Riotous comic panorama of London around the 2008 financial crisis. If some of the characters are cartoonish stereotypes in places, they are also often hilarious. As a fan of his long-form journalism I knew it would be smartly observed. I didn't expect it to be so light and funny.

Only a three star review as it didn't deliver much that it promised to and seemed pointless. However, I would recommend it for folks who enjoy observation as the many characters are very believable, the author describing their thought processes in some detail, which is both brave and successfully done.

Probably closer to 3.5 stars to be honest.

Really enjoyed this

Not as good as I hoped it would be. Some of the characters developed, but a few remained stubbornly stereotypical. I like the premise of basing a book around a street but, I suppose like in real life (so I shouldn't complain), your acquaintance with some of the residents/passers-by remains sketchy and some of them are people you don't much care about anyway.

I could write paragraphs about the book in a serious review, but why bother? Essentially, there was too little drama, very small trauma, and no lessons learned that made for dramatic or special satisfaction. Very small potatoes. The best I can do is to describe the story as a literary cozy with very little charm or anything sparkly about it.

There was a lot to like here, but overall I found the book too long. I think it would have been better if one of the plot lines had been cut. I nominate the one about Freddy Kamo the footballer. I don't think it added much to the story and it was the most tedious. The general idea was a street of houses that overlapped poor and gentrified and the people who lived in them. There is a wealthy banking family, an elderly woman whose grandson is basically Banksy (and why does the author hate Banksy so much?), a Pakistani family, a footballer from Senegal, a Polish builder and a meter maid from Zimbabwe. Each of their stories could be a separate novel and these stories are intercut throughout.

I felt the best moments came from the death of the elderly woman. There was real grace and empathy in the description of her daughter taking care of her. Similarly, the meter maid is a very strong empathetic character. The Pakistani family is less interesting until the arrest of one of the members. The wealthy banking couple is composed of stereotypes. The other characters were less successful for me. I admit this could be a me problem and not necessarily a problem with the book. I just found a lot of the characters flat. I could see where he was trying to make me care, but for the most part I just didn't.

Apparently it was made into a tv series and I could see this being one of those cases where the television show is much better than the source material.

I accidentally stumbled over this novel when browsing Audible's two-for-one offers. Several of the books I had on my list were not available on Audible, so I was in dire need of something to listen to. The subject matter: London in 2008 (when I lived there), got to me and I bought it. I also like the narrator's voice, a very important part of an audio book.

And what a great buy that was. After having Wikipedia'd Lanchester I realise that I should have known of him, but I can just as well admit it - I didn't. But I do now and will buy his other books because I adore the way he tells a story. He is able to step inside the head of an uppity banker, a football wonder boy, a Pakistani corner shop owner, a Polish worker, a Zimbabwean refugee and an elderly English woman so convincingly that you really believe him.

The story has one street in London as its focal point and we follow a number of people with connections to this street. The blanket that is weaved throughout this book of all these people's interactions is both intricate and beautiful!

Lanchester has wit, knowledge, humour and a love for all his characters, even those that barely register on the likability scale. He makes no secret of liking the people best who do real, actual work for a living and who has a thought or two to spare for his/her fellow human beings. I'm totally with him there!

I warmly recommend this great book - not least to all the people I know who have a weakness for London.

Engrossing tale(s) of the different families that live in Pepys Road, London.

Characters to love, characters to dislike and characters to empathise with.

Each story arc is concluded satisfactorily; good, bad and somewhere in between for the cast.

A real page-turner.