La nostra Londra

“When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.” Samuel Johnson

This novel is a plunge into the heart of London by one of the most followed and beloved voices in Italian contemporary fiction. A novel that moves effortlessly between autobiography and the reinvention of a metropolis that is both ancient and modern at the same time. This novel, that sold in its first edition 60,000 copies, tells of the most cherished corners of London from the 1960s to today, following this vibrant city as it rapidly transforms yet manages to maintain its most distinct characteristics.
Walks through the parks, visits to small museums, ethnic restaurants, life in the Italian communities and others as well; the threads of memory weave together to create a fabric of recollections that will accompany us through the years and take us by the hand to discover a side of London that is not for tourists.
This new edition is enhanced by thirteen chapters that describe new and curious places, recounted with the ironic, witty, and purely British voice of George Hornby (Simonetta’s son): new additions, discoveries, and sites that have undergone significant changes or even become inaccessible, all permeated by the human stories of those who have contributed to create them. From the Mithreum to the Garden Museum, the Fotografiska to the Postal Museum, an unusual and fascinating itinerary through London.

“La Mia Londra is part novel, part autobiography and part travel guide for the curious, for those who want to rid themselves of a provincial point of view. It is even a pamphlet that should be studied by administrators and politicians who are looking for ways to make their cities more effective and efficient. But it is also a manual for the travelers of life, explorers of existence who love to learn to lose themselves a little bit along the way, every day.” – Elisabetta Stefanelli, Ansa

“It is a book by a woman that all women should read, especially those who have not had, as Simonetta did, the good fortune and the courage to board a plane in Punta Raisi in September of 1963 and fly to London which was then in a full-blown stage of cultural transformation.” – Elisabetta Stefanelli, Ansa