Various Various - Underground

The Borough Press

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2018

Elizabeth: The Parade © James Smythe 2018; District: Blackfriars © Matthew Plampin 2018; Circle © Joanna Cannon 2018; Piccadilly: The Piccadilly Predicament © Lionel Shriver 2018; Northern © Kat Gordon 2018; Waterloo & City: Number Five © Joe Mungo Reed 2018; Central: Worm on a Hook © Tyler Keevil 2018; Jubilee © Layla AlAmmar 2018; Victoria: Green Park © Janice Pariat 2018; Metropolitan: My Beautiful Millennial © Tamsin Grey 2018; Bakerloo: London Etiquette © Katy Mahood 2018; Hammersmith & City: She Deserves It © Louisa Young 2018

Extracts of District: Blackfriars; Circle; Piccadilly: The Piccadilly Predicament; Northern; Waterloo & City: Number Five; Central: Worm on a Hook; Jubilee; Victoria: Green Park; Metropolitan: My Beautiful Millennial; Bakerloo: London Etiquette and Hammersmith & City: She Deserves It were all first published in the Evening Standard

Transport for London has licensed the use of its trademarks and IP with regard to the book Underground: Tales for London . Transport for London accepts no responsibility for the content of the book.

is a trademark of Transport for London and registered in the UK and other countries. All rights reserved.

Jacket design by Claire Ward © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2018

The moral rights of the authors have been asserted

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

These stories are entirely works of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in them are the work of the authors’ imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008300692

Ebook Edition © SEPTEMBER 2018 ISBN: 9780008300722

Version: 2018-08-31

For London

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Note from the Editor

James Smythe – Elizabeth

Matthew Plampin – District

Joanna Cannon – Circle

Lionel Shriver – Piccadilly

Kat Gordon – Northern

Joe Mungo Reed – Waterloo & City

Tyler Keevil – Central

Layla AlAmmar – Jubilee

Janice Pariat – Victoria

Tamsin Grey – Metropolitan

Katy Mahood – Bakerloo

Louisa Young – Hammersmith & City

Notes on the Contributors

Acknowledgements

About the Publisher

Born in 1863, the London Underground is a place where everyone comes together, from the city’s most wealthy to its homeless, old people, young people, students, residents, visitors… five million of us cram into underground carriages every day, to make our way across the city.

It is a place of endless fascination. Lives literally cross over one another. We travel in close proximity across 250 miles of underground track: we mostly stare at our feet, our phones, our newspapers, but occasionally magic can happen – a flirtatious eye caught, a small kindness exchanged. There is occasional tragedy, too, with lives lost, taken, ended.

This short story collection is a celebration of the London Underground, commissioned to mark the opening of the Elizabeth line. The twelve stories – including one memoir – explore the scope of human experience, from family misadventures to spiritual journeys, from the ends of love affairs to those just beginning. Life and death are made manifest, all on the daily commute.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: ‘London is open.’ I believe this message to be essential. This is a city where everyone is welcome, and as these stories demonstrate, the London Underground is the network connecting us all.

Ann Bissell, 2018