Booktrail Bookfair of books set in London

Submitted: 10th March 2020

Booktrail Book fair of books set in London

Today should have been the first day of the London Book Fair so why not have a book fair of your own and read a selection of books set in the capital city.

If you live there, you could visit one or two of the settings. If you were going to travel, you can see the city through the eyes of an author and their characters. Feel the love of London through a good novel.

The Animals at Lockwood Manor – by Jane Healey

Place of interest: Natural History Museum

The museum is at the heart of this book. They are housed in the natural history museum before being transported to the manor house in the countryside. If you want to see similar and equally chilling displays of stuffed animals, then visit this museum. Maybe not directly after reading this book however as the eyes might move and even the statues themselves…

Notting Hill by Candice Carty-Williams

Place of interest : Notting Hill

If your legs are restless this week as you’re not whizzing around the book fair, then grab this book and get yourself down to Notting Hill. The carnival might not be on at the moment as it is in the book, but read it, then go and dance your way around the streets anyway. Get fit and read at the same time! Help the reading agency to share the love of books. This visit to Notting Hill will be one you will never forget!

The Book of Echoes by Rosanna Amaka

Place of interest: Brixton

You get to go back in time to 1980s Brixton in this novel. This is the part of London we see through the eyes of a young, black man who feels the tension of racial tensions and police treatment. There’s a real sense of place and time in this novel and a ghostly feel too in the way the West India Docks are included in this haunting story.

The Foundling by Stacey Halls

Place of Interest: The Foundling Hospital

A heartbreaking place in the novel but an inspirational one too. A home for parents to take their children if they couldn’t take care of them. In the novel, one woman is left pregnant by an errant lover and hands over her child to the Foundling Hospital. She returns a few years later to collect her, only to find that the day after she left, her ‘mother’ came to pick her up.

The history and significance of this place shines through the novel and as well as the plot, finding out about the museum’s history makes this a fascinating read.

Little by Edward Carey

Place of Interest: Madame Tussauds

Now this book might start in France, but it’s the story of a certain Madame Tussaud and we all know what she did in London! You can still visit her museum today and see the wealth of life size characters modelled on famous figures. How did the idea of the museum first come to her mind? What was it like for a woman working in a man’s trade back in the day?

A fascinating novel and a true story to boot.

Enjoy the book fair of books set in London!

Booktrail Bookfair of books set in London