Capital

In a rapidly gentrifying London neighborhood, owning property “was like being in the casino in which you were guaranteed to be a winner.” Still, the house-rich homeowners are unsettled.

Typical colorful residential houses in Portobello road, London
(Image credit: © David Rius & Núria Tuca)

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  • Author: John Lanchester
  • Publisher: Anagrama, 608 pages

In a rapidly gentrifying London neighborhood, owning property “was like being in the casino in which you were guaranteed to be a winner.” Still, the house-rich homeowners are unsettled. Someone has been sending them mysterious postcards with photos of their homes and the ominous words, WE WANT WHAT YOU HAVE. Plus, the spring of 2008 is approaching, so we know things are not going to end well. This novel explores some serious themes: income inequality, immigration, the indignities of growing old. But it’s a rollicking read, and comparisons to Dickens aren’t overstated.

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Sandra Block
Senior Editor, Kiplinger's Personal Finance

Block joined Kiplinger in June 2012 from USA Today, where she was a reporter and personal finance columnist for more than 15 years. Prior to that, she worked for the Akron Beacon-Journal and Dow Jones Newswires. In 1993, she was a Knight-Bagehot fellow in economics and business journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She has a BA in communications from Bethany College in Bethany, W.Va.