by Shena Mackay
First published 2004
Rowena Snow arrives at the Nautilus like a hermit crab searching for shelter. This peculiar shell-shaped building in South London once housed a thriving community of refugees, intellectuals and artists in the 1930s. Now only two original residents remain in their chambers. Celeste Zylberstein co-designed the Modernist structure with her deceased husband. Francis Campion, an aging poet, occupies another unit. Gus Crabb deals in secondhand goods from his space. Rowena, of mixed Indian and Scottish heritage, has no family or friends to rely on. She seeks her own version of utopia in this decaying monument to idealistic principles. The building that once represented hope and community now shelters a handful of isolated souls. Rowena must navigate the relationships with her eccentric neighbors while pursuing her childhood dream of finding Heligoland, her personal vision of paradise.
Genres: literary-fiction, 20th-century, contemporary, 21st-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Heligoland, South London, Nautilus
Period: 1930s
224 pages · Paperback · VINTAGE