I haven't done one of these here for a while. For a full list of reviews, go to my author website at http://www.lawrie.info/reviews-of-other-books.html.
Capital by John LanchesterMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Don't expect anything to happen in a hurry in "Capital". The book is set in one street, Pepys Road in London, and focuses on the occupnats of its various properties just as the financial crash of 2007 begins. If it were a movie it would be described as an 'ensemble work', in that there is no central character, and indeed there's very little interaction between them.
It gives nothing away in the story to say that, right from the start, residents find themselves receiving anonymous postcards and messages inscribed "We Want What You Have", and the main mystery is whodunnit? It takes a while to find out – the book is near enough 600 pages long – and the mystery almost seems incidental as we explore the lives of the residents and owners over the next year.
Sounds slow and boring? It would be if John Lanchester weren't such a good writer, entertaining the reader with the tales of each character. It's a moral tale, too, and the title's the giveaway: money isn't everything.
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Gordon Lawrie
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