Features

PRAISE FOR HEARTS AND MINDS

"The book addresses some difficult issues about London's society and the treatment of immigrants through this gripping novel. It will appeal to anybody who likes their crime novels with a social conscience."

Anja de Jager

"Intense, brutal, challenging, through the interwoven narratives of immigrants living in London, this novel confronts us with what it means to live and what it means to be human and as a result, forces us to interrogate our own life choices and values. It will make you squirm and want to look away but you will want to know what happens next. You will want to talk about it and it will stay with you."

Helen Cleaves

DISCUSSION POINTS

Characters

London itself is a character in the book. What do you think of Craig's portrait of the city? Why do you think that it opens on Hampstead Heath, and what is the significance of the two quotations in the Preface by TS Eliot and Wordsworth? How do the characters relate to the city?

Story

The novel's main events take place over three months, and are structured around the change in season. How do you think this affects the progression of mood?

Themes

Legal and illegal immigration is the main theme of the book. Discuss the differences in the experience of those who have migrated legally, such as Katie, and those who are in the country illegally. Do you think this is a true reflection of illegal immigration? How does this novel compared with other novels you may have read on the subject, for instance Monica Ali's Brick Lane and Rose Tremain's The Road Home?

Style

How does its style, scope and themes differ from other big London novels such as Charles Dickens's Our Mutual Friend, Anthony Trollope's The Way We Live Now or George Gissing's New Grub St? How does it differ from other contemporary novels about London?

Further reading...

Hearts and Minds
by Amanda Craig
Abacus
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