# Let's catalog all the books set in London, shall we? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 7, 2008, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-catalog-all-the-books-set-in-london-shall-we/448453 "2008-05-07T17:39:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-catalog-all-the-books-set-in-london-shall-we/448453/1 "2008-05-07T17:39:00Z")
I’ve become aware lately that there is an indecent number of books set in London and I started to think about it further that London is probably the most story-based city for novels in the world. The British Countryside is probably high up in the top 10 for this as well. **Harry Potter Series** : Children’s Fantasy. partially set in London. **Sherlock Holmes** Adult Mystery. One of London’s most famous fictional residents. **Narnia Series** Children’s Fantasy. Mostly set in the country side, but doesn’t it start out in London during WW2? **Oliver Twist** Adult Fiction. Set in London **A Christmas Carol** : Timeless christmas story. Set in London. Everything by Charles Dickens is set in London, IRC. **Jane Austen’s Books** (Classic Fiction)all have bits of London in them, IRC. **Bridget Jones’ Diary** Adult Fiction. Modern London **The Amulet of Samarkand** Children’s Fantasy. by Jonathan stroud. ( I’m reading right now, so this book is the reason why I thought of this question.) Set in a Magical London. These are all off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-catalog-all-the-books-set-in-london-shall-we/448453/2 "2008-05-07T17:51:10Z")
**The Anubis Gates** - adult horror/fantasy **Mairelon the Magician** and **Magician’s Ward** Young adult fantasy **The Baroque Cycle** and **The Cryptonomicon** adult fantasy/historical fiction ETA: I would suggest that part of the problem is that we’re both seeing this through a form of selection bias: We’re talking about reading English language works. If we read primarily French, we’d probably think the same about Paris… ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-catalog-all-the-books-set-in-london-shall-we/448453/3 "2008-05-07T18:29:44Z")
P.G. Wodehouse’s **Jeeves** books mostly take place in London. Dickens: **A Tale of Two Cities** , **Great Expectations** , **David Copperfield** , **Oliver Twist** , etc. **Dracula** by Bram Stoker. The insufferable, overweening **London Fields** by the pompous, insufferably twitty Martin Amis. Numerous Agatha Christie novels. **Cards on the Table** and **At Bertram’s Hotel** are the first to come to mind. And simply **London** by Edward Rutherford. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-catalog-all-the-books-set-in-london-shall-we/448453/4 "2008-05-07T18:49:14Z")
The [Raffles](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._J._Raffles) stories. Orwell’s _1984._ ---
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-catalog-all-the-books-set-in-london-shall-we/448453/5 "2008-05-07T19:03:43Z")
John Wyndham’s **The Day of the Triffids** begins in London. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-catalog-all-the-books-set-in-london-shall-we/448453/6 "2008-05-07T19:04:49Z")
“It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents–except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.” –Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford (1830) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-catalog-all-the-books-set-in-london-shall-we/448453/7 "2008-05-07T19:20:19Z")
[Top Books Set in London.](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Top-Books-Set-in-London/lm/3B5WBEKY2HTNN) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-catalog-all-the-books-set-in-london-shall-we/448453/8 "2008-05-07T20:10:16Z")
_Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell_ ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-catalog-all-the-books-set-in-london-shall-we/448453/9 "2008-05-07T20:19:05Z")
Neil Gaiman, **Neverwhere**. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-catalog-all-the-books-set-in-london-shall-we/448453/10 "2008-05-07T20:55:03Z")
This thread reminds me of a novel I recall from at least 12 years back whose name I can’t remember. It’s bugging me that I can’t think of it. The premise of the humourous novel is that the Royal Family (including Diana, who had not yet died) were abruptly deposed of the last vestiges of their power. They have to move into East End council flats and get ordinary jobs. Does anybody remember this book? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-catalog-all-the-books-set-in-london-shall-we/448453/11 "2008-05-07T21:00:26Z")
The Queen And I, by Sue Townsend > **[The Queen and I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Queen_and_I)** > > The Queen and I or Queen and I may refer to: ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-catalog-all-the-books-set-in-london-shall-we/448453/12 "2008-05-07T21:19:48Z")
Several 18th-Century British novels, including Fielding’s _Tom Jones,_ and, I think, Richardson’s _Clarissa._ Thackeray’s _Vanity Fair._ Are we limiting this to fiction? If not, Boswell’s _Life of Johnson_ comes to mind. Most of Shakespeare’s Histories are set in London for at least part of the action – but none of the Comedies or Tragedies, so far as I can recall. (I don’t think the pre-Roman British capital is ever specified in _King Lear.)_ In T.H. White’s _The Once and Future King_ – and, I believe, Malory’s _Le Morte D’Arthur_ – the Sword in the Stone appears in London. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-catalog-all-the-books-set-in-london-shall-we/448453/13 "2008-05-07T21:29:40Z")
Shakespeare…whooops, he kinda slipped my mind. Sorry, bill. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-catalog-all-the-books-set-in-london-shall-we/448453/14 "2008-05-07T21:30:53Z")
A few set in and around London (for at least part of the story) that I’ve read over the past few years: The Grenadillo Box – Janet Gleeson The Anatomy of Deception – Lawrence Goldstone The Court of the Midnight King by Freda Warrington The Price of Murder – Bruce Alexander The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins Case Histories – Kate Atkinson Conspiracy of Paper – David Liss The L-Shaped Room – Lynne Reid Banks Master of All Desires – Judith Merkle Riley Martha Peake – Patrick McGrath His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman Daughter of Time – Josephine Tey New Grub Street – George Gissing Criminals – Margot Livesey The Trial of Elizabeth Cree by Peter Ackroyd River of Darkness and The Blood-Dimmed Tide – Rennie Airth (countryside, mostly) Instance of the Fingerpost – Ian Pears Fingersmith – Sarah Waters Restoration – I forgot who wrote that – somebody Tremayne, I think Then there’s London and Sarum by Edward Rutherford, and those two historicals by Ken Follett. Should we count Evelyn Waugh’s WWI books? Probably everything by Pat Barker, and wow – just think of all the historicals about Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Charles II, Richard II and III. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-catalog-all-the-books-set-in-london-shall-we/448453/15 "2008-05-07T21:33:14Z")
There are tens of thousands of books set in London. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-catalog-all-the-books-set-in-london-shall-we/448453/16 "2008-05-07T22:07:37Z")
[QUOTE=Gadarene] There are tens of thousands of books set in London. [/QUOTE] To the word, my exact thought when I saw this thread. Hell, there are probably tens of thousands of murder mysteries set in London. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-catalog-all-the-books-set-in-london-shall-we/448453/17 "2008-05-08T00:33:49Z")
Indeed. **Shirley** must surely have been…well, you get the point. Perhaps if we were to narrow the scope? How about books set in London, that have “London” in the title? I submit _The Wizard of London_ by Mercedes Lackey (which–title notwithstanding–only partially takes place in London). There may only be a few thousand books in this category. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-catalog-all-the-books-set-in-london-shall-we/448453/18 "2008-05-08T00:39:42Z")
_Brothers in Arms_ by Lois McMaster Bujold is set in a future London. _The Dracula Tape_ and _The Holmes-Dracula File_ by Frederick Saberhagen as well. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-catalog-all-the-books-set-in-london-shall-we/448453/19 "2008-05-08T01:05:43Z")
Many of the \*Saint \*books are set in London. His address, btw, was no 7 Upper Berkeley Mews, London. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-catalog-all-the-books-set-in-london-shall-we/448453/20 "2008-05-08T02:24:56Z")
> [@](#): > > Perhaps if we were to narrow the scope? How about books set in London, that have “London” in the title? I submit The Wizard of London by Mercedes Lackey (which–title notwithstanding–only partially takes place in London). There may only be a few thousand books in this category. _Bleeding London_, by Geoff Nicholson. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-catalog-all-the-books-set-in-london-shall-we/448453.md?page=2)