Bøger om London

Mr. Peardews arkiv for tabte ting er en vittig og vis roman om at miste alt fra puslespilsbrikker og paraplyer til arvestykker, minder og endda sig selv – men også om at søge og genfinde det hele på de mest uventede måder. I Anthony Peardews hus gemmer der sig et arkiv for tabte ting, som han har mødt på sin vej. Nu befinder han sig i sit livs efterår, og det går ham på, at det endnu ikke er lykkedes ham at genforene tingene med deres ejere.Han testamenterer derfor sit hus, alle dets genstande og missionen til sin husholderske, Laura, som er i gang med at komme sig oven på en slem skilsmisse. Men opgaven er enorm, og arkivet viser sig at rumme skæbnesvangre tab, som gør det svært for levende som døde at finde fred.

Madame Burova er en magisk fortælling om 1970'ernes gade-entertainere, fortabte sjæle og genfundne hjertevenner. Men først og fremmest er det en historie om en kærlighed, der varer ved.I halvtreds år er elskere og løgnere, engle og djævle, drømmere og fjolser passeret gennem Madame Burovas bod ved Brightons strandpromenade. Hendes tarotkort har afsløret dem alle, og hendes kort lyver aldrig. Men Madame Burova er udmattet af andre menneskers liv og parat til at trække sig tilbage.I London har Billie mistet sit universitetsjob og sit ægteskab, da hun gør en opdagelse, der drager selve hendes identitet i tvivl. Fast besluttet på at finde svar, må hun nu følge en sti, der muligvis fører til Madame Burovas dør.

'I raced through it. Brilliant writing' Harriet Tyce author of Blood OrangeA GUILTY MAN IS ABOUT TO GO FREE.YOU HAVE THE POWER TO PUT HIM AWAY FOR GOOD.ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS MISINTERPRET ONE WORD.NO ONE WOULD KNOW.DO YOU DO IT?EVEN IF IT MEANS RISKING EVERYTHING... INCLUDING YOUR SON?_____________________________________________'An ingenious premise, cleverly executed' Sunday Times bestseller Sabine Durrant'Intriguing' Daily Mail'Compelling and ingenious' Prima'Exciting and original' Heat***Readers love THE INTERPRETER:'I couldn't put it down... gripping''Loved this one! Gripping and exciting''Tense and enjoyable''I was instantly immersed' 'Unique... I was immediately drawn in by the characters''Incredible... had me completely engrossed' 'I loved how different the plot is''A great crime thriller''Completely fresh... it captures you from the start''This book is going to be huge!'

From the bestselling, Booker-shortlisted writer of Italian Ways and Europa, a classic novel about a man's emotional reckoning in a changed world far from homeFrank's reclusive existence in a leafy part of London is shattered when he is summoned to Milan for the funeral of an old friend. Preoccupied by this sudden intrusion of his past, he flies, oblivious, into the epicentre of a crisis he has barely registered on the news.It is spring, his luxury hotel offers every imaginable comfort; perhaps he will be able to weather the situation and return home unscathed? What Frank doesn't know is that he's about to make a discovery that will change his heart and his mind.The arresting new novel from Booker Prize-shortlisted Tim Parks, Hotel Milano is a universal story from a unique moment in recent history: a book about the kindness of strangers, and about a complicated man who, faced with the possibility of saving a life, must also take stock of his own.Praise for In Extremis:'Parks's prose brings us closer to the pressures and rhythms of a lived life than the work of any other contemporary writer I can think of'Mike McCormack, New Statesman Books of the Year'Head and shoulders above so many of the books turned out by similar writers... A wonderfully written novel'Kirsty Gunn, Guardian'Tim Parks is a hugely talented writer'Sunday Times

*As seen on The One Show**A Sunday Times Crime Book of the Year*'A rip-roaring mystery that's engrossing from start to finish' ABIR MUKHERJEEHAS SOMEONE GOT AWAY WITH MURDER?On the verge of a four-billion-dollar deal, a tech entrepreneur from Shoreditch is found dead in a construction site, which leads to the discovery of three skeletons over a hundred years old.But as fresh bodies turn up, can Detective Kamil - along with his friend Anjoli - prevent another murder?Desperate to solve his first case for the Met, will Kamil put his reputation on the line... then cross it?*The thrilling new Kamil Rahman mystery, THE SPY, is available to pre-order now!*Praise for the Detective Kamil Rahman series:'Hugely entertaining' ANN CLEEVES'The Detective has all the ingredients for a great crime series' SUN'[Kamil is a] likeable inspector . . . We shall hear much more of him' DAILY MAIL'An elegantly constructed thriller' THE TIMES'Outstanding' SUNDAY TIMES

*As seen on The One Show**Dead Good 14 Best Thrillers of All Time 2023*'Thrilling . . . a terrific series' Sunday TimesSomeone has an appetite for murderKamil Rahman used to be a detective in Kolkata. Now he's a cook in London's East End.Yet trouble still knows where to find him...Kamil Rahman thought his crimefighting days were behind him. But when a woman he knows is murdered and the police arrest the most convenient suspect, he hangs up his apron and employs his detective skills once more to find the true killer.Meanwhile, restaurant manager Anjoli is volunteering with a homeless charity, where she notices a sudden troubling increase in unexplained deaths among people sleeping rough in and around Brick Lane. With the council and police uninterested, she starts an investigation of her own.Kamil and Anjoli's cases seem unrelated, but as the duo dig deeper, they discover connections that stretch from London to Lahore. Together they take on the indifference of the authorities.If the Met won't find the murderers, then they will.*A GUARDIAN BEST CRIME AND THRILLER BOOK OF 2022*

'Compelling and utterly absorbing... an artfully crafted debut' SUSAN STOKES-CHAPMAN, author of PANDORA'A gripping Gothic tale of grief and ambition, passion and intrigue' JESS KIDD, author of THE NIGHT SHIP'A wonderful book; dark, passionate, multi-layered' JOANNE HARRIS, author of CHOCOLAT'A fantastic read: I felt everything about Mary, her simmering anger and her intellectual delight' FREYA MARSKE, author of THE LAST BINDING trilogy'Witty, dark and sharp as a scalpel...brilliantly captures what it's like to be a woman in a man's world' LIZZIE POOK, author of MOONLIGHT AND THE PEARLER'S DAUGHTER________Mary is the great-niece of Victor Frankenstein. She knows her great uncle disappeared in mysterious circumstances in the Arctic but she doesn't know why or how...The 1850s is a time of discovery and London is ablaze with the latest scientific theories and debates, especially when a spectacular new exhibition of dinosaur sculptures opens at the Crystal Palace. Mary, with a sharp mind and a sharper tongue, is keen to make her name in this world of science, alongside her geologist husband Henry, but without wealth and connections, their options are limited.But when Mary discovers some old family papers that allude to the shocking truth behind her great-uncle's past, she thinks she may have found the key to securing their future... Their quest takes them to the wilds of Scotland, to Henry's intriguing but reclusive sister Maisie, and to a deadly chase with a rival who is out to steal their secret...

'Atkinson on her finest form. A marvel of plate-spinning narrative knowhow, a peak performance of consummate control.' OBSERVER'This is the perfect novel for uncertain times.' THE TIMES'I can think of few writers other than Dickens who can match it' SUNDAY TIMES'Brilliant' RICHARD OSMAN'Kate Atkinson is simply one of the best writers working today, anywhere in the world' GILLIAN FLYNN____1926, and in a country still recovering from the Great War, London has become the focus for a delirious new nightlife. In the clubs of Soho, peers of the realm rub shoulders with starlets, foreign dignitaries with gangsters, and girls sell dances for a shilling a time.At the heart of this glittering world is notorious Nellie Coker, ruthless but also ambitious to advance her six children, including the enigmatic eldest, Niven whose character has been forged in the crucible of the Somme. But success breeds enemies, and Nellie's empire faces threats from without and within. For beneath the dazzle of Soho's gaiety, there is a dark underbelly, a world in which it is all too easy to become lost.With her unique Dickensian flair, Kate Atkinson brings together a glittering cast of characters in a truly mesmeric novel that captures the uncertainty and mutability of life; of a world in which nothing is quite as it seems._____'Seduction, betrayal, and larger-than-life characters that will have you hooked until the last page' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH'This book is one to savour, for the energy, for the wit, for the tenderness of characterisation that make Atkinson enduringly popular' GUARDIAN'As vividly filthy, populous, dangerous as anything described by Dickens, but writing is closer to Thackeray's...Atkinson is a novelist of unrivalled immediacy, authority, and skill.' FINANCIAL TIMES

Discover the beauty and delights of London's waterways, on foot or by boat, with Derek Pratt and Richard Mayon-White's fascinating and thorough guide.To really explore London's canals is to see the city in a way you've never seen it before. A different world, away from the hustle-bustle of overladen streets and towering skyscrapers, the waterways offer a unique paradise, full of wildlife, brightly coloured narrowboats, lush greenery and an environment steeped in history. London's Canals will open your eyes to this world and show you all it has to offer, walking with you along the vast stretches of each canal, pointing out the many sights to see and enjoy, pubs to quench your thirst in and history to marvel at. Enjoy whole days out with family and friends, or just an hour or two, choosing a stretch of canal and discovering so many sights and attractions either on or within a short walk from the water's edge. With information boxes, travel directions, clear maps and beautiful photography, along with insightful travel writing from the kings of the waterways, Derek Pratt and Richard Mayon-White, London's Canals is the perfect guide for anyone who loves walking, wildlife and the waterways of the great city of London. Go out there and see for yourself - there is a wonderful network of waterways just waiting to be explored in parts of London you hardly knew existed.

Two sisters of opposing temperament but who share the pangs of tragic love provide the subjects for Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility.Part of the Macmillan Collector's Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. Gorgeously illustrated by the celebrated Hugh Thomson, this Macmillan Collector's Library edition also includes an afterword by author and critic Henry Hitchings.Elinor, practical and conventional, the epitome of sense, desires a man who is promised to another woman. Marianne, emotional and sentimental, the epitome of sensibility, loses her heart to a scoundrel who jilts her. A powerful drama of family life and growing up, Sense and Sensibility is at once a subtle comedy of manners and a striking critique of early nineteenth-century society.

Oft-copied but never bettered, Jane Austen's Emma is a remarkable comedy of manners. Part of the Macmillan Collector's Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is illustrated by the celebrated Hugh Thomson and includes an afterword by David Pinching.Austen follows the charming but insensitive Emma Woodhouse as she sets out on an ill-fated career of match-making in the little town of Highbury. Taking the pretty but dreary Harriet Smith as her subject, Emma creates misunderstandings and chaos as she tries to find Harriet a suitor, until she begins to realize it isn't the lives of others she must try to transform.

'A stunning piece of speculative fiction' The i'A haunting novel about love, survival and everything in between ... one to get excited about' Stylist, Best Modern Dystopia---But she isn't here, no one is here. And I have a terror of being alone, in this building, in London, in the world.Neffy is a young woman running away from grief and guilt, and the one big mistake that has derailed her career. When a debilitating new virus sweeps across the globe, volunteering in a vaccine trial offers her a way to make up for her past. But then, the virus mutates, and the future she had dreamed for herself is gone.As the London streets outside the medical unit fall silent, and food begins to run out, Neffy must decide where safety lies. Might she find solace by revisiting her own heady memories of the past? Can she trust the strangers trapped inside with her - despite her growing suspicions? Or is her best chance of a future to be found in the terrifyingly unknown world outside?Haunting and compelling, The Memory of Animals is a novel about freedom and captivity, survival and sacrifice, and what we cling to when everything else has been taken away, from the Costa Award-winning, Women's Prize-shortlisted author of Unsettled Ground.---'Unsettling, moving and thoughtful, with horror lurking at the edges, this is a subtle, elegant novel. Claire Fuller is a huge talent' Lucy Atkins, author of Magpie Lane'Compulsive and thoroughly convincing. Terrific!' Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures

08.52: Siobhan har glædet sig til sin morgenmadsdate med Joseph. Normalt ser hun ham kun sent om aftenen på sit hotelværelse. Men en morgenmadsdate på valentinsdag må da betyde noget … så hvor er han?14.43: Miranda håbede, at en valentinsfrokost med Carter ville være den perfekte anledning til at fejre sit nye job. En ny start og et tegn på at hendes voksentilværelse langt om længe er ved at falde på plads: Nu har de også datet i fem måneder, og det er ved at blive seriøst. Men hvor bliver han af?18.30: Joseph Carter sagde ja til at spille Janes kæreste til en kollegas forlovelsesfest. De har godt nok ikke kendt hinanden særlig længe, men deres venskab er hurtigt blevet lyspunktet i hendes nye liv i Winchester. Joseph lovede at redde Jane i aften. Så hvorfor er han ikke dukket op?Mød Joseph Carter. Hvis du da kan finde ham …Valentinssvindleren af Beth O’Leary er en hjertevarm romantisk komedie, som handler om dating, timing og kærlighedens uransagelige veje.Pressen skriver:”Valentinssvindleren er en sensation.” Publishers Weekly”Overraskende og helt fortræffelig. Jeg kunne ikke elske den mere.” – Emily Henry”Fyldt med både humoristiske og hjerteskærende øjeblikke … en behændigt sammensat romantisk overraskelse om tilgivelse og nye chancer.” – Kirkus Reviews”Sansen for detaljen giver dybde til hver eneste karakter – selv Joseph får læserne over på sin side – og handlingen med de mange twist holder læserne hen i uvished, samtidig med at de hepper på, at alle får deres lykkelige slutning.” – Publishers Weekly”Valentinssvindleren er en romantisk komedie serveret med et mysterium.” – PopSugar

Nadia stiger på toget hver morgen klokken 07.30 … Med undtagelse af de dage hun sover over sig, eller når hun vågner hjemme hos veninden Emma efter endnu en aften med lidt for meget vin.Daniel, derimod, når altid toget. Han sover ikke over sig, faktisk har han næsten ikke sovet, siden hans far døde.En helt almindelig morgen tager en uventet drejning, da Nadia læser en lille annonce:Til den utrolig søde, lyshårede pige med den sorte designertaske og den kaffeplettede kjole ... Jeg er fyren, der altid står ved dørene ... Har du lyst til at få en drink sammen en dag?Vores stop af Laura Jane Williams er en sød og sjov romantisk historie om tilfældigheder, og om hvordan skæbnen nogle gange spiller os et puds.

'An eye-opening, deeply disturbing, fast-moving journey through the lives, homes and affairs of the filthy rich of London' Danny Dorling'Fascinating, punchy, thought-provoking. Serious Money exposes the corrosive impact of London's super rich on our economy, society and politics, and comprehensively busts the myth that their wealth trickles down to the rest of us' Frances O'GradyLondon is a plutocrat's paradise, with more resident billionaires than New York, Hong Kong or Moscow. Far from trickling down, their wealth is burning up the environment and swallowing up the city. But what do we really know about London's super rich, and the lives they lead?To find out more about this secretive, security-heavy elite, sociologist Caroline Knowles walks the streets of London from the City to suburban Surrey, via Kensington, Notting Hill, Mayfair and elsewhere. Her walks reveal how the wealthy shape the capital in their image, creating a new world of gated communities and luxury developments. A move behind closed doors takes us ever further into the dark heart of the plutocratic city, from multimillion-pound mansions to high-end hotels and gentlemen's clubs. Along the way we meet a wide and wickedly entertaining cast of millionaires, billionaires and those who serve them: bankers, aristocrats, tech tycoons, Conservative party donors, butlers, bodyguards, divorce lawyers and many, many more.By turns jaw-dropping, enraging and enlightening, Serious Money explodes the fiction that wealth is a condition to aspire to, revealing the isolation and paranoia which accompany it when the plutocrat's recompense - a life of unlimited luxury - ultimately proves hollow. It is a powerful reminder us that it is not just the super-rich who get to make the city: we make it too, and could demand something different. Because serious money is good for no one - not even the rich.'Magnificent ... Knowles writes with enviable lightness and pace about how money, property, birth, breeding, contacts, secrecy, and servants have created a class that owns and milks London, a world away from the city's ordinary citizens' Professor Ash Amin, author of Seeing Like a City

28th April 1870. Fanny and Stella, the flamboyantly dressed Miss Fanny Park and Miss Stella Boulton, are causing a stir in the Strand Theatre. All eyes are riveted upon their lascivious oglings of the gentlemen in the stalls. Moments later they are led away by the police. What followed was a scandal that shocked and titillated Victorian England in equal measure.It turned out that the alluring Miss Fanny Park and Miss Stella Boulton were no ordinary young women. Far from it. In fact, 'Boulton and Park' were young men who liked to dress as women. When the Metropolitan Police launched a secret campaign to bring about their downfall, they were arrested and subjected to a sensational show trial in Westminster Hall.As the trial of 'the Young Men in Women's Clothes' unfolded, Fanny and Stella's extraordinary lives as wives and daughters, actresses and whores were revealed to an incredulous public.With a cast of peers, politicians and prostitutes, drag queens, doctors and detectives, Fanny and Stella is a Victorian peepshow, exposing the startling underbelly of nineteenth-century London. By turns tragic and comic, meticulously researched and dazzlingly written, Fanny and Stella is an enthralling tour-de-force.

The new memoir from prize-winning writer and filmmaker Xiaolu Guo - playful, provocative and original, it's her deeply personal take on striving for a life of her own'When it comes to spinning light and shadow on the complexities of living, loving and language, Xiaolu Guo is one of the most valuable writers in the world' DEBORAH LEVYThe world can seem strange and lonely when you step away from your family and everything you have tried to call your own. Yet beauty may also appear. In the autumn of 2019 Xiaolu travelled to New York to take up her position as a visiting professor for a year, leaving her child and partner behind in London. The encounter with American culture and people threatens her sense of identity and throws her into a crisis - of meaning, desire, obligation and selfhood.This is a memoir about separation - by continents, by language, and from people. It's about being an outsider and the desperate longing to connect. Xiaolu uses her exploration of language (one of the meanings of the word 'radical' is the graphic component, or root, of Chinese characters), and her own life, to create this unique text. At once a memoir, a dictionary, and an ardent love letter, it is an expression of her fascination with Western culture and her nostalgia for Eastern landscapes, and an attempt to describe the space in between. An archive of an artist's search for creative freedom, it is above all else an intimate account of her efforts to carve out a life of her own.'Radical in angle of attack, smart and brave' IAIN SINCLAIR, author of The Gold Machine

'Delphi is a compact miracle of a book' Evie Wyld, author of The Bass Rock'Bold, brave and uncompromising, Pollard has found a way to write about the last couple of years which is both truthful and enjoyable to read, which I didn't think was possible' Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of Everyone is Still Alive'Dark and dangerous, disturbed and disturbing in equal measure - I loved it' Anna Hope, author of Expectation'I am sick of the future. Up to here with the future. I don't want anything to do with it; don't want it near me' It is 2020 and in a time more turbulent than any of us could have ever imagined, a woman is attempting to write a book about prophecy in the ancient world.Navigating the tightening grip of lockdown, a marriage in crisis, and a ten-year-old son who seems increasingly unreachable, she becomes fixated on our many forms of divination and prediction: on oracles, tarot cards and tea leaves and the questions we have always asked as we scroll and click and rage against our fates. But in doing so she fails to notice the future creeping into the heart of her own home. For despite our best intentions - our sacrifices and our bargains with the gods - time, certainty and, sometimes, those we love, can still slip away ...Heartbreakingly relatable and achingly funny Delphi is both a snapshot and a time capsule, deftly capturing our pasts, our presents, and how we keep on going in a world that is ever more uncertain and absurd.