Category Archives: Series 3

Nell Dunn’s Up The Junction Part Two

We’re using Nell Dunn’s ‘Up The Junction’ to guide us through the notorious York & Winstanley estate in Battersea. We’re hoping to locate an old sweet factory and Nell Dunn’s house – and then make it safely out to the train station. If you want to hear our episodes without ads, as soon as they’reContinue reading “Nell Dunn’s Up The Junction Part Two”

Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia Part Two

For part two of our adventure with Hanif Kureishi’s 1990 masterpiece THE BUDDHA OF SUBURBIA we leave South London behind us and head for more exotic climes – viz, West Kensington and Hammersmith in the west of the city. We find the flat where Karim, his father the Buddha, and Eva move into a flatContinue reading “Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia Part Two”

Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia Part One

For the second of our trilogy of episodes featuring books that came up from the depths of South London, we’re taking a walk with Hanif Kureishi’s 1990 masterpiece THE BUDDHA OF SUBURBIA. We begin in Bromley, birthplace and home of the book’s hero Karim (aka Creamy) and his father, the eponymous Buddha – and alsoContinue reading “Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia Part One”

Angela Carter’s Wise Children Part Two

In Part Two, we continue to map out the South London world of ‘Wise Children’’s fictional characters. We find a haberdashers on Clapham High Street, above which Dora and Nora might have learned to dance.  We stop in at the Coach and Horses pub on Acre Lane – Dora’s local. And we visit Angela Carter’sContinue reading “Angela Carter’s Wise Children Part Two”

Angela Carter’s Wise Children Part One

This magical novel about two ageing ‘hoofers’ of London SW2 is a great excuse to get out into Lambeth, South London and hunt down the location of amazing old theatres like the massive Kennington Theatre and the Brixton Empress. We start at one of the great homes of Shakespeare performance in South London – TheContinue reading “Angela Carter’s Wise Children Part One”

Ruth Rendell’s From Doon With Death Part Two

In part two, we persist in our search for Midhurst locations that match the events in Ruth Rendell’s first novel, FROM DOON WITH DEATH. We become increasingly bogged down, unable to make the book match the real world. So we try another approach. Could Kingsmarkham actually be somewhere else? Is Rendell playing games with us?Continue reading “Ruth Rendell’s From Doon With Death Part Two”

Ruth Rendell’s From Doon With Death Part One

We’re off on our next adventure, and this time our guide is Ruth Rendell, the grandest of literary detective dames and inventor of the town of Kingsmarkham, and its watchful Chief Inspector Wexford. We start where Rendell started – with her very first book, FROM DOON WITH DEATH, published in 1964. We’re introduced to WexfordContinue reading “Ruth Rendell’s From Doon With Death Part One”

Dorothy L Sayers’s The Nine Tailors Part Two

In Part Two of our adventure in the Fens, we’re using a classic Lord Peter Wimsey novel to navigate our way around the fiendishly complex network of drains and sluices that prevent this part of the UK from being permanently underwater. We visit the town of Ramsey – once an island – and take inContinue reading “Dorothy L Sayers’s The Nine Tailors Part Two”

Dorothy L Sayers’s The Nine Tailors Part One

We’re taking a classic Lord Peter Wimsey murder mystery novel for a drive out onto the Great Level. We’re looking for the fictional village of Fenchurch St Paul, with its enormous church tower and gang of dedicated bell-ringers.  You’ll find us at Bluntisham, Upwell and Christchurch in Cambridgeshire, seeking out a suitable church, preferably withContinue reading “Dorothy L Sayers’s The Nine Tailors Part One”