Going East

[Going East] does for contemporary London what The Bonfire of the Vanities did for 1980s New York. Once you start reading, you are unlikely to stop. Once you finish, it makes you think about the world we have made for ourselves. --Allan Massie Mia Taylor's life is enviable: she is loved by her glamorous, powerful family, she has a high-profile career, she feels trust and love for the world that surrounds her. And then a violent crime destroys it all in one night. Struggling to overcome her anguish and understand what has happened--and why--she immerses herself in London's gritty East End, where raw reality confronts her daily. As she starts to emerge from grief, she encounters clues to what may have been a cover-up for her family's destruction. And in following them she begins to piece together the truth about the men she once revered. The evidence unravels against a complex urban backdrop, rich with characters set in a legendary locale. Politics and corruption, poverty and decadence, bigotry and class warfare converge in a story and becomes a testament to the resilience that is possible in the wake of turbulent times. Going East is at once a mystery and a love story; it heralds the arrival of a brilliant storyteller.

Review :
"Matthew d'Ancona brings to vivid life the mysterious realities of London's East End in this rich and compelling novel." --Peter Ackroyd "Although every note sounded in this picture of today's London demonstrates near perfect pitch, there's a pleasingly old-fashioned feel to the massive, heaving cast, conjured with Dickensian richness. The author's background as a journalist shines in the glowing panoply of observation that distinguishes his novel. But although all the very disparate characters are well drawn, it's the beautifully rounded picture of the luckless Mia, struggling to come to terms with her new life, that really marks "Going East" as a book of authority and insight." --Barry Forshaw " ""d'Ancona charts beautifully the daily tactics required to carry on living a shattered life. There is no faulting his delineation of how pain turns the familiar into the strange." --"The Observer" "As the action zig-zags across the capital, from posh balls to seedy lap-dancing clubs, from car showrooms to dining-rooms in the House of Commons, the rich diversity of London life is brilliantly and exuberantly captured." --"The Sunday Telegraph " "Every conversation is a poker game, a tournament of feints, rallies, skirmishes and compromises where weaknesses are probed and false moves ruthlessly punished. [An] impressive debut." --"The Evening Standard " "Fast-paced from start to finish. . . . A smart, absorbing thriller." --"The Baltimore Sun "["Going East] adds a vibrant literary sheen to what was once London's most benighted quarter." --"Newsweek "Matthew d'Ancona brings to vivid life the mysterious realities of London's East End in this rich and compelling novel." --Peter Ackroyd "Although every note sounded in this picture of today's London demonstrates near perfect pitch, there's a pleasingly old-fashioned feel to the massive, heaving cast, conjured with Dickensian richness. The author's background as a journalist shines in the glowing panoply of observation that distinguishes his novel. But although all the very disparate characters are well drawn, it's the beautifully rounded picture of the luckless Mia, struggling to come to terms with her new life, that really marks "Going East as a book of authority and insight." --Barry Forshaw "d'Ancona charts beautifully the daily tactics required to carry on living a shattered life. There is no faulting his delineation of how pain turns the familiar into the strange." --"The Observer "As the action zig-zags across the capital, from posh balls to seedy lap-dancing clubs, from car showrooms to dining-rooms in the House of Commons, the rich diversity of London life is brilliantly and exuberantly captured." --"The Sunday Telegraph "Every conversation is a poker game, a tournament of feints, rallies, skirmishes and compromises where weaknesses are probed and false moves ruthlessly punished. [An] impressive debut." --"The Evening Standard