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Sat 05 May 2007Voices from the labyrinth of Georgian LondonFictionTo achieve literary fame through the phenomenal success of one book can be both a blessing and a curse. Tracy Chevalier's 1999 work Girl with a Pearl Earring made her a household name, but also set an exacting standard against which all subsequent novels would be judged. After the quieter successes of Falling Angels and The Lady and the Unicorn, Chevalier returns to form with this historical novel set in London in 1792-1793.Twelve-year-old Jem Kellaway and his family travel to the capital to forge a new life after the death of his brother Tommy. Flamboyant circus impresario Philip Astley finds them work and lodgings in Lambeth, but the city fails to live up to their expectations: "The filth, the crowds, the noise, the indifferent, casual, neglected buildings - none of it matched the pictures they'd conjured of London back in Dorsetshire." Streetwise Maggie helps Jem explore the city's labyrinthine lanes and alleyways, revealing a darkly decadent world in which pox-ridden prostitutes are available on almost every corner.