China Mieville - The City & the City

Fantasy writer China Miéville talks about his novel The City & The City, a crime thriller set in a parallel world. With James Naughtie and a group of readers.

The story follows Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad, resident of the crumbling city of Beszel. The mutilated body of a foreign student is found dumped on some wasteland and Borlú is assigned to the case.

Borlú is unfazed until he uncovers evidence that the dead girl had been involved in the political turmoil between Beszel and its prosperous twin city of Ul Qoma, which occupies the same physical space.

Citizens of each city are forbidden from seeing each other, and the frontier between the cities is policed by 'Breach' which punishes all transgressions.

Despite the violent deaths of those around him, and a growing realisation that he is personally implicated in the crimes, Borlú doggedly chases the truth and has to journey across the border from one reality to another.

China discusses how this imaginative work is really about how we perceive the world and how we interact with each other.

Presenter : James Naughtie
Interviewed guest : China Miéville
Producer : Dymphna Flynn

December's Bookclub Choice : Transatlantic by Colum McCann (2013).