Retired bank manager publishes debut novel (From Halesowen News)

Retired bank manager publishes debut novel

5:36pm Monday 18th March 2013 in News

A RETIRED Halesowen bank manager has finally published his debut novel which has been more than a decade in the making.

It has taken Arthur Smith, who has lived in Halesowen all his life, 12 years to write Kolibri - a mystery based around the events of World War II.

The 67-year-old former Oldbury Grammar School pupil worked on the book on odd days when the weather was bad and he couldn’t get outside to enjoy his hobbies of fishing, running and golf.

The novel tells the story of Tom Olive, a man who seems to have personal knowledge of events from World War II including the hiding place of looted works of art and whether Hitler really committed suicide, even though he was born almost fifteen years after its end.

Mr Smith left school in 1963 and joined Barclays Bank where he worked for 37 years, rising to the rank of area manager in sales, before retiring in 2000.

The married father of two and grandfather of two, said: “I put into the book a lot of things I had thought of during my life “Why as a bank manager I would be thinking about Adolf Hitler I don’t know - it must be something strange in my character!”

Mr Smith said a lot of the description of places in the book was based on Hereford where he had spent some of his working life.

He has had “positive feedback” from everyone he had spoken to who has read the book, which is self-published.

A sequel is in progress however Mr Smith said: “It’s taken me 12 years to write this book and I’m 67 now - I don’t know if I going to have time to finish another!”

Kolibri is available in Halesowen library as well as from Waterstones, WHSmith and Amazon online.