Maidenhead author blends family history and London gangster saga in debut novel

A Maidenhead author will be donating a portion of all profits of her new novel, inspired by her family history in India, to the Katie Piper Foundation.

Kim Dorton Broad blends romance, violence and family history against the backdrop of London’s post-war gangster underworld in her new book The Bombay Boys.

The fast-paced crime saga released on January 28 traces the rise of a ruthless criminal family from the turmoil of 1940s India to the gang-dominated streets of London. The story spans locations including New York, Las Vegas and Sydney.

“I really wanted to write this thriller, family saga to get my teeth into something a bit more substantial, so it's been on the cards for quite a long time,” Kim told the Advertiser.

“Talking to a couple of people who remembered London at that time really fulfilled my thoughts. It was fun to turn my family into gangsters, which they were quite surprised about.

“It’s fair to say my father was not a paid assassin, and there was no drug smuggling, but I have had a wonderful time writing about it.”

Although she grew up in west London, Kim’s family roots lie in India and what later became Pakistan during the British Raj.

A Maidenhead resident of 40 years, Kim has led a varied career, working as an air stewardess before moving into corporate human resources.

She said: “Generations of my family on both my mother’s and father’s side were born and lived in India and what became Pakistan during the British Raj, so I have always been fascinated by their lifestyle. My family goes back to the 1700s in India.

“I was always captivated by the stories I heard from the whole family as a child, so those always very much stayed in my mind.

“I began to realise things were different at a very young age when we were the only people who had chicken curry with our turkey on Christmas Day, and my mum used a lot of Urdu words.

“We have seen much about the very wealthy in the Raj, but not so much about the normal working-class people who went out there as train drivers and engineers, for example.

“I am also extremely interested in the gangster scene in London, dominated by the Krays and the Richardsons, and loved researching this and the beginnings of the Las Vegas mafia scene.

“There was a lot of prejudice during the Enoch Powell period when people with any form of dark skin were discriminated against and even saw violence – and I wanted to try and get that across.

“Quite a lot of the story is true and is very loosely based on members of my family.

“They did come across penniless on the Empire Halladale, only to end up in a refugee camp in Scotland, eventually moving to Acton in west London.”

The 69-year-old said her family have been ‘very supportive’ and many are trying to recognise themselves in the book.

“I've written since I was a little girl. I've probably got about six unfinished novels stashed away,” she said.

“It’s quite lovely to be able to put some of my story out there – to pull all the strings together with stuff I was interested in and hopefully make a good story out of it.”

The Bombay Boys was eight years in the making and is an amalgamation of her interests, including recipes in the back of the book, inspired by her love of cooking, as Kim was a finalist in both Britain’s Best Dish and Good Housekeeping’s Cook of the Year in 2010.

More than 70 friends and colleagues attended her book launch party on Wednesday, February 4, at Atul Kochhar’s restaurant Kanishka in London – after liaising with the Marlow-based restaurateur.

“I've always been very involved with the Katie Piper Foundation, a trustee for eight years and now an ambassador on their part,” said Kim.

“This was a good opportunity to combine charity with finally getting this book out, so a percentage of royalties made by the book will go to the foundation, as they do an amazing job.

“They were very heavily involved in the launch, and their chairman and their CEO, and Katie herself came and supported it.

“It’s absolutely amazing, but I’ve been walking around feeling a little bit bereft the last couple of days.

“There is potentially a sequel in there, so I’m thinking what’s the next project now, but I feel great about it.”