2004 Booker Prize (longlist)
Contemporary London. You know what that's like. But there's another London too, another race: the streets are swirling with them. They have no jobs, no driving licence, no social security, no identity of any sort. They pass us by every day; the unnumbered
Nio is an unnumbered. He's twenty three, and Greek. He's built a home for himself in Coldfall Woods, with a roof for a floor and a floor for a roof. It's his secret, but not for much longer. The city has eyes and ears. It's coming to get him. Then there's dark eyed Mila. She's fifteen and lives with her parents in three caravans parked off the North Circular Road. She's an unnumbered too, like her little brother, but she's just bought herself an identity, and works as a checkout girl. It's a start. She's smart. She's going to reach the stars some day. She can feel it in the air.
Lucas Tooth can sense it too. He works his charm on all these women; the hopeful, the sad, the desperate. He's the heartless best at this game, but only when they feel the fear does it bring him the pleasure. He's destroyed Anjali, once a hardworking student; now it's Mila's turn.
But Nio and Mila fall in love; dreamer and realist. Together they will take on this London and all it can throw at them. But it is not an easy city. It exacts a hard tribute. The city has brought them together. The city could tear them apart.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Nio is an unnumbered. He's twenty three, and Greek. He's built a home for himself in Coldfall Woods, with a roof for a floor and a floor for a roof. It's his secret, but not for much longer. The city has eyes and ears. It's coming to get him. Then there's dark eyed Mila. She's fifteen and lives with her parents in three caravans parked off the North Circular Road. She's an unnumbered too, like her little brother, but she's just bought herself an identity, and works as a checkout girl. It's a start. She's smart. She's going to reach the stars some day. She can feel it in the air.
Lucas Tooth can sense it too. He works his charm on all these women; the hopeful, the sad, the desperate. He's the heartless best at this game, but only when they feel the fear does it bring him the pleasure. He's destroyed Anjali, once a hardworking student; now it's Mila's turn.
But Nio and Mila fall in love; dreamer and realist. Together they will take on this London and all it can throw at them. But it is not an easy city. It exacts a hard tribute. The city has brought them together. The city could tear them apart.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Visitors also looked at these books
Used availability for Sam North's The Unnumbered