A Stranger City by Linda Grant

A Stranger City

Linda Grant

This is a rather complex but very intriguing novel. At first I found the different voices in this suspenseful story a bit overwhelming. But it gives such an poetic insight into the city of London and its variety of inhabitants that I was soon completely drawn in.

Extract
The couple had come to the city because Caspar regarded the city as a supra-state, beyond nationality. It was the type of place they wanted to bring up their daughter, to teach her to be citizen of the world, fluent in languages, used to seeing headscarves and skullcaps and saris and other signifiers of different races. They felt that the point of London was its capacity to stretch your imagination, even to snapping point. There was nothing one could do that would provoke its surprise.
Parallels
  • Thames: Sacred River by Peter Ackroyd
  • Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz