Welcome to London Fictions
LATEST: Walter Besant, All Sorts and Conditions of Men by Eliza Cubitt article here
RECENT: Gerald Kersh, Fowlers End by Séamas Duffy article here
MOST POPULAR: Hanif Kureishi, The Buddha of Suburbia by Susie Thomas, article here
This site had more than 6,000 page views in April.
Thanks for your support.
And we're now on Facebook!
RECENT: Gerald Kersh, Fowlers End by Séamas Duffy article here
MOST POPULAR: Hanif Kureishi, The Buddha of Suburbia by Susie Thomas, article here
This site had more than 6,000 page views in April.
Thanks for your support.
And we're now on Facebook!
What is London Fictions?
London Fictions is a site celebrating the novels which capture the essence of an intriguing city. On this site are articles about books which have a powerful feel of London, or a locality or social strata within the city. Each is written by an expert and enthusiast. Some of these novels are well known and widely read. Others may well be new to you. I hope this site will encourage you to read more of the fiction set in London, and to walk the streets and surroundings which these novels depict.
We are keen for new contributions - please do offer to write, there's a contact form a little lower down this page. And to the right, you will see news of events and publications of interest - including plans for a book which will include some of the items posted on this site. Do please browse - enjoy - share - read - and write. And here are the items already posted on this site - click on the book cover to be taken straight there: .
Walter Besant
All Sorts and Conditions of Men - 1882 written by Eliza Cubitt .
George Gissing
The Nether World - 1889 written by Andrew Whitehead .
H.W. Nevinson
Neighbours of Ours - 1895 written by Angela V. John .
Arthur Morrison
A Child of the Jago - 1896 written by Sarah Wise .
Arthur Morrison
To London Town - 1899 written by Eliza Cubitt .
Patrick Hamilton
The Midnight Bell - 1929 written by Simon Goulding .
Pamela Hansford Johnson
This Bed Thy Centre - 1935 written by Zoë Fairbairns .
Sajjad Zaheer
A Night in London - 1938 written by Madhu Singh .
Norman Collins
London Belongs To Me - 1945 written by Séamas Duffy .
Elizabeth Bowen
The Heat of the Day - 1948 written by Jane Miller .
Alexander Baron
Rosie Hogarth - 1951 written by Andrew Whitehead .
Gerald Kersh
Fowlers End - 1957 written by Séamas Duffy .
Colin MacInnes
City of Spades - 1957 written by Kate Houlden .
Colin MacInnes
Absolute Beginners - 1959 written by Jerry White .
Terry Taylor
Baron's Court, All Change - 1961 written by Stewart Home .
Waguih Ghali
Beer in the Snooker Club - 1964 written by Susie Thomas .
Hanif Kureishi
The Buddha of Suburbia - 1990 written by Susie Thomas .
Nigel Williams
The Wimbledon Poisoner - 1990 written by David Charnick .
Peter Ackroyd
The Plato Papers - 1999 written by David Charnick |
A new look at the 'Jago'
Arthur Morrison's classic novel of a criminal slum, A Child of the Jago, has now been published as an Oxford World's Classic. Do read Sarah Wise's account of why you might not want to believe all that Morrison says.
London Fictions on Facebook
Come and visit the London Fictions page on Facebook - regular, but not too frequent, postings about the city, its history and the novels that capture it. And quizzes as well.
'This Bed Thy Centre'
This is 'a novel all about sex', says Zoë Fairbairns in her introduction to the new Five Leaves edition of this Pamela Hansford Johnson title. This Bed Thy Centre was first published in 1935, and is set around Clapham Common and Battersea. Zoë Fairbairns' introduction is also posted on the London Fictions site.
Five Leaves has also recently republished three other great London novels - all about "beats, bums and bohemians". They are: + Terry Taylor, Baron's Court, All Change + Laura Del-Rivo, The Furnished Room + Colin Wilson, Adrift in Soho 'Jew Boy'
 London Books has republished Simon Blumenfeld's seminal 1930s novel, Jew Boy. Ken Worpole has written the introduction. And Benedict Richards has designed another in this publisher's stand-out covers.
Iain Sinclair, Blake and Swedenborg
The Swedenborg archive - which respects the memory and intellectual legacy of the eighteenth century theologian and mystic - has published a hugely engaging lecture by Iain Sinclair. It's entitled Blake's London: the topographic sublime. William Blake was greatly influenced by Swedenborg - and the booklet, and lecture, are a treat.
'A Night in London'
 A Night in London - published by Harper - is the first ever full translation into English of a key writing of one of the most important figures in progressive Urdu literature. Sajjad Zaheer's novella is the story of a party given one evening in the mid-1930s by an Indian student with rooms in Bloomsbury.
'Hackney Hear'
The brilliant Hackney Podcast team have now launched an i-phone app, Hackney Hear - an audio trip in and around London Fields. Give it a listen!
'Sole Searching'
Estuary Publishing have been in touch - their latest title is by Paul Gilson, Sole Searching: tales of a Thames fisherman. It's not fiction, but I am sure the book will be of interest to many who come to this site.
'Eight Weeks'
Black Apollo Press - which has republished novels by Zangwill and Amy Levy - is soon to publish a new title on the East End. It describes Bob Biderman's Eight Weeks in the Summer of Victoria's Jubilee as a social documentary about the Jewish East End in the 1880s.
The image at the head of this page is a panorama of London from Hampstead Heath. Photograph taken by Michael Reeve, 17 July 2004. It is used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License We are always on the look out for new contributions - so please do offer! |
