The Unnumbered

by Sam North

Contemporary London. You know what that's like. But there's another London too, another the streets are swirling with them. They have no jobs, no driving licence, no social security, no identity of any sort. They pass us by every day; the unnumbered. Nio and Mila are two of the unnumbered. Nio the dreamer has built a home for himself in Coldfall Woods. Mila the realist has just bought herself an identity, and works as a checkout girl. It's a their start. Mila's going to reach the stars some day. They can feel it in the air. Lucas Tooth can sense it too. He works his charm on all these women; the hopeful, the sad, the desperate. But only when they feel the fear does it bring him the pleasure. And now it's Mila's turn. Together, Nio and Mila will take on this London and all it can throw at them. But it is not an easy city. It exacts a hard tribute. The city has brought them together. The city could tear them apart.

Genres: Book Club

358 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Robert Wechsler · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are many reasons why I should not have the right audience for this novel. I’m not crazy about modern Dickensian fiction. I’m not crazy about narratives that pop inside one character after another or stories about various characters that will most likely encounter each other as the novel progresses. I’m not crazy about sweet, improbable love stories. I could go on. And yet I found this novel enchanting. The principal reason is North’s prose. He has an excellent ear, especially his sense of the rhythm of length of sentences. It’s amazing how few wrong steps he takes. Normally, I would have felt a novel like this was overstretched, but I didn't, until a bit toward the end (holding back the inevitable). I’m surprised how much I enjoyed this novel (joy in the form, not in the content).

[Angstreichian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anjali's plight into homelessness has, for the first time, made me understand why someone might willingly choose that life. Having suffered such trauma and degradation, she is unable to cope. North does well with a slow build of tension, towards the end I picked up pace. North however rushes some of his plot and makes it fit regardless of the reality in what is trying to be a realistic book.

[Dora Okeyo · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are looking to appreciate writing as a form, I'm talking about the length of sentences, detail and rhythm of characters and those little nuances in movement, speech and mannerisms then you'd find this book interesting.

If you have a desire for entertainment, to read a book that has content that's easy to read, follow and enjoy, and you set it aside then you may have a difficult time with this one.

[John Warren · Rating 3 out of 5]

She was somewhere and he only had to look at every person in the world to find her.

Seven out of ten stars. An alluring and hypnotizing read that dragged me into the complex world of illegal immigration, urban London, and love. Unnumbered by Sam North is the story of Mila Rosapepe and Nio Niopolus, a Romanian sixteen-year-old girl and a Greek born in the UK respectively. Basically, the story is simple; no grand theatrical conflict, no immense drama. But the way North made the story of Mila and Nio very human is completely mesmerizing.

Both of the characters, albeit not perfect, has a personality that is attractive. Anjali, Spider, Little Vlad and Mrs. Ginsberg are those types of supporting characters you'll need in real life whilst the personas of Charmer, Ahmed and the evil, Lucas Tooth are those who you wish you'll never ever meet. Writing was a bit tedious but rewarding most of the time. My only concern with the book is the open-ended conclusion, because it took me almost half a week to finish this prose and the author just give me another unbearable cliffhanger. I know it gave more room for my imagination, or what-may-happen, but in my opinion, it was injustice to me, and most especially to the characters.

Those who couldn't see the emptiness of their own actions were the ones who where most committed to them, however big or small.

[Discoverylover]

"The setting is present day London; a familiar scene you may think, but the people who inhabit this London are not the office workers, the shoppers, who form the lifeblood of the city, but those who move around its edges, the dispossessed, who live quite a different existence, under the tunnels and the waste grounds that the rest of us hurry by. Some are refugees, some are escaping from the blanket of domesticity; some have fallen through violence. They all try to survive. Nio a young Greek man has built a hidden home in Coldfall Woods, near St Pancras Cemetery. Mila, a spirited Romanian refugee lives with her family in a huddle of caravans near the North Circular Road. Nio is a dreamer, Mila is feisty. Together they will take on this ragged life; together they will win. But theirs is not an easy city. Their London exacts a hard tribute. There are pitfalls in this London, from which the dispossessed, however strong their will, find hard to recover. A wonderful, heartwarming, heartbreaking tale of a love that takes on all that such a city might throw at it."

[Enid Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not at all what I expected; it does explore poverty and immigration in London, however it is also filled rape and sexual assault which it goes without saying is deeply upsetting so I would not recommend this to anyone who is particularly sensitive to that.

The numerous perspectives give s strong sense of urban community, as well as bringing an intersectional approach to the issues of homelessness and poverty. This did make it a little disorienting at times be use some of the scarcely used perspectives felt somewhat unnecessary and detracted a little from the main plot, however this didn't massively hinder my enjoyment.

I particularly liked Mila; she has such an optimistic, ambitious outlook and it's really lovely to experience the plot through the eyes of someone with such hope and spark, I found myself particularly invested in her success, regardless of her relationship to Nio. There were definitely moments where I could tell that this was written by an adult man and not a fifteen year old girl, especially with her attitude towards men; as someone who was fairly recently a similar age to Mila and has also experienced those uncomfortable stares and comments from men, I feel like there is more nuance to it than just enjoying the attention but not wanting them to do anything. There's definitely a sort of power to it but I felt that it could have played up the confusion and unease. The descriptions of Mila also just felt way too sexual at times, given that she is literally fifteen years old. I feel like there's a fine line between calling out predatory behaviour and just writing a sexy fifteen year old (Which I really hope wasn't the goal) and I would've liked it more if it was only characters that were objectifying her, not the writer too. The age gap between her and Nio also just felt weird and unnecessary? Personally didn't feel that only acknowledging it when it came to sexual consent was enough.

I found Lucas to be a really interesting and engaging (and obviously despicable) character because his narrative felt so animalistic; you adopt the perspective of something hunting, rather than dating. The way he talks about women as 'mothers' and 'sisters' feels intentionally uncomfortable and Freudian. I hate it but that is very obviously the point.

I absolutely loved the descriptions of Nio's creations; they felt exciting and magical as well as showing the artistic side to him which I thought was brilliant. It's so important to portray sensitivity and talent as well as struggle when you have a character in poverty and this did that really well.

The ending wasn't particularly satisfying for me, especially because the second half of the book felt pretty aimless (partly because of the many narratives) and I was hoping for things to come together at the end and give each story more meaning. Saying that, I liked that it wasn't about all of them getting their lives together and getting 'proper jobs' and forming nice little nuclear families before coming together to sing Land of Hope and Glory at the end. It felt real and more like a series of vignettes that showed what life can be like for people in these situations, rather than a neat story with a clear start and end. I was just hoping for a little more direction.

I feel like this review comes across as more critical than I intended. I did really enjoy reading this, I'm just also quite analytical.

[Siobhan Markwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Unnumbered deals with immigrants and their precarious place in the landscape of north London but also, to be honest, about a sketchy portrayal of male sexuality and attitudes to female sexuality. This was a mixed bag: North gives us great characterisation and, as one blurb critic notes plus a real talent for portraying characters' self-talk and off-key understanding of others' motivations. He also has a pacy way of moving the action along, with large bits of the action a blank the reader fills in when they find themselves at a new point in the action. At the same time, some of the characters' choices were irrational beyond belief, the narrative didn't weight the various characters and the amount of plot yarn unwound for each story arc in a way that satisfied me as a reader and some of the tropes about minority communities felt off and some of the sex scenes were pretty bad. Lots to commend the book but felt it needed a steadier hand to pull the disparate parts together with real rhythm and a less stereotyped and male-dominated voice for the sexual themes. A generation of readers who've read Sally Rooney's sex might be a lot more critical than the book editors of 2004 to be honest.

[A.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sam North was my lecturer at Exeter University and helped develop my writing. He is a fantastic writer and helped me a lot. The prose and character voice in this novel is amazing but I didn't find much of a story and towards the end got a bit boring. A lot of the novel I read quickly, eager to read more but the ending went flat for me. It just didn't seem to go anywhere.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a love story than a book offering any real insight into the lives of those living on the edges of society, but enjoyable nonetheless. No spoilers, but don’t expect a happy ending.

[Lowri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed! A raw insight into a diverse group of individuals living a city life. Ended quite suddenly and would preferred a better picture of where all the characters ended up in the end.

[Daniel Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started so promising, but the plot got a bit lost in the middle and the ending left too many questions!

[Sec Lad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Very compelling mixed narrative technique. Unresolved ending was reflective of real life, but still maddeningly sad and frustrating.

[Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up one day I after eyeing it up in the second hand shop I work at, and after reading the blurb I decided to give it a go. Having now finished it, I'm so glad I decided to buy it because I enjoyed this novel immensely and would happily read it again.
The characters never ceased to interest me and the story, though hard to follow at times, was beautifully captivating, honest and realistically paced and just overall a very enjoyable read. Thank you, whoever donated it.

[Gregory Allan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very nice and lovey book which I have owned for absolute years (probably since 2008 living in London)! Now finally read it and it’s good and set in London which gave nice memories.

It’s an okay story and interesting with some sad and powerful imagery and thoughts but not wow factor material.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

The characters were set up well and were engaging but the story was frustrating, at key points just when you think it's building to something he leaves you without enough detail. And the ending was frustrating with lots of threads unresolved.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this is 3 days, couldn't put it down. Harsh and beautiful.

[Rachel Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely superb. Scary, thrilling, sad and beautiful. A big eye opener and definitely will make me think twice in how I view the homeless and illegal immigration.

[Mark Rudd · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting, but disturbing look at the lives of immigrants