The list of Bristol books so far, whittling down to 32

Updated: 2014-05-21 In pursuit of the best Bristol novel ever written the first stage is finding as many Bristol novels as possible. Then there will be a selection and then the tournament.

The list of Bristol Novels

 

1. Ames, Laurel – Castaway
2. Archer, Jeffrey – Only Time Will Tell
3. Barnes, Julian – The Sense of An Ending
4. Benatar, Stephen – Wish Her Safe at Home
5. Bouzane, Lillian – In the Hands of the Living God (1999)
6. Boyce, Lucienne – To the Fair Land (2012)
7. Brown, Chris – Guilty Tiger , Bovver – It’s the 1970s. The hair is shaved, the music is funky and the football is violent – very, very violent. (Recommended as one of the best Bristol novels by Richard Jones from Tangent Publishing.)
8. Burgess, Melvyn – Smack (or Junk) In this award-winning but controversial novel Burgess tells the moving story of two runaway teens who turn to a life of squatting and anarchism, ultimately falling into the dark embrace of heroin addiction.
9. Burney, Fanny – Evelina
10. Butler Hallett , Michelle – Deluded Your Sailors
11. Butler, Paul – Cupids
12. Byrne, Eugene – Things Unborn (2001).
13. Carter, Angela – ‘The Bristol Trilogy’ (link):Shadow Dance (1966), Several Perceptions (1968) and Love (1971) – Locarno Ballroom. “The Bristol Trilogy”, Angela Carter In Shadow Dance (1966), Several Perceptions (1968) and Love (1971) Angela Carter offers a stylish look at the sinister underside of Bristol in the Swinging Sixties.
14. Carver, Caroline – Gone Without Trace (2007)
15. Clarke, Roz and Hall, Joanne – Colinthology (Ed.)
16. Cusk, Rachel – Arlington Park (2010) See review by the Spider’s Library. Cribbs Causeway, a well off suburb.
17. Douglas, Louise – In Her Shadow
18. Dunn, Matt – The Accidental Proposal
19. English, Lucy – Selfish People (1998).
20. Ferguson, Patricia – Peripheral Vision; the Midwife’s Daughter ?
21. Filer, Nathan – The Shock of the Fall – Read, excellent. Kingsdown, Jamaica Street and Cheltenham Road.
22. Flood, C.J. – Infinite Sky (2013)
23. Freeman, Anna – The Fair Fight (2014)
24. Godwin, John – Children of the Wave
25. Gregory, Philippa – A Respectable Trade (1995). The devastating consequences of the slave trade are explored through the powerful but impossible attraction of well-born Frances and her slave, Mehuru.
26. Tessa Hadley – Clever Girl (Trip Fiction)
27. Hall, Joanne (ed) – Airship Shape & Bristol Fashion (2014)
28. Hall, M.R. – The Coroner (Jenny Cooper 1) (2009) Jenny Cooper, newly appointed as Coroner for the Severn Vale, is plunged headfirst into a trail of murder, corruption and dark secrets. One of the first pages includes a quote from a fictional Bristol Evening Post.
29. Hardy, Jules – Altered Land
30. Harvey, Colin – Future Bristol (Ed.)
31. Harvey, Colin – Dark Spires (Ed.)
32. Hayder, Mo – Wolf; Skin; Gone; Ritual – A novel that leads you into the darkest recesses of Bristol’s underworld, where an ancient evil lurks, an evil that feeds on the blood – and flesh – of others – you’ll definitely need a strong stomach for this one! (– Bristol Libraries);
33. Johnson, Jeannie (pseudonym of Lizzie Lane) – A Penny for Tomorrow (2003).
34. Le Carre, John – Our Game [Totterdown, BTM]
35. Lane, Lizzie – Wartime Brides(2012) The war is over…but for three very different Bristol women anxiously awaiting their loved ones return, the story is only just beginning. “Wartime Brides” offers a fascinating insight into post-war family life.
36. Lee, Jonathan – Who is Mr Satoshi (2010)
37. Lewis,Robert – The Last Llanelli Train (2005) Robin Llewellyn is a private eye. More or less. Part time really, while he gets on with the full-time job of drinking himself to death on the mean streets of Bristol. He’s one step away from the gutter when he gets one last case.
38. Lewis, Susan – The Choice
39. Manson, Mike – Where’s My Money
40. Marshall, Emma (1830-1899) – wrote hundreds of romantic historical novels, many based on Bristol characters and events – inc. Bristol Bells (the story of Chatterton), Under the Mendips, In Colston’s Days and Bristol Diamonds
41. Mason, Sarah – Playing James
42. Maughan, Tim – Paintwork (2011)
43. Mayhew, Daniel – Life and How to Live it (2004).
44. McNeill, Fergus – Eye Contact (2012) –Knife Edge (2013?) and a third in the series  (being?) published 2014 The body of a young woman is found at Severn Beach in this gripping debut novel – but how can you trace a killer who strikes with no motive?
45. Moate, Jari – Paradise Now
46. Mitchell, Diane – Tainted Legacy
47. Moggach, Deborah – These Foolish Things, You must be sisters (1982 – set in Bristol Uni)
48. Myles, Josephine – Pole Star
49. Nichols, David – Starter for Ten (2004) (see comment for possible elimination) –  ‘And the novel’s setting – is it Bristol? “Some scenes imply Bristol. For instance, there’s a scene where he carries dumbells up a steep hill; that might Suggest Bristol, but some people think it is Exeter. I didn’t want to make up a city, like Rummidge in David Lodge’s campus novels, so I avoided naming it. But there are bits of St Michael’s Hill in there and bits of Park Street.” ‘
50. Nicholson, Christopher – The Elephant Keeper
51. O’Brien, Maureen – Dead Innocent
52. Prowse, Philip – Bristol Murder
53. Random, Bert – Spannered (Feeder Road)
54. Rowbotham, Michael – Shatter
55. Sheers, Owen – Pink Mist
56. Smith, Zadie – Hanwell in Hell (Park Stret)
57. Smollett, Tobias – The Expedition of Humphry Clinker
58. Steen,Marguerite – The Sun Is My Undoing (1941)
59. Stevenson, Robert Louis – Treasure Island
60. Trewavas, Ed – Shawnie (2006). Set in Knowle West and based on his experiences as a social worker, Trewavas’s highly controversial novel is grim, unrelenting and deeply unsettling.
61. Wakling, Chris – The Devil’s Mask It’s 1835, and Bristol has put the dark days of the slave trade behind it. Or has it? A routine investigation leads young lawyer Inigo Bright into a web of murder, corruption and intrigue.
62. White, Tony – Missorts Volume II
63. Wright, M.P. – Heartman
64. Young, E.H. – The Misses Mallett (1922). William – A Novel (). One of a series of novels set in “Radstowe”, based on the Clifton area of Bristol, “William” is a sharply observed period novel about English family life set in post-WW I England.