English postmaster in Changsha to popular radio broadcaster in wartime Shanghai, from tragedy and a doomed romance in a Japanese internment camp to being decorated by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the United Nations. He discovers a great-grandmother in a determined English farm girl who ends up owning a well-known hotel on the China coast in the 1870s – and he finally meets his father for the first time on a Canadian island in 1985. The backdrop for this fascinating family story is China's turbulent century between the Anglo-Chinese wars and the advent of communism. Visit searchingforbillie.com for full details of the book.
Various authors (book signing by Clinton Leeks MBE) - More Tales From a Barren Rock. A varied collection of stories by a selection of authors about their time in 20th century Hong Kong in many different roles and occupations – civil servants, soldiers, policemen, lawyers, pilots, architects, doctors, teachers, animal carers, snake catchers, entrepreneurs and administrators. Full details on this book can be found by clicking on this link.
To register to attend, please contact communications@hkas.org.uk