Novels based in London

[sted]

Hi everyone.

I'm trying to do a list of the best known books (novels, stories, any kind of literature), which are based, or in any way related to London. I want to organize a walk through London for me and a few friends, which would follow the places related to them.

Any ideas?

 

The walk would probably start from The Globe, because of "The Shakespeare Secret" by Jennifer Lee Carrell and because of Shakespeare himself obviously.

 

I'm looking forward to hearing your opinions.

[Raven]

There is already a thread on books set in London between the 30s and 50s here: London Life between 30s - 50s (some quite good titles there as well!).

 

This may not be quite what you are looking for though, so I can also recommend London Fields by Martin Amis and for a factual book about the history of London I can also recommend London: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd (the TV series it was based on was excellent as well, btw!).

[chesilbeach]

Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd a murder mystery set in 18th and 20th centuries involving the original architect of a series of churches built after the Great Fire of London and the modern day detective investigating a series of murders. I haven't read it, but it's been highly recommended to me, and it was recently republished by Penguin as part of their Decades series, so should be widely available.

 

Of course, virtually all of Dickens is based in London, so you've got a wide range of books to choose from there.

 

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown is set partly in London, and mentions some particular landmarks and places.

 

I'm pretty sure you can get guides for literary walks in London which might also give you some ideas.

Edited January 9, 2011 by chesilbeach

[willoyd]

Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd a murder mystery set in 18th and 20th centuries involving the original architect of a series of churches built after the Great Fire of London and the modern day detective investigating a series of murders. I haven't read it, but it's been highly recommended to me, and it was recently republished by Penguin as part of their Decades series, so should be widely available.

 

I loved it. A lot of Ackroyd's books are not only set in London, but have London as an integral character. In terms of London, I rate Ackroyd as a modern-day Dickens (about whom Ackroyd is an expert and biographer) In addition to Hawksmoor they include:

The Great Fire of London

The House of Doctor Dee

Dan Lemo and the Limehouse Golem

The Clerkenwell Tales

The Lambs of London

 

Other fiction I have enjoyed with London as an important part of the book (asterisk = particular favourites)

Mother London by Michael Moorcroft* post-war London

London Belongs To Me by Norman Collins* prewar and wartime London

London Bridges by Jane Stevenson - modern London

Burning Bright by Tracey Chevalier London of William Blake

many/most of the Sherlock Holmes stories* Victorian London

Mrs Dalloway*, and to a slightly lesser extent The Years* by Virginia Woolf - London between the wars and prewar

The Great Stink by Clare Clark - Victorian London

The Necropolis Railway by Andrew Martin - Victorian London

The series of Victorian murder mysteries set in London by Lee Jackson are quite entertaining - Victorian London

 

There are literally hundreds of others, but these are the first few that immediately jump to my mind aside from those mentioned by chesilbeach.

 

I can recommend the website 'Fictional Cities', where the author focuses on three of his favourite cities: Venice, Florence and London.

http://www.fictionalcities.co.uk/thames.htm

[page turner]

Druids' Sword- by Sara Douglass is based in london - it is the fourth book in a series (a very good one) and it always made me want to go there and see where it all happened. here's the summary from fansastic fiction:

 

1940. The skies above London are filled with German planes on nightly raids, a Blitz that brings a barrage of bombs that pound the city into rubble. Each morning Londoners face the night's handiwork and though they are presented with the possibility of sudden death, they are determined to fight the evil that threatens to destroy their nation. They struggle to live normal lives amid the terror and chaos.

 

But is it only Hitler's Luftwaffe and the Blitz that is responsible for all the death and destruction that the city is facing?

 

Brutus, the Greek Kingman who brought the bands of power to the isle of Alba millennia ago once again walks the streets of London, this time as an American major. The men and women who are his eternal companions (and sometimes lovers and enemies) have all been reborn in this time and place. They have come together for one last battle to finally complete the magical Labyrinth buried at the heart of the city. Half completed and resonating with an evil power, the Maze calls to them to complete the Game and possibly set all the players free. As Brutus works to find a solution that will end his age-old pain he comes to realize that there is a new power that walks the land. It is strong, hungry, and it has its own agenda.

 

And by its actions could change the world forever.

[Raven]

Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman, would be a good choice for a London based walk (not sure why I didn't think of that one sooner!).

[SueK]

There is an excellent series of medieval books called The Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstanby Paul Doherty. These all take place in London - Southwark and the City and a lot of the street names are still around today like Cheapside for example. The books are basically crime novels but Mr Doherty has a wonderful way of describing the sights and smells of medieval London.

[Vladd]

How about the Bryant and May books by Christopher Fowler, not only are these books set in London but they have lots of little details about the obscure history of the city.