At last, I am able to report on the first book to be completed as part of my 2021 challenge ... and the letter I had to use for this first book was L. And so, I chose Capital, by John Lanchester, which is a book focusing on one single street in London, its residents and those who work in it. Pepys Road is populated by an array of diverse characters, from an up and coming African footballer, a British banker, a Hungarian nanny, a Muslim shopkeeper and an elderly lady dying of cancer. Their family members come and go, as does the local Traffic Warden, a refugee from Zimbabwe working illegally and a Polish builder working hard to save enough money to go back home. We see each in detail, their trials, tribulations, hopes and expectations over the course of a few months. Few of them really intermingle, but they suddenly find themselves the focus of unwanted attention when postcards start to drop through their doors with the message: We Want What You Have. Most ignore them until things start to take a turn when the messages become a bit darker and the vandalism begins, which is when the police become involved. This creates a threatening undertone to all of the events that are going on in each character's individual life - the romances, the financial worries, the family tensions and the building up and dashing of dreams. This is a complex book, with many threads and a real ensemble piece reflecting how we can live cheek by jowl with our neighbours but not know them at all. Touching and funny and heartbreaking, it's a very enjoyable read, and it's no wonder this was made into a TV series some years ago.
My STAR rating: FOUR.
Length: 577 print pages.
Price I paid: free, borrowed from my husband.
Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, audio CD, ebook.
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