Gaiman Announces Neverwhere Sequel, But Who and What are The Seven Sisters
After 25 years, Neil Gaiman announces sequel to Neverwhere, tentatively titled The Seven Sisters. But who or what are they?
Lest you think Neil Gaiman is resting on his laurels after the release of Norse Mythology and the imminent adaptation of American Gods on Starz, I have news. He is already working on his next book.
Gaiman told the audience at London’s Southbank Centre (where he was speaking about Norse Mythology) that he is already three chapters into a sequel to 1996’s Neverwhere.
Via The Guardian:
"When Lenny Henry and I came up with the original idea for Neverwhere almost 25 years ago, what attracted us was the idea that we could talk about the homeless, talk about the dispossessed, talk about the people who fall through the cracks…The giant wheel has turned over the last few years and looking around the work I have been doing for UNHCR for refugees, the kind of shape … London is in now … I decided that it actually was time to do something. Now I had things I was angry about. I cared about things I wanted to put in and I’m now a solid three chapters into a book called The Seven Sisters."
Neverwhere cover art. Image via BBC Books
The Story of Neverwhere
Gaiman wrote Neverwhere as a TV series, and released the novelization the same year. It tells the story of regular dude Richard Mayhew, whose life is forever altered after he notices an invisible person. He’s plunged into the world of underground London, which has some passing overlap with the London Underground. London below is where the city’s forgotten go. It’s where you end up when you fall through society’s cracks. Nothing is forgotten in London below: legends, architecture, people, personifications, or rats. (Respect the rats. They are in charge.)
In Neverwhere, we met the black friars of Blackfriars station, The Hunter who tracked the beast of London, and a vast assortment of London’s homeless from centuries past.
Seven Sisters London (Screencap via Google Maps)
London’s Seven Sisters Neighborhood
Seven Sisters is set around (and under, I assume) the area of London’s Tottenham Hale neighborhood. As you can see, most of the stuff in the area is named Seven Sisters something-or-other.
The Seven Sisters refer to a group of elm trees surrounding a walnut tree on a patch of commons across from what is now a Tesco. The area was originally called Page Green, but because of the tree circle, Londoners have called in Seven Sisters since 1732. The first tree circle is long gone, but history-loving Londoners keep replanting the circle. The latest group are actually hawthorn trees.
In 2017, the Seven Sisters neighborhood is full of businesses owned by and to support the area’s burgeoning immigrant population. It also contains the Seven Sisters tube station, which I expect will have a part in the book.
Who Were The Seven Sisters
Who were these seven sisters? Variously, legend holds them to be the seven daughters of Robert the Bruce (King of the Scots from 1306 to 1329), or just some random seven sisters whose names are lost to time. These sisters planted the trees when they had to leave each other, for some forgotten reason. Or maybe people planted the trees to commemorate a protestant martyr. Perhaps all three are true in some way. In any case, I can see how easily those stories tie in to the modern refugee crisis. I can’t wait to read Neil’s take.
Next: Starz Announces American Gods Premiere Date
If you haven’t read
Neverwhere
, definitely check it out. The author’s preferred edition is available in print and audio from your local bookseller. And of course online. For a complete catalog of Gaiman’s work, see
.