Summary

“Mother of the City” by Christopher Fowler begins with a story about why the protagonist, Douglas, moved to his Aunt Sheila’s house instead of moving to London. Douglas states that he will die by morning and that he hates London.

Douglas shares how he tries to make his life in the suburbs sound interesting when he meets his friends who moved to London. He sees London as unwelcoming and the people as unfriendly.

Douglas believes that living in the city makes you focused on your ambitions and suburbia makes you forget about them. In the suburbs, women are very interested in shopping. Douglas himself likes objects more than people, especially buildings. He likes and trusts the British Museum.

As a child, Douglas heard about a woman who had been killed in London. He t...