OCTOBER 2025: One of Us by Elizabeth Day – LONDON

1st October 2025

One of Us by Elizabeth Day, novel set mainly in London (England).

I had seen this novel featured across Social Media and the storyline, from what I could glean, rather piqued my interest – a mix of politics (not the boring sort), relationships, retribution, all mired in the English class system.

At the heart of the story is the Fitzmaurice family, upper class, moneyed (well, for much of the story), entitled and out for themselves. If you look carefully, you will spot characteristics of the venal behaviour demonstrated by certain all-too-familiar politicians over the past few years, that have worked their way into the narrative and it doesn’t take much to spot the people on whom various character traits are based. That makes if fun, when at times the story is quite heartfelt and poignant.

“..there’s a darkness to it all, a moral vacuum at the centre”

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The novel, however, is so much more than a skirmish with politics. Martin is at school with Ben Fitzmaurice, who gives Martin the disparaging epithet of Little Shadow (LS) and this sticks through their lifetimes. Martin is just pleased to be in the bosom of the Fitzmaurice family. They move up to Cambridge and a rather appalling man called Jarvis joins the group, who immediately understands the dynamic between the two friends and uses it to his unscrupulous advantage. An incident early in the story colours everything and the two men distance themselves, and by the time they regroup, Ben is making a leadership bid for the Conservative party. But Martin feels driven to up-end Ben’s smug life.

It feels like politicians – not only in England but around the world – seem to get away with awful actions and behaviour without a modicum of comeuppance, and in this novel the hope remains that there will be serious sanctions and repercussions down the line.

Yes, it’s a story of revenge but it is so much more. It is a meaty read, plotted with a wry sense of humour, colourful characters and proves, ultimately, to be a dissection of family life and values. Privilege and class come under intense scrutiny.

If you like the stories penned by Patrick Gale and Alan Hollinghurst, then I recommend this novel. It is an exceptionally good read.

This is a novel that is firmly set in England (London and Cambridge, and also at times in Bali) and is more about the mores and manners redolent in the class system than sense of place but the ‘feel’ of traditional British society is well captured. It is very much a novel of our times.