The LShaped Room Author:Lynne Reid Banks The novel is set in London. The heroine is Jane -- a girl in her twenties who has taken a fling at acting and has now settled down to a public relations job for a large London hotel. Her dilemma is no less difficult for being classic: she is pregnant after one unsatisfactory night with a young man she doesn't love. As a result, her proper Vi... more »ctorian father has turned her out of the house, leaving her to find a place where she can live cheaply and anonymously; where she can wait.
The place she finds is a rooming house in the Fulham "bedsitter belt" where upper-middle-class families once lived in plush comfort- now a degenerate retreat for Bohemians, rebels, and various oddments of humanity.
On the top floor lives a huge, sentimental Negro guitar player. One floor below, a young writer: and still lower, a former lady of the theatre. In the basement: professional quarters for two streetwalkers. The L-shaped room, five flights up , is Jane's.
The novel revolves around the unique experiences of Jane, defiant and alone. Its fascination lies in the author's powerful handling of a woman in the act of turning to face life, admitting her need for human relationships. A woman contriving, through courage and determination, to come to terms with herself and with the future.« less