I recently came across a couple of really interesting-sounding books, which I of course had to snap up, and which now grace my TBR pile. Both look to be social histories and both are about London--at least peripherally. I am very fortunate to have traveled to London on a couple of occasions, but it has been many many years ago now. I would happily go back tomorrow if I could. Reading, you know, is almost as good as being there, though. And that will have to do for the time being.
There is no lack of reading material set in or about London. The two books in question that I found are both by Gillian Tindall: The House by the Thames (And the People Who Lived There) and Three Houses, Many Lives: The Story of a Cotswold Vicarage, a Surrey Boarding School and a London Home. The first book is about a home that sits just across from St. Paul's Cathedral.
"Over the course of almost 450 years the dwelling on this site has witnessed many changes. From its windows, people have watched the ferrymen carry Londoners to and from Shakespeare's Globe; they have gazed on the Great Fire; they have seen the countrified lanes of London's marshy south bank give way to a network of wharves, workshops and tenements--and then seen these, too, become dust and empty air."
The latter is a personal history of sorts of three very different homes and the people who lived in them. Both look like real treats to read!
Perusing the two books started me thinking about the many books I have about different aspects of London, the city itself and the people who inhabit it. And you know what follows...I have to make a reading list. I thought it would be fun to come up with a list of books about London--fiction or nonfiction, which give a really strong sense of place.
I have a feeling you might just be able to help me. I'll start with a few of my own. These are books I've read or have on my shelves to read later. And the city of London plays a large role in the stories.
Hearts and Minds by Amanda Craig
The Old Man and Me by Elaine Dundy
Elizabeth's London, Restoration London, Dr. Johnson's London by Liza PicardA Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald
The Great Stink by Clare Clark
The Night Watch by Sarah Waters
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Imagined London by Anna Quindlen
Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton
More ideas? I know I have barely touched the tip of the iceberg. Suggestions welcome.