Hewitt's History Files

The Clamour King, which is on sale at some Waterstones and Borders stores and on amazon and various other websites, harks back to David's days as a boarder at Shoreham Grammar School in the mid-1960s.

"Although a work of fiction, The Clamour King is set in and around the school and is based on actual people and real events.

"The novel owes its existence to a chance meeting with a school friend I hadn't seen or heard from in about 35 years. The things he told me about his schooldays, things I only dimly suspected and didn't understand at the time, led directly to the novel.

"It is not a sentimental retrospective in the Tom Brown mould," David, who now lives in Cape Town, South Africa, insists.

"The story is centred on a young boy whose startling physical beauty and wayward nature made him a victim of repeated abuse."

For full story and more pictures see West Sussex Gazette August 27