The novel is about several families that live in London - the Duckets and Doggets (branches of the same family), the Bulls, the Silversleeves (who seem to come across as the "villains" throughout the different generations), the Barnikels (descended from Vikings), the Carpenters, the Flemings, the Merediths (who originally came to England with the first Tudor king), and the Pennys. Of course there is going to be the usual embellishment that you're going to find in any fictional novel but it is mixed so well with history that nothing is going to see really out of place (or time). He also includes, thankfully, a very helpful family tree which really comes in handy when you're trying to keep up with all the families and their entertwining story lines throughout the novel. He includes several different maps at the beginning which show London in different periods in its history and I found it fascinating to see how the city changed and expanded throughout the years. Starting at the banks of the Thames with the druids right before the Roman conquest of England and stopping on the banks of the Thames in 1997, Rutherfurd paints an absolutely amazing picture of London. After reading Rutherford's novel about Sarum (Salisbury) I couldn't wait to see what he did with the families in London.
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