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    Leaving London
    Leaving London
    Leaving London
    Ebook295 pages4 hours

    Leaving London

    By Garry Crystal

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    About this ebook

    After a bad breakup, an aspiring writer returns to London with the intention of avoiding any future pain by living life with as little responsibility as possible, but his history of self-destructive self-medicating tendencies is a little harder to leave behind.

     

    In London, Cal finds refuge in meaningless jobs, temporary relationships and a disconnected life where loneliness is an ironic by-product of living in a city of eight million. And London, London has its own plans for him. Assaulted on Christmas Eve, horrible bosses, a suicidal flat-mate and a new writing job for a less than responsible employer, all to add to Cal's constant hangover. When Sofia appears - a woman he is both attracted to and suspicious of - Cal soon finds himself immersed in a tumultuous co-dependent relationship where harsh reality is the only option available.

     

    Alcohol, drugs, sex, love, depression, loneliness, game-playing and a temporary escape to New York. Leaving London is a darkly humorous look at a city where staying disconnected can sometimes be the only survival tool.

     

    This dark drama adds to the tradition of contemporary city-lit fiction in which bohemian pretenders, barflies, the rich, the poor, the down and out and the down at heart try to find some meaning in a city that can crush your hopes as easily as reignite your lust for life.

    Leaving London Reviews

     

    "London plays as a major character. For those who have been there, it will invoke wonderful memories of the city and for those who have never visited, it will make you want to hop the next plane and walk in Cal's footsteps. The city's vastness, in all its glory and wonder, grime and grit, seems to echo Cal's emotional state and his sense of being "lost" and "rudderless" as he struggles to maintain his footing. Garry Crystal has a very original voice and I have no doubt that you will enjoy this complex and thought-provoking story. Highly recommended." Julian Gallo, author of Breathe


    "Wandering the streets in a chemically altered state, he subjects himself to the seamier side of life, robbed, beaten up and has sex with whomever he ends up with at the end of the evening. Loneliness runs throughout the book and Crystal captures this quite well and you find it easy to see why many feel a strong sense of alienation, stuck in jobs that are low paying with little chance for advancement." Online Book Club Organization

     

    "This book is about ephemeral relationships. We are either doomed to repeat our mistakes or protect ourselves with walls, not out of fear but as a sort of silent dignity. This is a lengthy love song, a love story, a message in a bottle. I hope it reaches readers out there." Baxter Labatos, Sphere Music

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGarry Crystal
    Release dateOct 19, 2019
    ISBN9781386666646
    Leaving London
    Author

    Garry Crystal

    Garry Crystal is a writer living in Scotland. His short stories and articles have appeared in print and online including Expats Post, The Adirondack Review, Turnrow Journal, Roadside Fiction and Orato. Leaving London is his debut novel. He has also published a book of short stories All of us With Our Pointless Worries and Inconsequential Dramas. Also available by Garry Crystal Leaving London (Novel) All of Us With Our Pointless Worries and Inconsequential Dramas (Short Stories) The Paris Quartet:Short Stories for the End of the World and When the Arguing's Over...Modern Plays

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      Leaving London - Garry Crystal

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