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| Kingdom of the Sun, by Ariffa Bevin |
Q. "Kingdom of the Sun" is a
splendid title for a book. How did you come up with it?
A. Out of all the questions that are asked about
my book, I have to say that this one is my favorite. So, thank you for asking
it! I came up with the title “Kingdom of the Sun” by thinking deeply about the book’s
message and what I wanted the book itself to signify. The sun is an extremely
significant theme in the novella for its representation of literal and
figurative light, hope, and strength.
You see, although Helena is the
protagonist of the story, the book is really about the kingdom of Sooryan as it
tries to regain all that was taken away from it in order to be seen as a country
worthy of the name Sooryan, and I will leave it to my readers to decipher the
true meaning of that word.
As an author, I want “Kingdom of the Sun”
to be like the sun. I want it to not only tell the story of a nation fighting
for truth, hope, honor, and happiness, but I want it to shed light on the unseen
and ignored issues and perspectives of society and the world. I want my readers
to feel the strength that comes from the sun in believing they have the
strength to overcome anything. And like how the sun signifies hope, I want
Kingdom of the Sun to represent the hope that change can and will happen for
the better: in the world and in our own lives.
Q. Please tell us a bit about the
story.
A. I would love to! Set in the modern-day
kingdom of Sooryan, Kingdom of the Sun tells the story about a nation that
became successful based solely on education and its Scholars as the foundation.
However, the story opens with Sooryan in economic, political, educational
turmoil. In a kingdom where Scholars and education were once top priority, the
Royals of the past and present years favor competition, status, and money more.
And although Sooryan’s people and Scholars are well aware of the nation’s
decline, Helena is the only one who truly sees what needs to be done and has
the courage and strength to do it.
Q. You know those "if you like this
author, you might also like this one" lists? Please tell us a
couple of authors that fit in with you and your book.
A. Well, there are two authors that come to
mind. The first is George Orwell and his novel 1984. Kingdom of the Sun possesses many of 1984’s characteristics like literary symbolism, rebellion, and most
importantly, its story pertains very much to what is happening in today’s
countries. The second author that I believe has a similar style to mine is
Margaret Duras and her beautiful novella The
Lover. What I enjoyed most about this book, besides the touching true
story, is that Duras uses very simplistic sentence structure that is extremely
powerful and dense at the same time. I tried to do the same with Kingdom of the Sun.
To
learn more about Ariffa and Kingdom of
the Sun, please visit the sites below:
Thank you, Ariffa! If anyone has comments or questions, I'm sure Ariffa will be happy to respond.
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