A centuries-old building in Soho, London is the home of a French restaurant on the ground floor, a brothel on the upper floor and a flophouse for the neighborhood’s homeless in the basement. It’s a microcosm of a community threatened by the ambitions of the building’s owner to evict them and redevelop the lot. Relationships intertwine and we get a peek behind the curtain to discover all is not as it would appear. Though initially somewhat reminiscent of Alexander McCall Smith’s 44 Scotland Street series, it lacks the charm and; Full investiture into the narrative is hampered by a distance from the full interior life of any of the characters. A final quibble is that the restaurant is largely ignored in the story— which begs the question as to why it is mentioned at all. ( )

A book that is almost about nothing. 10 or so people who live, drink or own property in SoHo in London, and how they are connected as well as their histories and and relationships.
Even though the plot is mighty thin, the author is British and her writing and storytelling abilities are excellent.
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Fiona Mozley’s debut novel Elmet surprisingly but deservedly made it to the longlist – and then to the shortlist – of the 2017 Booker Prize. Set in a rural area of Yorkshire, it told the story of a prize fighter living at the edge of legality, who ends up embroiled in a violent tussle (both figurative and literal) between landowners and exploited workers and tenants.

At the time of her Booker success, Mozley was already working on her second novel which, as she stated in an interview at the time, “contains similar themes to Elmet – property, ownership, gentrification. Indeed, one can note close similarities between the subjects of the two works. In Hot Stew, however, Mozley leaves the rural backdrop and moves to London, where a block which houses a long-established brothel is going to be demolished and redeveloped by its owner, Agatha, the millionaire heiress of a Soho “baron”. Sex workers Precious and Tabitha become unlikely champions for themselves and their fellow tenants in a class battle reminiscent of Elmet.

Despite the overlapping themes and the similarities in plot details between Mozley’s two novels, Hot Stew marks a stylistic departure for the author. Where Elmet was taut and punchy, Hot Stew is more expansive. It features a rich cast of characters whose stories, told in parallel segments from their different perspectives, are all ultimately intertwined and linked to the threatened Soho block. This “choral” approach reminded me somewhat of Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other. Mozley adopts a fairly simple, matter-of-fact, sometimes borderline-bland narration, but the novel is still gripping in the way the different storylines interlock like the pieces in a puzzle. Elmet had an almost fable-like feel to it, but in Hot Stew, Mozley largely eschews the mythical in favour of a recognizable urban reality. Not completely though… some passages of the novel delve deep into the earth and past of Soho, presenting a sort of “deep time” perspective alongside the contemporary challenges faced by her cast. There are also some surreal characters (such as the “Archbishop” who leads a group of down-and-outs) and passages which veer on magical realism and/or urban Gothic (such as Debbie McGee’s adventures in the bowels of London and the final apocalyptic denouement).

On a balance, I would say that Hot Stew is less distinctive than Elmet. However, it is undeniably the work of a skilled author and a socially-conscious novel which is also an enjoyable read.

https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2021/01/hot-stew-by-fiona-mozley.html ( )

This was very British. I found it to have too many characters and was hard to keep them all straight. However, I feel I would have loved this as a Netflix series show. ( )

The writer Ann Patchett said that a book has to grab her from the first sentence for her to continue reading it. Fiona Mozley's novel, Hot Stew, did just that for me. She immediately sets a stage in her writing, describing Des Sables, a French restaurant that has been in business with very little changes for decades.

Des Sables is in the Soho section of London, and in just a few pages Mozley covers the history of Soho in breathtaking language. We are introduced to some of our large cast of characters. Tabitha and Precious live together in the building above Des Sables, where they and other women rent the rooms to ply their trade, the world's oldest profession. (In Tudor times, brothels were called 'Stews', hence the book title.) Tabitha acts as an aide/maid to Precious, who at the age of 41, may be retiring in the next few years.

Robert is celebrating his 64th birthday with his younger friend struggling actor Lorenzo, at Aphra Benn, a bar on the same street as Des Sables. Paul and Debbie enter the bar, dumping half-filled drinks into a bottle to consume later. Paul performs magic tricks (poorly) for tips, and Debbie is his sidekick. The owner prefers that the bartender show them the door.

Paul and Debbie live in the basement with other unhoused people. A man called the Archbishop rules over the roost there.

Agatha is the wealthy owner of the building where Precious and her coworkers live. She wants to evict them and the restaurant and build luxury condos as Soho is primed to move from its reputation as a Red Light district to an up-and-coming London suburb. Agatha knows some shady characters, and she is willing to use them to get what she wants.

Precious will not go quietly. She encourages the other women to join her in a protest, which catches the eye of the local media, and Precious becomes the face of the movement. She won't give up her home, "a place that you feel has left its mark on you, for better or worse, and also being a place that you've left your mark upon, for better or worse."

Fiona Mozley's writing is exquisite, she paints such a picture of this place that I felt like I was in this neighborhood, looking out my window watching these characters and their actions. (Her essay on the gentrification of Soho at the end is an added bonus I enjoyed.) The way she ties all these people together is astonishing. I was torn between wanting to race through the book to find out what is going to happen and wanting to read slowly to savor the delicious descriptions and words. I will settle for re-reading Hot Stew, and I'll recommend it to everyone I know.

Thanks to Algonquin Books for providing me with a review in exchange for an honest review. ( )