London Fictions

London has many aspects. It is one of the world's great cities. Novelists in profusion have not only lived here, they have given centre stage in their writing to the city, its localities, sub-cultures and residents. For many commanding works of fiction, London is as defining an aspect as the key characters and plot lines.

This site is intended as a celebration of London in fiction. In time, it will feature a range of engaging, accessible and well researched illustrated essays about particular London novels and the localities and communities they represent. Not that London is always a kindly place for those who live here. There will be London noir, detective stories, slum novels, as well as Bloomsbury and Chelsea.

Do have a look at the contributions already posted:

  + George Gissing, The Nether World 1889
     contributed by Andrew Whitehead
  + Arthur Morrison,  A Child of the Jago 1896
     contributed by Sarah Wise
  + Elizabeth Bowen, The Heat of the Day 1948
     contributed by Jane Miller
  + Colin MacInnes, Absolute Beginners 1959
     contributed by Jerry White

If you would like to contribute yourself, please get in touch via the 'contact' page. You don't have to be an academic or an expert - you do have to have something interesting, engaging and well considered to say. 

This site is particularly keen to promote a sense of connect between London novels and the city of today. Dip in to the articles to get a sense of what we mean.




Some other sites to browse around:

http://lostlondonlit.blogspot.com/
http://hackneypodcast.co.uk/
http://www.fictionalcities.co.uk/london.htm
http://www.loststeps.org.uk/Broadcasts.php 
http://www.andrewwhitehead.net/london-fictions.html
http://hwj.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/56/1/1
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/english/current/ug/reading/08-9_london-rdg.pdf



The header image is a photograph taken by Michael Reeve from Hampstead Heath and is used here under a Creative Commons license. This site is moderated by Andrew Whitehead awkashmir@googlemail.com