First published 1999
Horace Littlefair steps off the train in London wearing the wrong clothes and carrying the wrong expectations. His great uncle has offered him work at the local newspaper, but the salary barely covers his rent. Horace wants to prove himself as a journalist, but London in the late twentieth century presents complications he never imagined back home. Romance tangles with office politics. Racial tensions simmer beneath polite conversation. Someone starts making threats that sound like blackmail. Even innocent games of Scrabble turn competitive and strange. Horace tries to navigate his new world, but each choice seems to create two new problems. The newspaper office buzzes with gossip and conspiracy theories. His colleagues watch him stumble through interviews and deadline pressure. Every day brings fresh disasters that test his resolve to stay in the city. Horace must decide whether he belongs in this harsh urban landscape or if he should retreat to safer ground.
Genres: literary-fiction, mystery, contemporary, urban
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, office-politics
Setting: London
Period: late 20th century
279 pages · Hardcover · Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Content warnings: racism