London Bridges by Jane Stevenson

 

London Bridges by Jane Stevenson

published 2000

 

This was a surprising reread which ended up linking with my recent themes and discussions: most unexpected.

Jane Stevenson produced two books of novellas– Strange Deceptions in 1999 and then Good Women in 2005. Both were unusual, enjoyable, compelling. She has also produced scholarly non-fiction (she is an academic with apparently wide interests) and some historical novels, which I have also read. And then there’s this one:  a contemporary novel which I remembered loving. I decided to reread it, and found an element that I had completely forgotten.

I had been mentioning recently (not for the first time) that Jo Walton had been inspired to write her Small Change trilogy by thinking about Josephine Tey. (And also inspired by Trollope, also brought on board by Amanda Craig.) Well, it turns out Jane Stevenson was inspired by Margery Allingham – recently much featured on the blog.

Stevenson  said she wanted to write a book featuring a grown-up version of Charley Luke’s daughter Hattie.

slight SPOILER: for Campion books, not for this book

In Allingham’s 1955 The Beckoning Lady, Albert Campion’s policeman friend Inspector Luke marries Prunella. The outfit she wears for her betrothal was one of the original inspirations for the blog, though it took me a long time and a challenge to readers to illustrate it (and I may even have to look at that again…) The Prune, as she was known, was a splendid character, and it was disappointing and inexplicable that Allingham

 

SPOILER

 

killed her off, really for no good reason, leaving the child Hattie behind. In The China Governess (1963) Campion wonders how this child will grow up. London Bridges is Stevenson’s answer, and yes I will also be doing a post on The China Governess itself soon.

I can’t ever stop myself doing the age-maths: Oct 30^th 1998 is a Friday which means the action of the book happens during that year. Hattie is going to be between 30 and 40, which is about right. And a splendid character.

The book is a kind of crime story/ thriller combined with a comedy of manners. There is a murder and attempted heist, and you are never in any doubt as to who are the bad guys, no surprises in that direction. We follow their thought and actions. On the other side there are some nice young moderns living their best London life – an Australian postgrad, a gay academic, a solicitor, and Hattie Luke, who works for a charity giving grants to improve London life. There is an ancient Greek trading firm whose last surviving member lives tucked away in the City, and there is a connection with Mount Athos, with a church in Southwark, with some possible lost valuables. The nice people all meet by chance and then work together in a satisfying way to thwart the wrong-doers, and to try to create something beautiful on a bombsite in a corner of London. And if that sounds a bit Famous Five – well so be it, not a million miles off. There is also a slight resemblance to the wonderful crime books of Sarah Caudwell, also full of charming young people. (I like the top picture for them, although they should be smiling more)

And very like Allingham who always wrote so wonderfully about corners of London – this one is a love letter to the city just like hers.

It’s also full of moments from the exact time it was written – Pret a Manger (a cheap and cheerful chain of sandwich shops) were in their glory as a game-changer for London life. There is a Filofax and Ceefax, and a mention of Donald Trump. And a moment where two people exchanging phone numbers tear off the back page of a chequebook as the only paper they have – very recognizable, although completely forgotten by me and I’m sure everyone else.

The author explains how containers have changed the River Thames and the docks, and also shows a wonderful trip to the Columbia Rd Flower Market, as well as a Saturday night party which we’ve all been at (well, people of my generation).

There are some lovely lines: ‘Not even an Oxford education had taught him about the practicalities of assassination’

And ‘His manner was murmuring and deferential… in the best traditions of the Byzantine Civil Service and Harrods Food Hall.’

The clothes are so very much of their time – jumper and leggings, spiky gelled hair, big sparkly earrings, pink Doc Martens. A gunmetal dress, a nice red dress, clothes for doing book research. Obv I went to my favourite resource for millennium clothes, the Old Ralph Lauren Adverts: Archive (tumblr.com)

In addition to all the other connections, the characters end up at the source of the Thames – which featured in The Way to the Sea, the first book by Caroline Crampton, also much featured recently.

This book was an absolute joy to read, and I hope maybe someone will revive it at some point.

 

My Ralph Lauren researcher looks like cover of the earlier book of novellas, Several Deceptions.