One of Them: An Eton College Memoir

Written By Linda Malek

One Of Them by Musa Okwonga

Reviewed by Jess
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Thank you to @unbounders for this copy! ☺️

For all the influence the school of Eton has had in shaping politics, society, trade and finance in the UK and beyond in my lifetime, it’s notable to me that this is the first book about the school I know of. I then saw that this is the first Eton memoir in 50 years, showing we rarely get a glimpse of what it is like behind those fancy school gates.

Musa Okwonga’s memoir speeds by, in short sharp chapters that provide perfect snippets into life at Eton as the son of Ugandan immigrants entering this private world. I was surprised at how I related so much of his experience to mine at a state girls grammar school. He shattered all my preconceptions in seconds, and makes it sound like an amazing learning utopia where his mind was nourished, allowed to grow and breathe. His confidence grew exponentially as he took advantage of all Eton had to offer. Almost the best advert I could read for sending my future kids there.

But almost is the key word in that sentence. Part 3 of the book brings you back to earth as both Okwonga and you as the reader are forced to reckon with what Eton really means. His story can never be replicated; fees are so high now he says “the journey I took... is no longer possible for boys like me.” The barriers to access are truly up, the same walls that coddle the rich in their protected bubbles, fed through to Oxbridge, and into the hedge funds and Westminsters to shape our world without ever seeing what’s over the bricks. The deep links of the institution to oppression, slavery and trauma throughout its legacy are hard to ignore.

Alongside unpacking his thoughts on the school he still loves, Okwonga muses on what success means to him as he breaks away from the Eton expectations and family obligations, how being black in that environment and in a small Thames Valley town affected him, and his experiences of love and friendship. There’s no gossipy revelations here, but you will find a frank and extraordinary look at society from an Old Etonian - but not the narrative you expect. An important and timely read.

Linda Malek

I've always had the urge to set up a forum and voice my thoughts after each read, but never had the confidence to do so alone. 18 months ago, I got my fellow book-loving friends involved and formed The Candid Book Club! Aside from having an exponentially growing to-read pile and deteriorating shortsightedness, we've been lucky to have been invited to publisher events and have attended several talks with our favourite authors (Thank you and long may they continue!) To take a break from the pressures of PhD Chemistry, Jess and I exchanged books all the time and in my youth, I was that kid with the first editions of Harry Potter having already read Gulliver’s travels and some Charles Dickens. At work, my desk is a library and luckily for me I sit next to another bookworm Jack who entertains all the photo-taking. I'm suffering from a chronic case of wanderlust (age-related crisis) so books which are set as far away from home as possible tend to float my boat: Middle East, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Asia...you name it. But if it's got anything to do with Egypt then I'm all over it. So you get the drift...I read all the time, everywhere (on the tube mostly), everyday, a book a week, and very quickly I'm onto the next! And then sometimes there is a book that stops me in my tracks, makes me want to swallow the pages whole, and have it next to me at all times, with some sentences staying with me forever: Shantaram by David Gregory Roberts, anything by Khaled Hosseini, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo (absolute gem of a woman), A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, The Good Immigrant edited by Nikesh Shuklaand and anything by Naguib Mahfouz.

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