London, Burning

Picked up by chance in a second-hand shop, I found this a remarkably satisfying novel at many levels. It makes for superb page-turning reading, the characterisation is credible and the depiction of the 1970s first class. Although merely a child when the action is set, Quinn evoked for me what, at the end of the Callaghan era and the potential promised by Thatcher — however uncomfortable the prospect would have been for many — may have felt like more or different — on, say, smoking and racism — but part of Quinn's point does seem to be the rhyming of history. In particular, the complacency of incumbents and the winds of change feature as recurring themes. With the advent of Trump 2.0 occurring while reading London, Burning, Quinn seems appropriately prophetic. The novel is also interesting as a piece of metafiction. One of the four central characters is an English teacher. He tells his students about the importance of coincidences as a device. London, Burning tells of how four random strangers' lives crucially intersect. At the same time, coincidence is successfully mediated by the genuine randomness of existence — chance meetings do often happen. Nine out of ten.

By Anthony Quinn