Further to your disappointment with Mitchell’s lack of empathy with London, you’ll be pleased to hear that the new B&M tome is out on 14 July. Bryant and May’s Peculiar London would seem to be doing what Mitchell didn’t. Fowler says it is neither a novel, nor even a set of short stories. “Collected conversations” seems a closer theme – our characters bunny a bit about London and its stuff.
There is another novel in the machine. At present it calls itself The House that Jack Built and is a “proper” B&M novel. Might be out later this year but my money’s on 2023. Fowler’s been very busy of late, driven by a cancer diagnosis and treatment. (Don’t know the outcome). A new standalone novel called Hot Water came out in March and the third volume of his sort-of autobiography, Word Monkey, is well advanced. He’s also writing a pile of short stories and what he calls his Dark Ages Epic.
So, plenty to look forward to and hope for – not least his good health.