There’s a reason cities are such fertile terrain for novels: they’re full to the brim with people, in all their variety. Rich, poor, hopeless or spurred by the dream that brought them to the city in the first place, they come from all over the world and speak many languages, many varieties of each of those languages. 
 

London epitomises all of those things, and so here is a list of novels set in London, whether wholly or partly set there — in different parts of the city, in different sort of communities, at different points in history.

This is, of course, not an exhaustive list, and like all non-exhaustive lists the choices made for its content are, to some extent, subjective. But nonetheless, these novels set in London will give you a good feel for the history, culture, and geography of the city.