There’s always a temptation to have a strong opinion about the dealings of the City of London. I do have a strong opinion, because I used to live in Aldgate and it’s right on the edge of the city. I see the behaviour and the work ethics of the city and I’ve been quite critical of them. But when you take a much deeper look at the history of London, it is a city of making fortunes and always has been. Having said that, a lot of people are being priced out of the city. The book weaves the incidents of the life of a thirty-something catholic family man into walks through the debris that is London and with the geology, archaeology and history involved in tracing eight of the (mostly) more neglected underground (mostly) rivers and streams of the capital. Tom Chivers brings a poet's sensibility to this book about the hidden parts of the capital, mixing the past with the present, the known with the unknown and his personal story with social history and geology.' Bernardine Evaristo, author of Girl, Woman, Other That is the charm of the book. It shows a poet's sensibility in a way that I found more convincing than the more overt attempt at poetry by Macfarlane. Somewhere between all the facts and ruminations, intangible things are being presented with inexpressible feelings attached. The relationship between underlying geology, the shreds of the natural to be found at the margins of the city's structures and the human community and its detritus are core to the book even if that relationship is never formally laid out for analysis.

In recent months, we’ve seen huge flooding. In a way, that is a warning that we need to be more mindful of how we treat water. Not just the water that comes out of our tap, but also how we build on places where water is indigenous to that landscape. The only complaint is that the maps are pretty and schematic but it is not always easy to follow the travels unless you have a street finder at hand. There are also times when the precise course of the journey appears a little unclear and does not seem to match the cast of the map. Photographs are not necessary because the art of the book lies in the description but better maps would have helped considerably. On the other hand, the typography and illustrations are excellent. The book is a pleasure to read from that perspective. The autobiographical component is not self-indulgent but thoughtful, the walks grounded ruminations and the 'facts' sufficient to inform and entertain. There were moments when I felt truly enlightened about some new detail of a city that I thought I knew fairly well. Love London history? If so, do join us on the day our second Stories of London event for 2023! Christian Wolmar - How the London Underground Was Built & Cathedrals of SteamPart way through the book I find out that the author is indeed a poet and this shines through in the writing style of the book. This is social history commentary of significant importance for both now and the future. One minute you are reading about Chaucer and the next minute recent history, with the London bombings of 7/7 and even the current pandemic. Of course Chivers presents a lot of tangible facts and expresses feelings (about his family past and present) but there is something else lurking behind all this, an amalgam of 'Sorge' (an appropriate German word), sadnss, love and anxiety. Maybe a dash of fatalism not helped by COVID. Each ruminative walk covers quite a small area at a time but Chivers evokes atmosphere brilliantly. There is always a sense of 'being there' but in the context of deep time stretching down to the geological formations under the walker.

He has released two pamphlets of poetry, The Terrors (Nine Arches Press, 2009; shortlisted for the Michael Marks Award) and Flood Drain (Annexe Press, 2012), and two full collections, How To Build A City (Salt Publishing, 2009) and Dark Islands (Test Centre, 2015). His poems have been anthologised in Dear World & Everything In It (Bloodaxe Books, 2013) and London: A History in Verse (Harvard University Press, 2012). I wonder if decades or centuries from now others will experience the same hunger for pyscho-geology and the energies that have gone before them and perhaps still linger in an attempt to connect.

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Exactly what is more or less permanent or transitory is unclear. The course of ancient rivers become shifted into sewers while more recent waste threatens to degrade imperfectly and become lodged in the geology. I like many features of this book. Following Chivers on his travels through familiar streets (and unfamiliar substrata beneath them) is extremely enjoyable; he's a knowledgeable and contemplative guide, and his narrative is peppered with sharp observations and interesting literary references. Further, his descriptions of various London neighbourhoods are vibrant and immersive, and he reveals just enough personal detail to make his presence in the text eccentric, engaging, and recognisably human. I think we tend to forget that London really is a water city. You think about places like the Shell Centre, which is literally built on a concrete raft floating in the clay… Or Waterloo station built on stilts. I suppose if I’m doing anything with the book, it’s trying to return us to this idea that water is fundamental not only for life, but also in this city. His non-fiction debut London Clay: Journeys in the Deep City will be published by Transworld/Doubleday in September 2021. He is represented by Sophie Scard at United Agents. Time and time again, consciously or not, Chivers shows us streets, wastelands, rivers clogged with waste and pollution and 'nature' present but struggling to survive and break through despite the best efforts of its guardians and its underlying geographical reality.