WINNER OF THE JAMES TAIT BLACK MEMORIAL PRIZE FOR FICTION 2026

Shortlisted for the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize 2025
Shortlisted for the EBRD Literature Prize 2026
Longlisted for the Queen Mary Small Press Fiction Prize 2026

‘I was riveted and charmed by this funny, humane and poignant novel. It’s written in a voice that is as ardent as it is sensitive, one marked by history and yet managing to remain beautifully unruly and independent.’
– Hisham Matar, author of My Friends and The Return

In an East London housing office, a frustrated local government employee spends his days trying to figure out what the latest policy announcement means for both himself and the migrants he works with every day. As a favour to a friend, he finds himself roped into organizing the funeral of Ghiyath, a young Syrian refugee. But it is not until his life collides with Ghiyath’s death that he realises just how much he has in common with those who’ve fallen through the cracks.

Told with a wry cynicism and deadpan wit, On the Greenwich Line traces the absurdities of racism, austerity, and bureaucracy in contemporary England. This is a story about systemic failure and human courage, and about London and its many lost souls.

Format: Paperback – with flaps

Author: Shady Lewis

Publisher: Peirene Press

Pub Date: August 4, 2026

Category: Fiction / Literary

ISBN: 9781908670953

Evening House Books

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Friends and Lovers

On the Greenwich Line

Imagine Breaking Everything