An Acre of Barren Ground by Jeremy Gavron

A fascinating fictionalised history of the East End which, in a very Love Actually or Crash, manner sporadically features the stories of different groups of people across many walks of life. This novel attempts to negotiate between fiction and history, creating a historical fiction in which the reader is able to emotional divest, which is denied when reading a simple history which by nature remains detached and factual. 

The multiplicity of cultural unity is expressed through the induction of migrant culture and ethnographic spread demonstrating throughout the course of the text. Gavron effectively invokes the vernaculars of an international community through the vibrancy of the global voices present within the East End location. Historical roots from the period of the Romans are juxtaposed with the contemporary notion of the graphic novel and the dot.com boom. This fusion of old and new effectively 

The text walks through the East End area effectively simultaneously navigating the history of East End in as yet untold perspectives such as that of a bear and an elephant. There are a number of links between the different groups and peoples which effectively indicate the delicate spider web of society with each part related by some manner, effectively demonstrating the infallibility of human interaction and connection.