Neverwhere, a tale of a London that lives and breathes

Concerning Neverwhere, a book by Neil Gaiman

There are many books in this world that offer entryway into an author’s mind, a place of wonder, humor, and creativity. Neverwhere is a portal into a world that effortlessly treads the thin line between the bizarre and the drudgery of the day to day.
The protagonist, Richard Mayhew, is a man for whom everyday is spent splitting his time between his undistinguished and unrewarding job at a firm, and his control freak girlfriend, Jessica, who is a museum director and thus demands that he become a man of culture. He is an individual whose life has been a series of events that happened before his eyes without him having an active say in the matter. This all changes in one night - while walking with Jessica to an upscale restaurant, a girl dressed in rags falls out of a portal in a brick wall to land at Richard’s feet.
In a rare moment of self-assertion, he defies his girlfriend’s wishes to ignore the ragamuffin and insists on taking the bleeding girl back to his apartment. While dressing her wounds, she introduces herself as “Door”, and explains that she was being pursued by some dangerous men, but refuses to say any more. Strange men who identify themselves as Croup and Vandemar arrive at his doorstep and ask after the whereabouts of the mysterious girl. Their impression on him is reminiscent of a fox and a wolf stalking a wounded prey. Door makes arrangements to leave as soon as possible ‘so as not to involve Richard in her world.’
The next day he wakes up to a London in which he does not exist – his office is stripped bare, his apartment leased to another couple, his ATM card is not valid. He had become too involved in the business of London Below, the realm of those who slipped through the cracks of our world. In this plane of reality, Richard reunites with Door on her home turf. Misters Croup and Vandemar killed her family and are now hunting her down. She is the last Opener – the lone survivor of a clan gifted with the knack for opening anything with a mere touch. Door and Richard are joined by the unique Marquis de Carabas, a resourceful rogue who has a habit of being paid in ‘favors’, and Hunter, the beautiful living legend who glories in hunting exotic and rare beasts. Their mission is to survive the grasp of misters Croup and Vandemar long enough to find and help the reclusive angel Islington.
Neil Gaiman’s characters are rich and full of life; he is imaginative in his descriptions of the chaotic order and rules of London Below. From the truce of the Floating Market to Old Bailey and his birds, this world both defies credibility and demands belief. Gaiman is the madman whose mental landscapes are detailed with striking images. The influence of his genius is to draw you into insanity with the illusion that it is perfectly rational. Earlscourt subway station in London is presented as an entity rather than merely a place. This is a London that lives, breathes, groans, and sighs – one in which once you enter, you are reborn, and your previous existence losing its savor and spice. The irrational has intertwined with the logical to become the new reality. There is no going back.