The Literary London Society is proud to host the essays below, which began as a collection of works on London fiction of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries curated by Andrew Whitehead. As Andrew writes, this collection celebrates “the novels which capture the essence of an absorbing city.” Our sincere thanks to Andrew for his kind permission to host this material on our website.
The Literary London Society is currently engaged in expanding the collection and we have longer-term plans to redesign the London Fictions section of our website.
We are currently seeking submissions of short, critical essays that focus on single works of fiction with London settings. We welcome essays on fiction published from the early nineteenth century to the present day. We are particularly interested in receiving essays on works of fiction that engage with underrepresented parts of London or aspects of London life and history.
Essays should be between 2,000-3,000 words in length and, while they need to be written in a manner that is accessible to a wide readership, they must be critical and argumentative. Essays should, at least in part, focus on the particulars of the work of fiction’s setting, and should conclude with a list of suggested reading. We encourage authors to provide images, including maps and where possible images of publication covers, though authors should ensure they have the requisite permission to use such materials.
Contact: Martin Dines, reviews at literary london dot org
To 1900 | 1901-1930 | 1931-1960 | 1961-1990 | 1991-on
To 1900
Daniel Defoe, A Journal of the Plague Year (1722) – Dermot Kavanagh
Charles Dickens, Great Expectations (1860-1) – David Parker
Walter Besant, All Sorts and Conditions of Men (1882) – Eliza Cubitt
Amy Levy, Reuben Sachs (1888) – Susie Thomas
Margaret Harkness, Out of Work (1888) – John Lucas
Margaret Harkness, In Darkest London (1889) – Flore Janssen
Julia Frankau, A Babe in Bohemia (1889) – Lisa Robertson
George Gissing, The Nether World (1889) – Andrew Whitehead
Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four (1890) – Andrew Lane
George Gissing, New Grub Street (1891) – Bobby Seal
Henry W. Nevinson, Neighbours of Ours (1895) – Angela V. John
Arthur Morrison, A Child of the Jago (1896) – Sarah Wise
William Pett Ridge, Mord Em’ly (1898) – Jonathon Green
M. P. Shiel, The Yellow Danger (1898) – Anne Witchard
Arthur Morrison, To London Town (1899) – Eliza Cubitt
1901-1930
Joseph Conrad, The Secret Agent (1907) – Sarah Wise
A. Neil Lyons, Arthur’s (1908) – Peter Jones
Thomas Burke, Limehouse Nights (1916) – Anne Witchard
Dorothy Richardson, The Tunnel (1919) – Bobby Seal
Virginia Woolf, Jacob’s Room (1922) – Robert B. Todd
Arnold Bennett, Riceyman Steps (1923) – Fran Pickering
Aldous Huxley, Antic Hay (1923) – Ged Pope
Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway (1925) – Anne Fernald
Christopher Isherwood, All the Conspirators (1928) – Katharine Stevenson
Lao She, Mr Ma and Son (1929) – Anne Witchard
Patrick Hamilton, The Midnight Bell (1929) – Simon Goulding
Jean Rhys, After Leaving Mr Mackenzie (1930) – Susie Thomas
A. P. Herbert, The Water Gipsies (1930) – John Wilson
1931-1960
Pamela Hansford Johnson, This Bed Thy Centre (1935) – Zoë Fairbairns
Simon Blumenfeld, Jew Boy (1935) – Rachel Lichtenstein
John Sommerfield, May Day (1936) – John King
James Curtis, The Gilt Kid (1936) – Stefan Slater
Virginia Woolf, The Years (1937) – Nuala Casey
Samuel Beckett, Murphy (1938) – Nicolas Tredell
Sajjad Zaheer, A Night in London (1938) – Madhu Singh
John Sommerfield, Trouble in Porter Street (1939) – Andrew Whitehead
Patrick Hamilton, Hangover Square (1941) – John Lucas
Graham Greene, The Ministry of Fear (1943) – Nicolas Tredell
Louis-Ferdinand Celine, Guignol’s Band I & II (1944 / 1964) – Claire Lozier
Norman Collins, London Belongs to Me (1945) – Séamas Duffy
Stella Gibbons, Westwood (1946) – Jane McChrystal
Elizabeth Bowen, The Heat of the Day (1948) – Jane Miller
George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) – Sarah Wise
Rose Macaulay, The World My Wilderness (1950) – Sam Wiseman
Graham Greene, The End of the Affair (1951) – Nicolas Tredell
Alexander Baron, Rosie Hogarth (1951) – Andrew Whitehead
Jack Lindsay, Rising Tide (1953) – Andy Croft
Iris Murdoch, Under the Net (1954) – John Wilson
Samuel Selvon, The Lonely Londoners (1956) – Bill Schwarz
Gerald Kersh, Fowlers End (1957) – Séamas Duffy
Colin MacInnes, City of Spades (1957) – Kate Houlden
Kevin FitzGerald, Trouble in West Two (1958) – Cathi Unsworth
Colin MacInnes, Absolute Beginners (1959) – Jerry White
E. R. Braithwaite, To Sir, With Love (1959) – Susie Thomas
Lynne Reid Banks, The L-Shaped Room (1960) – Cathi Unsworth
Colin MacInnes, Mr Love and Justice (1960) – Sam Wiseman
Colin Wilson, Ritual in the Dark (1960) – Colin Stanley
1961-1990
Colin Wilson, Adrift in Soho (1961) – Colin Stanley
Terry Taylor, Baron’s Court, All Change (1961) – Stewart Home
Laura Del-Rivo, The Furnished Room (1961) – Nicolas Tredell
Robert Poole, London E1 (1961) – Rachel Lichtenstein
Len Deighton, The Ipcress File (1962) – Nicolas Tredell
Alexander Baron, The Lowlife (1963) – Ken Worpole
B. S. Johnson, Albert Angelo (1964) – Andy Wimbush
Waguih Ghali, Beer in the Snooker Club (1964) – Susie Thomas
Anthony Cronin, The Life of Riley (1964) – Tony Murray
Nell Dunn, Poor Cow (1967) – Jane McChrystal
Kamala Markandaya, The Nowhere Man (1972) – Charles R. Larson
Maureen Duffy, Capital (1975) – Nicole Schrag
Lionel Davidson, The Chelsea Murders (1978) – Dermot Kavanagh
Penelope Fitzgerald, Offshore (1979) – John Wilson
J. M. O’Neill, Duffy Is Dead (1987) – Ken Worpole
Muriel Spark, A Far Cry from Kensington (1988) – Jane McChrystal
Martin Amis, London Fields (1989) – Carla Scura
Hanif Kureishi, The Buddha of Suburbia (1990) – Susie Thomas
Neil Bartlett, Ready to Catch Him Should He Fall (1990) – Gregory Woods
Nigel Williams, The Wimbledon Poisoner (1990) – David Charnick
1991-on
Peter Ackroyd, The Plato Papers (1999) – David Charnick
Zadie Smith, White Teeth (2000) – Lisa Gee
Chris Petit, The Hard Shoulder (2001) – Valentine Cunningham
Iain Banks, Dead Air (2002) – Courttia Newland
Monica Ali, Brick Lane (2003) – Sanchita Islam
Naomi Alderman, Disobedience (2006) – Audrey Snee
Xiaolu Guo, A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers (2007) – Susie Thomas
Jonathan Kemp, London Triptych (2010) – Suneel Mehmi
Martin Amis, Lionel Asbo (2012) – Nicolas Tredell
Zadie Smith, NW (2012) – Philippa Thomas
Paula Hawkins, The Girl on the Train (2015) – Jo Casebourne
Natasha Pulley, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street (2015) – Suneel Mehmi
Kamila Shamsie, Home Fire (2017) – Andrew Whitehead
Michèle Roberts, The Walworth Beauty (2017) – Suneel Mehmi
Balli Kaur Jaswal, Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows (2017) – Suneel Mehmi
Claire North, 84K (2018) – Suneel Mehmi
Vesna Goldsworthy, Monsieur Ka (2018) – Jane McChrystal
Tony White, The Fountain in the Forest (2018) – Suneel Mehmi