Why read London Belongs to Me?

Book cover of London Belongs to Me

Book description

Also known as Dulcimer Street, Norman Collins's London Belongs to Me is a Dickensian romp through working-class London on the eve of the Second World War. This Penguin Modern Classics edition includes an introduction by Ed Glinert, author of The London Compendium.

It is 1938 and the prospect of war…

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Why read it?

1 author picked London Belongs to Me as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Marion Gibson

Author

I’d never heard of this 1940s novel, but it was recommended to me because I liked Sam Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners.

Norman Collins’ household of London lodgers shows us everyday life in the 1930s and war - night clubs, offices, parlours, rainy streets and sunny parks, séances, and dances. So many stories of this time are about stereotyped characters speaking lost slang, but this could have been published yesterday.

The moment I finished it, I missed kindly retired clerk Mr. Josser, elderly club hostess Connie, would-be gangster Percy Boon, and Henry Squales, the apparently fake spiritualist medium... or is he?

From Marion's 3 favorite reads in 2023.