MovieChat Forums > The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (2001) Discussion > Can someone from England tell me about L...

Can someone from England tell me about London, please?

posted 10 years ago by !!!deleted!!! (2212087)
3 replies | jump to latest

I have just read "What Came Before He Shot Her." I live in Australia and although I have visited London several times for reasonably lengthy periods, I have not done so for about 25 years.

I wondered if it is as bad as Elizabeth George describes it. It is almost distopian (I think that is the correct word). Several things really disturbed me:
- the animosity towards bi-racial people
- the treatment of blacks as an underclass
- the apathy of police towards racial minorities and the socially deprived
- the actual lack of many government run programmes which will have positive outcomes on the children's future
- completely ineffective social workers who are part of a system which seems to be unable to take into account the horrific treatment that these children have suffered
- a social structure in which "grassing" is seem as the worst possible action to take, and even attempted rape and the potential murder of an 8 year old child must be accepted stoically, or the results will get even worse.

Even the physical surroundings are nasty - dirty and uncared for, with litter and worse everywhere. The 12 year old at the centre of the book goes to Sloane Square and, for him, it is like entering another world.

I checked the locations on Google maps and in the past I have visited near them. I don't remember these areas being as bad as they are described nor did they part seem to be part of a nasty sub-culture. I don't remember Sloane Square and its surroundings being such an incredible contrast and being like an Emerald City.

I may be deluding myself, but thought London was a fairly safe city. Maybe I was living in a fool's paradise when I visited, but I can't believe it can have deteriorated that much. I hope the the sake of those who live there that social conditions haven't gotten that bad.

Can any local enlighten me, please? As I said, this book disturbed me. I read a lot of British police procedurals/thrillers and I have not come across any other author who paints such a dismal picture of anywhere in the UK. Even Stuart MacBride's rather grim "Halfhead" which is meant to be provide a rather nasty picture of a future Glasgow isn't as depressing. (I suppose that's because he always writes with an eye towards humour).

Thanks

[–] nicky-682-764451 8 years ago

Hang on .....

The same Elizabeth George who famously wrote the books never having set foot in the UK.

Take whatever she describes with a large pinch of salt!

[–] !!!deleted!!! (2212087) 8 years ago

I don't know about that.

Maybe I'm cynical, but I know she claims to spend considerable amount of time in England doing research, because I remember thinking that's a nice little lurk - I'm doing research for my book so I can claim it as a tax deduction. Pity I'll have to stay at Claridges, oh, and Lynley is going to have a weekend in Venice so I have to check out the Gritti Palace. Another American author who sets her books in (mainly) London, and I thought the same thing about her.

However, i'm willing to believe that her research is very, shall we say, shallow.

[–] nicky-682-764451 8 years ago

I'm pretty sure she wrote the first book at least without having visited England. I think she admitted to being fascinated about the aristocratic families and thought it would be a great premise. (At the time all I could think was had she never heard of Lord Peter Wimsey!).

She may well have visited after that, but somehow I don't think any research would be likely to result in an accurate picture of London estates. She probably drove past one in a taxi taking a few pictures.