The action moves with dizzying speed from the highest quarters in the land to the vilest slums and low dives of the teeming city. … Thoroughly enjoyable. Novelist Allan Massie, The Scotsman,
A blast from the capital's past which brilliantly mirrors our own troubled and nervous times. … Challenging and supremely witty … Compelling, unpredictable and entertaining. Amazon Reviews
Shines in its evocation of Victorian London: a living, breathing, stinking beast of a city. The Book Bag
If you like, persuade your newspaper to cover Worms, or your local library and bookshop to stock it. If you'd like to buy it for your book club at special rates, contact the nice people at Mercat Press.
Influences
Alasdair Gray, Paul Auster, Iain Banks, Douglas Adams, Dickens, Fitzgerald, Conrad (but Heart of Darkness, not The Secret Agent). I borrowed a few notions from Wilkie Collins, Robert Louis Stevenson, Orhan Pamuk, Roald Dahl, George Bernard Shaw, my mates Harry and Philip and victorianlondon.org Watch out for the odd Morrissey and Dylan intrusion into the nineteenth century. More on my favourite books, music and films on
William's MySpace
William Sutton as
Sergeant Campbell Lawless (The Watch Man) and
Sheridan Groggins (The Irish Elocution Teacher)
Noel le Bon as
Roxton Coxhill (The Industrialist),
Sir Joseph Bazalgette (The Civil Engineer and Surgeon of the Metropolis),
Josiah Bent (The Night-Soil Man)
and Berwick Skelton (The Elusive Activist & Underworld Mastermind)
Ben Glanfield as
Fairfoul (The Weasel),
and Worm of The Euston Square Worms (public company as yet unlimited; speciality finding things as is lost, with a sideline in unfinding things as may be better off lost). Worm's invitation to the party can be seen, and heard, online.
Samia Rida as
Ruth Villiers (The Code-Cracking Librarian),
and Nellie (The Actress, not to say Hoofer).
Neither omitting:
Inspector Wardle on dour northernness;
The Professor & Numpty on underground shenanigans;
Marx, Dickens, Prince Albert, Wilkie Collins and Henry Mayhew him as wrote the London Underworld on cameos;
with The Haymarket Hoofers on high kicks.
Thanks to all those booklovers and musical fellows who have got in touch about the book. Campbell has donned his oil-skin cape again, and is en route to conduct negotiations with Garibaldi, the Bourbons and other great Victorian biscuits in the Vatican Library (in Latin). Possible titles: SEE ROME & DIE
Chief of the Assassins, or
Lawless & The Roman Radical. xxx William
“Envisage a city,” boomed a voice behind me, “as a body, pumping with fluids.” I turned to greet a smartly dressed man with an imposing moustache. He breathed in deeply, surveying the work around him with quiet satisfaction. “Blood, nerves, intestines, bowels. The whole kit and caboodle heaving with life.” Sir Joseph Bazalgette exuded verve and energy. Even as he spoke to me, little men began equipping us to go underground, arming us with galoshes, greatcoats and gloves. The great man shook my hand warmly and pulled on a deerstalker to top it off. “Sergeant Lawless, I take it? Pleasure. Official visit?”
“Could we call it semi-official?”
“You won’t mind if I carry on working. Terribly busy. Don’t require a canary, do you?”
I looked at him in bafflement.
“Regulations require a canary. Signal unexpected emissions. But I wrote the regulations. This stretch is secure enough.” Without further ado, he showed me to a makeshift wooden ladder. “Now, what the deuce is this about?”
_________________________________________
Thanks to the actors: links in Band Details to the left. And thanks to Ron for welding piquant and poignant illustrations of the age into these kinematographical trailers.
Worth a look: the
British Library's London in Maps exhibit, which includes a number of suspects from my book - Joseph Bazalgette, John Martin, John Snow (cholera solver), social inequity, slum clearance, tube and sewer contruction ...
The Victorians’ fervour for progress and reform transmogrified London: they created underground networks of sewers, gas, hydraulic pipes, underground rivers and trains; they rebuilt the inner city slums, instituted great works for the poor and banned the exploitative employment of children.
But what if you were one of those urchins? Banned from sweeping chimneys. Banned from scavenging in the sewers. And, likely as not, turfed out of your slum on the Euston Road by the cut-and-cover building of the bloody Metropolitan Line. The trains underground couldn’t drown out the revolutionary rumblings, and the Great Exhibition didn’t save the casualties of the Great Stink.
The Worms of Euston Square, a literary mystery set in Victorian London, is published by independent Edinburgh publisher, Mercat Press.
The Worms are a gang of urchins who help novice detective Campbell Lawless pursue an elusive activist, Berwick Skelton, into an underworld of sabotage, hoofers, stink and scandal.
Hi, just stopping by to see what was going on and to let you know what's happening.
May is Harlequin Historical books Spotlight Month and there is so much going on. Watch for bulletins and blogs from me to keep up on everything. Plus, I have a contest this month in which you may win 3 SIGNED books and one unsigned book.
Dust and Shadow: an Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson, available everywhere April 28th....
"At long last, an author of rare talent combines a thorough, enthusiastic knowledge of the Sherlock Holmes canon with truly rigorous research into, and respect for, the Jack the Ripper killings. Where others have failed, Lyndsay Faye's extremely impressive debut novel succeeds, on every level, providing thrilling entertainment without blatant exploitation. It will instantly take a place of distinction among the best attempts of contemporary authors to continue the work of Arthur Conan Doyle, and is, quite simply, a must for Holmes fans and Ripperologists alike. "
It is a great day to be alive! What Question can I ask to empower myself and others? What new thought can I notice now to add to my creativity? How can I improve the experience of those I encounter today? What can I do to facilitate your Gift?
Yesterday Is History Tomorrow is a Mystery Today is a Gift... That's why we call it the Present
Since about page 50 I've been hooked. Reading it at breakfast, splayed open under my porridge bowl; on the subway (no Metro for me); I'm even reading it on the toilet, by god. Coming into the final quarter now, rolling my sleeves up for the denouement. Cracking. I love the Josiah Bent slang lesson - Do you reckon Burgess pilfered some of this for Clockwork Orange? Brilliant. English verlan! And is there pig-Latin in there, too? I'm going to start using it. Old school slang revival starts here.
Hope all good with you. First Tiger have gigs next week, if you're still this side of the border...
I don't know if you're about but diego brown and the good fairy are playing Ryan's Bar in stoke newington next friday. Just so you know. Hope you're well.
Hi William, just thought I'd let you know about a new group I've started for fans of historical crime fiction. It's early days yet, but I'll be adding stuff over the coming days and weeks. If you're interested, check it out here.
“THINK CHRISTMAS!!’ Do your shopping early!!! Give a good mystery book as a gift. Everyone loves a good suspense novel. Links below go directly to my books.
Cick on banner to visit my site, then on Bookshelf for Autographed Print books.
(Publisher) Click on SynergEbooks banner for E-books
Hi, we really need your help. We could win a Music Sponsorship worth a million (!) Would you like to help us by placing your vote?
If you have the time, please visit www.rampmusic.se and vote The Dora Steins.
This is how it goes: 1) click on "rosta"(=vote) and then rank the bands from 0-5 and please, please give the Dora Steins the 5:er! 2) Then click on "bekrafta roster"(=confirm) and register your name! 3) DONE!
It would mean a lot to us, thank you very, very much
Worms Book Trailer
Online Now!
