Saturday, July 5, 2025
Jobs Westminster City of London
  • Jobs Westminster
  • Living in London
  • Working in London
  • London Entertainment News
No Result
View All Result
Jobs Westminster City of London
No Result
View All Result
Jobs Westminster City of London
No Result
View All Result
Home London Entertainment News

Novel rejected for ‘extremely unrealistic’ portrayal of London

April 7, 2020
in London Entertainment News
Reading Time: 10 mins read
0
Novel
0
SHARES
36
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

A dystopian novel a couple of lethal pandemic wreaking havoc internationally that was rejected 15 years in the past has lastly been revealed after actuality as soon as extra proved itself stranger than fiction.

Scottish writer Peter May, 68, a former journalist and BBC screenwriter, wrote Lockdown in 2005, imagining London because the epicentre of a world outbreak, solely to see his manuscript turned away by publishers, who deemed its subject material “extraordinarily unrealistic and unreasonable”.

“On the time I wrote the ebook, scientists have been predicting that bird flu was going to be the following main world pandemic,” Mr Could told CNN.


Obtain the brand new Unbiased Premium app

Sharing the total story, not simply the headlines

“It was a really, very scary factor and it was an actual chance, so I put numerous analysis into it and got here up with the concept, what if this pandemic started in London? What may occur if a metropolis like that was fully locked down?”

His novel centres round a police detective investigating the homicide of a kid after their bones are found on the website of a makeshift hospital, an thought anticipating the opening of the NHS Nightingale at the capital’s ExCeL Centre this week.


Created with Sketch.



Created with Sketch.

1/29

A person walks down a abandoned Camden Excessive Road

Pictures Angela Christofilou

2/29

Goodge Road Station is likely one of the many stations closed to assist cut back the unfold

Angela Christofilou

3/29

An empty road within the coronary heart of Chinatown

Angela Christofilou

4/29

Individuals in masks in Chinatown a day after the lockdown

Angela Christofilou

5/29

A near-empty Piccadilly Circus in the course of the first week of lockdown

Angela Christofilou

6/29

Sonja, my neighbour, who I photographed whereas taking a brief stroll. It was good to briefly chat even from a distance

Angela Christofilou

7/29

A pair sit on the empty steps of the statue Eros in Piccadilly Circus

Angela Christofilou

8/29

Ensuring I keep two-meters aside – D’Arblay Road, Soho

Angela Christofilou

9/29

A model behind a store window. UK shops have closed till additional discover

Angela Christofilou

10/29

A discover displayed on a store window in Camden

Angela Christofilou

11/29

As a part of the lockdown, all non-essential retailers have been ordered to shut.Picture from Camden Excessive Road

Angela Christofilou

12/29

A skateboarder carrying a masks utilises his train allowance within the Camden space

Angela Christofilou

13/29

Communities have been coming collectively in a time of want

Angela Christofilou

14/29

A girl stands alone in a abandoned Oxford Road. Up till a couple of weeks in the past, on common, half 1,000,000 individuals visited the road per day

Angela Christofilou

15/29

A pair stroll hand in hand down a road in Soho, a day earlier than the stricter lockdown was introduced

Angela Christofilou

16/29

Throughout the first week of March, consumers centered on stockpiling requirements forward of a national lockdown

Angela Christofilou

17/29

Many supermarkers are working a queuing system to verify solely a restricted quantity of consumers are allowed in at anybody time

Angela Christofilou

18/29

‘Keep Secure’ – Curzon cinemas are quickly closed underneath the brand new measures

Angela Christofilou

19/29

Pubs, eating places and bars have been ordered to close as a part of the lockdown

Angela Christofilou

20/29 Camden Excessive Road

There are fears that coronavirus may result in everlasting closure of struggling retailers

Angela Christofilou

21/29

Camden City is eerily silent on a standard working day

Angela Christofilou

22/29

Retailers and supermarkets ran out of hand sanitisers within the first week of the lockdown. As we method the tip of the second week most retailers now have began to refill

Angela Christofilou

23/29

Empty streets round Soho

Angela Christofilou

24/29

A noticeboard on Camden Excessive Road urges the general public to remain at dwelling

Angela Christofilou

25/29

Camden Excessive Road, one among London’s busiest vacationer streets turns quiet

Angela Christofilou

26/29

Thriller Dwell confirmed its West Finish run ended within the wake of the coronavirus outbreak

Angela Christofilou

27/29

Empty and eerie Soho streets after stricter guidelines on social distancing introduced

Angela Christofilou

28/29

A girl pauses for a cigarette on Hanway Road, behind Tottenham Court docket Highway

Angela Christofilou

29/29

A person steps outdoors onto Hanway Road, that sits behind what’s normally a bustling retail hub

Angela Christofilou

1/29

A person walks down a abandoned Camden Excessive Road

Pictures Angela Christofilou

2/29

Goodge Road Station is likely one of the many stations closed to assist cut back the unfold

Angela Christofilou

3/29

An empty road within the coronary heart of Chinatown

Angela Christofilou

4/29

Individuals in masks in Chinatown a day after the lockdown

Angela Christofilou

5/29

A near-empty Piccadilly Circus in the course of the first week of lockdown

Angela Christofilou

6/29

Sonja, my neighbour, who I photographed whereas taking a brief stroll. It was good to briefly chat even from a distance

Angela Christofilou

7/29

A pair sit on the empty steps of the statue Eros in Piccadilly Circus

Angela Christofilou

8/29

Ensuring I keep two-meters aside – D’Arblay Road, Soho

Angela Christofilou

9/29

A model behind a store window. UK shops have closed till additional discover

Angela Christofilou

10/29

A discover displayed on a store window in Camden

Angela Christofilou

11/29

As a part of the lockdown, all non-essential retailers have been ordered to shut.Picture from Camden Excessive Road

Angela Christofilou

12/29

A skateboarder carrying a masks utilises his train allowance within the Camden space

Angela Christofilou

13/29

Communities have been coming collectively in a time of want

Angela Christofilou

14/29

A girl stands alone in a abandoned Oxford Road. Up till a couple of weeks in the past, on common, half 1,000,000 individuals visited the road per day

Angela Christofilou

15/29

A pair stroll hand in hand down a road in Soho, a day earlier than the stricter lockdown was introduced

Angela Christofilou

16/29

Throughout the first week of March, consumers centered on stockpiling requirements forward of a national lockdown

Angela Christofilou

17/29

Many supermarkers are working a queuing system to verify solely a restricted quantity of consumers are allowed in at anybody time

Angela Christofilou

18/29

‘Keep Secure’ – Curzon cinemas are quickly closed underneath the brand new measures

Angela Christofilou

19/29

Pubs, eating places and bars have been ordered to close as a part of the lockdown

Angela Christofilou

20/29 Camden Excessive Road

There are fears that coronavirus may result in everlasting closure of struggling retailers

Angela Christofilou

21/29

Camden City is eerily silent on a standard working day

Angela Christofilou

22/29

Retailers and supermarkets ran out of hand sanitisers within the first week of the lockdown. As we method the tip of the second week most retailers now have began to refill

Angela Christofilou

23/29

Empty streets round Soho

Angela Christofilou

24/29

A noticeboard on Camden Excessive Road urges the general public to remain at dwelling

Angela Christofilou

25/29

Camden Excessive Road, one among London’s busiest vacationer streets turns quiet

Angela Christofilou

26/29

Thriller Dwell confirmed its West Finish run ended within the wake of the coronavirus outbreak

Angela Christofilou

27/29

Empty and eerie Soho streets after stricter guidelines on social distancing introduced

Angela Christofilou

28/29

A girl pauses for a cigarette on Hanway Road, behind Tottenham Court docket Highway

Angela Christofilou

29/29

A person steps outdoors onto Hanway Road, that sits behind what’s normally a bustling retail hub

Angela Christofilou

“British editors on the time thought my portrayal of London underneath siege by the invisible enemy of H5N1 [bird flu] was unrealistic and will by no means occur – regardless of the truth that all my analysis confirmed that, actually, it may,” the writer told iNews.

Following the thriller’s dismissal, Mr Could deserted the challenge and finally got here to overlook he had ever written it, till a fan contacted him on Twitter suggesting he write one thing for the age of the coronavirus, refreshing his reminiscence and prompting him to retrieve the file from a Dropbox folder.

“I thought of it for a minute earlier than I realised that I’ve form of already completed it,” he remembers. “I informed my writer about it and my editor nearly fell out of his chair. He learn your complete ebook in a single day and the following morning he mentioned, ‘That is sensible. We have to publish this now.’”

The author describes himself as “extraordinarily creeped out” by how related the present disaster is to his therapy.

“After I learn it once more for the primary time since I wrote the ebook, I used to be shocked at simply how spookily correct it was,” he mentioned. “The on a regular basis particulars of the way you get via life, the way in which the lockdown works, individuals being forbidden to go away their houses. It’s all scarily correct.”

Lockdown, lastly revealed by Quercus Books, is barely out there via Amazon UK on Kindle for now, however will probably be out there as a paperback and audiobook from 30 April.

Nonetheless, Mr Could’s declare to be the primary particular person to jot down in regards to the present disaster is being challenged by one other writer, AM Smith, whose self-published e-book Muller during which “the human race is underneath assault from a lethal virus killing thousands and thousands every day” dropped on Amazon final week.

One other novel about an apocalyptic epidemic, Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel, at present tops the positioning’s “Dystopian” chart, though probably the most well-known work of fiction imagining such a state of affairs most likely stays Stephen King’s The Stand, revealed in 1978.

Author: ” — www.independent.co.uk “

About

Jobs Westminster City of London is best article source for Jobs in London, local job search, jobs, Westminster, news, employment vacancies, job vacancies, City of Westminster, London Jobs, Schools, Hospitals and Employers. Check our categories for details.

Categories

  • Jobs Westminster (309)
  • Living in London (322)
  • London Entertainment News (354)
  • Working in London (323)

Recent Posts

  • Lambeth Council, Network Rail Property and Places for London (Transport for London’s wholly owned property company) form a strategic partnership to regenerate Waterloo Station and Southbank neighbourhood – Love Lambeth
  • Renée Zellweger Opened Up About Working Undercover In A London Office Ahead Of “Bridget Jones,” Where She “Became Aware” Of The Backlash To Her Controversial Casting – Yahoo Entertainment
  • Katy Perry ponders moving to London with Orlando Bloom during her ‘Brat summer’

© 2021 Copyright - All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Jobs Westminster
  • Living in London
  • Working in London
  • London Entertainment News

© 2021 Copyright - All rights reserved.