elliesjenna's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
zamantoleafoa's review
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
A low read but reaches a nice crescendo. Has a ruminative feel to it.
maravictorine's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jurgitasir's review against another edition
4.0
It took me quite a while to read this book. At nearly 600 pages it's not a small book as it is, but what made me slow down considerable was the way the story was told. There is very little dialog in this book. It's almost completely written in thoughts and musing of the main characters. But this is probably how they managed to get under my skin. At one point I actually didn't want to read because I was so worried what is going to happen to one of the characters.
This book gets to you slowly. You don't even notice when you start to care about everyone in it.
I am not a great reader of contemporary fiction but in the end and really enjoyed the whole story.
This book gets to you slowly. You don't even notice when you start to care about everyone in it.
I am not a great reader of contemporary fiction but in the end and really enjoyed the whole story.
jmatkinson1's review
5.0
Pepys Road is a microcosm of London society in the 2000s, a south London street which is becoming gentrified and desirable. Rich bankers and football players live cheek by jowl with older, original residents and the corner shop is run by a family of Pakistani immigrants. The traffic warden is an African asylum-seeker, the builders are Polish and the nannies speak English as a foreign language. Pepys Road hides secrets as all streets do but someone starts sending postcards and DVDs the the residents, all saying the same thing - We Want What you Have.
Every character in this book is a cliche, from the shocking conceptual artist who is nice middle class boy from Essex to the pompous immigration judge who is more concerned with people working illegally than with human rights, but that is what makes it such a great read. Each individual has their own story and each story is believable as it resonates with tales told in the media. The prose is fizzy and whole thing is both a parody and a parable - like Dickens de nous jours
Every character in this book is a cliche, from the shocking conceptual artist who is nice middle class boy from Essex to the pompous immigration judge who is more concerned with people working illegally than with human rights, but that is what makes it such a great read. Each individual has their own story and each story is believable as it resonates with tales told in the media. The prose is fizzy and whole thing is both a parody and a parable - like Dickens de nous jours
dustfeather's review
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
hannahnott's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.5
s_i_h's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
lola425's review against another edition
3.0
Too many characters, not enough heft. The plot point that should have tied all of the stories together--We want what you have--just kind of fizzled out, didn't really go anywhere, and ultimately did not make the narrative cohesive. As discrete character studies the book was interesting, if at times a little cliched. Was listening to a podcast that said that this book was being referred to as a big London novel, but I don't think it lives up to that promise, except as one of the reviewers pointed out by virtue of the numbers of pages. I read Triburbia shortly after this book and I think that book succeeded in capturing Tribeca at a specific point in time, at a period of declining affluence better than Capital did for London.
always_need_more_books's review against another edition
4.0
As soon as I read the blurb for this, I realised I'd seen the serialisation that was on TV a couple of years ago. I couldn't really remember much of the detail so it didn't really spoil the book for me.
Set on Pepys Road, a street in London, that has become expensive to live in purely due to its locality, we meet quite a cast of characters, some who live on the road and some who have connections in other ways.
We have Roger & Arabella Yount, a couple who are well off but still live well beyond their means; Petunia, an elderly lady who has lived on Pepys Road the longest and is dying of a brain tumour; a Pakistani family who own the corner shop on the end of the street and Freddy, a Premiership football star from Senegal. All receive an anonymous postcard with the message "We Want What You Have". The story follows a year in the life of these and many other characters. I really enjoyed it - the people were a real mix including many different cultures and I thought it was a good social character study. Not a great deal happened but I didn't mind this (but I do wonder if it needed to be almost 700 pages long). I hadn't heard of this author before but I'd be interested to read other books he has written.
Set on Pepys Road, a street in London, that has become expensive to live in purely due to its locality, we meet quite a cast of characters, some who live on the road and some who have connections in other ways.
We have Roger & Arabella Yount, a couple who are well off but still live well beyond their means; Petunia, an elderly lady who has lived on Pepys Road the longest and is dying of a brain tumour; a Pakistani family who own the corner shop on the end of the street and Freddy, a Premiership football star from Senegal. All receive an anonymous postcard with the message "We Want What You Have". The story follows a year in the life of these and many other characters. I really enjoyed it - the people were a real mix including many different cultures and I thought it was a good social character study. Not a great deal happened but I didn't mind this (but I do wonder if it needed to be almost 700 pages long). I hadn't heard of this author before but I'd be interested to read other books he has written.