Caledonian Road

‘Extraordinary.’ Marina Hyde
‘An utter joy to read.’ Monica Ali
‘Majestic.’ Independent
‘A masterpiece.’ John Lanchester
‘Addictively enjoyable.’ Guardian
‘Sensational.’ Irish Independent
‘Pitch-perfect.’ Observer

From the author of Mayflies, an irresistible, unputdownable, state-of-the-nation novel – the story of one man’s epic fall from grace.

May 2021. London.

Campbell Flynn – art historian and celebrity intellectual – is entering the empire of middle age. Fuelled by an appetite for admiration and the finer things, controversy and novelty, he doesn’t take people half as seriously as they take themselves. Which will prove the first of his huge mistakes.

The second? Milo Mangasha, his beguiling and provocative student. Milo inhabits a more precarious world, has experiences and ideas which excite his teacher. He also has a plan.

Over the course of an incendiary year, a web of crimes and secrets and scandals will be revealed, and Campbell Flynn may not be able to protect himself from the shattering exposure of all his privilege really involves. But then, he always knew: when his life came tumbling down, it would occur in public.

Reviews of Caledonian Road

'A pitch-perfect tragicomedy of manners . . . a book – it's hard to resist the word Dickensian – that feels as near an authentic slice of contemporary London life as any packed tube carriage.' — Tim Adams ― Observer

'A hugely enjoyable read, all delivered in O'Hagan's customarily stylish prose . . . a book that will get people reading – and talking.' — Susie Mesure ― i newspaper

'Remarkable . . . a novel on a scale which is rare today, and one which makes you think and feel at the same time.' — Allan Massie ― Scotsman

'Where are all the great 21st-century state-of-the-nation novels? Step forward Andrew O'Hagan.' ― Sunday Times

'Caledonian Road is a remarkable feat of imaginative empathy, panoramic and witty, a Dickensian dream that blazes with profundity and philosophical inquiry. It is O'Hagan's best novel yet.' — Nikita Lalwani

Andrew O'Hagan is our Franzen. I loved CALEDONIAN ROAD. Lyrical and profound. — Nina Stibbe

A barnstorming novel. ― Observer

'I loved this novel – loved its ambition and scale and scope and certainty – its panache and brio and the joy in the writing. It's Dickens and Wolfe and Thackeray and Hogarth and Amis. By the end I felt like I hurled myself off a skyscraper called London '22 and as I fell I managed to snatch a precious glimpse into each different apartment and life , interconnected and separate, with people of different hues and accents, dreaming of wishing they were someone else, or just trying to survive another day in this torrid and glorious mess we call now. It will be a glorious success.' — Peter Morgan, creator of The Crown, Frost and Nixon

A thrilling, picaresque tale of London life … It comes as no surprise whatsoever to learn that its TV rights were long ago snapped up because this is a book that instantly feels like a box set waiting to happen. ― Evening Standard

Addictively enjoyable … a bold, bullish tale of hubris and corruption, a book simultaneously dazzled and disgusted by the city it depicts. ― Guardian

Sensational … Like a kind of modern-day Dickens, O'Hagan is masterful at conjuring the particular texture and vernacular of each corner of London life. — Ruth Gilligan ― Irish Independent

Majestic … O'Hagan excels at his"deep dive into the nonsense of now" … a brilliant, disturbing novel. ― Independent

A deeply powerful and engaging book. ― The Arts Desk

Completely contemporary yet as full of characters, plotlines and morality tales as a Victorian novel … simultaneously funny and savage … O'Hagan's prose sparkles with verve and conviction. ― Herald

Vast and riveting . O'Hagan is an enthralling guide to the different worlds that exist cheek by jowl in the city. ― Spectator