Minding the gap: connecting the mirror cities of London in the novels of Neil Gaiman and China Miéville

Cities in reality that are transformed into cities in literature create the opportunity for two thematic elements: firstly, the Gothic feeling of the uncanny is created because the two cities are similar and yet dissimilar to one another. Secondly, satirical elements are introduced when the author uses the city within literature to expound upon issues within the city in reality. Neil Gaiman and China Miéville employ different perspectives to recreate the historical city of London within their novels, but their results are the same, and both the uncanny and satire are achieved. In Gaiman’s Neverwhere (1996), and Miéville’s Perdido Street Station (2003) and The City & the City (2009), both authors explore thematic elements of historical London, and allow their characters to traverse that same Gothically uncanny ground. This thesis examines which aspects of historical London are borrowed for recreations of London in Gaiman and Miéville’s works, and discerns a common pattern of disorientation, transformation, reorientation, and acceptance for characters within these literary Londons