The best read of 2012 so far (and a strong contender for a book of the year for me). Fantastic story of London and social class. I'll wager the author read Bourdieu in his student days, because this goes directly to my 'sociology through literature' course reading list (once I get around to designing that...). It's true that the characters never really rise above the class positions set for them in the beginning, but hey, that's what life is really like! Some of them were more or less caricatures--especially Arabella, even though I so recognised her. Simply fantastic and definitely recommended.