City Of The Mind

by Penelope Lively

Friday, March 25, 2011

Featured image for City Of The Mind

I adored this. One of those books you don’t want to finish. I left it lying around for a long time, just reading it a chapter at a time when I wanted something great to savour.

I’m not sure if everyone would think it a great book; mostly I suspect it just hit a nerve with me and everything about it seemed perfect. It was written in 1990 about the changing landscape of London. I went to college in London in 1990 and the book seemed to capture the city just as I see it. The city of my mind.

It’s a bit of an odd story in many ways. It’s a 1990 tale of an architect, about what he’s building, his love life, his daughter. But it also flashes back to look at London in previous times, notably the second world war but other times too. As if time has collapsed in on itself and all the things that have happened in the city are going on together. Somewhat quirky, but I loved it.

One to re-read, for sure.