I’ve long found an apartment building setting appealing in fiction. Fertile ground for storytelling, exploring characters’ backstories while reflecting the society 
they inhabit. Here are five favourites that share that setting, two with links to my reviews the other three read pre-blog.
I’m beginning with Georges Perec’s Life a User’s Manual, the first novel that made me think what a rich setting an apartment building is. Perec’s novel hosts a wonderful cast of eccentric and engaging characters as Serge Valene sets about celebrating his Parisian home of six decades, planning a painting which will portray each apartment and its occupants. As he does so he remembers their stories, some more outlandish than others but all entertaining. I still have my ancient Collins Harvill edition from bookselling days which cost me the princely sum of £4.95, minus staff discount.
Perec’s novel might well have been the template for Alaa Al Aswany’s The Yacoubian Building, set in Cairo. Once home to
the rich and elegant, the apartment block is now dilapidated, many of its residents desperately impoverished, some reduced to living on the roof. The doorman’s son knows them all and is determined to build a better future, finding himself stymied by the city’s endemic corruption with disastrous consequences. Through the building’s inhabitants, Al Aswany presents a picture of a city which he clearly loves, beset by contradictions and dishonesty. It’s a novel which attracted a good deal of pre-publication hype when I was working in magazines but in this case, it was entirely justified.
Set in Mumbai, Manil Suri’s The Death of Vishnu follows a similar format with an unusual twist as the eponymous odd-job 
man lies dying on the stairs of the building where he both lives and works. Tenants tiptoe around him, wonder whether he still needs his daily cup of tea and argue about who should pay for the ambulance to take him to hospital. Meanwhile life goes on. Food is prepared, card parties are disrupted amidst accusations of cheating, elopements planned and a terrible violence ignited. Suri weaves a bright thread of Hindu mythology through Vishnu’s story, as his soul begins its ascent of the stairs, observing the lives of the tenants while sights, sounds and smells vividly evoke memories of his own.
I don’t remember seeing much coverage of Tim Murphy’s Christodora when it was published here in the UK. A shame. It’s 
accomplished enough to have reminded me a little of Siri Hustvedt’s What I Loved which from me is high praise indeed. Flitting backwards and forwards through four decades from the early ‘80s, Murphy’s narrative traces the history of AIDS activism and its achievements through the involving story of three men, their friends and family. It begins with the adoption of Mateo, whose mother died of AIDS, by Jared and Milly who is the daughter of a New York health official turned activist, disgusted at her department’s feeble efforts to stem the HIV virus and its deadly consequence. A compelling, deeply moving novel and an optimistic one which reminds those of us who lived through the ‘80s just how far the fight against HIV/AIDS has come.
Jenni Fagan’s Luckenbooth is entirely different, telling the stories of the inhabitants of a many-floored Edinburgh tenement over nine decades, beginning with the arrival of the devil’s daughter in 1910, fresh from murdering her father. No brief synopsis will do justice to this richly imaginative slice of feminist fiction which spins stories within stories, many laced with a dark dry humour. Fagan divides her novel into three parts, each telling the tale of three tenants over three decades, ranging from the flamboyantly gothic to gangland crime to William Burroughs’ visit to his lover who lives in Luckenbooth Close. All this is played out against the backdrop of an Edinburgh so vividly evoked it’s almost a character in itself. An extraordinarily inventive novel, worthy of a multitude of literary prizes.
Any novels set in apartment blocks you’d like to add to my list?
If you’d like to explore more posts like this, I’ve listed them here.
I loved The Death of Vishnu. One day I must read the Perec. I’ve owned a copy for decades!
It was great, wasn’t it. If you loved that I’m sure the Perec will be right up your alley.
What a keeper. Thank you.
You’re welcome!
A book that immediately springs to mind is These Dividing Walls by Fran Cooper set in a Paris apartment building.
Oh, yes – I’d forgotten that. Thanks for reminding me, Cathy.
There is a Romanian crime novel in which the apartment block is the main protagonist in a way.
That’s a very clever idea. Not available in translation, presumably.
I am hoping we might get round to translating it for Corylus. Fingers crossed!
It made me think of Muriel Spark’s The Girls of Slender Means, one brilliant book
Excellent addition! Thank you.
A fascinating topic for a blog post! I’ve read books set in one house or neighbourhood, but not an apartment block, I don’t think. I hadn’t heard of a couple of your selections, and didn’t know the others had that setting. A forthcoming U.S. release I’m going to be reading for a BookBrowse review fits your criteria: Stories from the Tenants Downstairs by Sidik Fofana. (Looks like it’s coming to the UK in early 2023.)
Ah, I’ve read that on Netgalley, and enjoyed it very much. It works so well as a device, often offering a microcosm of society.
Aaagh! I’ve read none of these. But I HAVE read Bradley Somers’ Fishbowl. This is a quirky, slow burn of a book about a goldfish who falls from the top floor of an apartment block, and witnesses slices of life on his journey downwards. Give it a whirl and see what you think.
That’s a novel twist! Sounds right up my street. Thank you.
What a brilliant concept for a novel, Margaret
It was an idea which was well carried-through.
Alexander McCall Smith’s wonderful series 44 Scotland Street is set in one. And, the book I’ve been raving about as best of this summer, Last Summer on State Street is set in a huge government housing project but deals mostly with one building. I could possibly remember others! GREAT topic! I may steal it sometime lol Here is the link to my Last Summer on State Street review–if interested (no pressure to read it)
Happy for you to steal it and thanks for the Last Summer on State Street recommendation. It sounds excellent.
Forgot the link: https://hopewellslibraryoflife.wordpress.com/2022/07/18/review-last-summer-on-state-street-a-novel-by-toya-wolfe/
All new titles for me. I’ll add one of my favourites – The Last Man In The Tower by Aravind Adiga. Set in Mumbai in an apartment block where one tenant refuses to leave.
Thanks for the recommendation, Karen. I’ll add it to my ever-lengthening list.
Apartment buildings do make great fictional setting. I read The Yacubian Building years ago, but can’t remember what I thought of it. I also read The Death of Vishnu back in my pre blog days. I remember that The Elegance of the Hedgehog is set in an apartment building, very much enjoyed that.
Thanks for the suggestion, Ali. I’ve a feeling that may be on the shelves somewhere. I’ll search it out.
A nice list! I’ve only read the Perec, but it’s one of my favourite books ever!!
Thank you. I loved the Perec, too. I think it may be time for a reread.
I’ll add Aravind Adiga’s Last Man in Tower, a wonderful book about the residents of an apartment block in Bombay (as Adiga usually calls it) who have been offered money by a developer to move out. One man refuses, holding up the deal for everyone, and we see what had been a close-knit community beginning to fracture. Beautifully written – turned me into a major Adiga fan!
Excellent! That’s the second heartfelt recommendation for Last Man… On the list it goes. Thank you.
Once again, you’ve added lots to my reading list. All of these are new to me and I find The Yacoubian Building and the Death of Vishnu calling out to me in particular. Apartment buildings are indeed interesting settings, in some ways a microcosm of broader society even
Exactly that! The Yacoubian Building, in particular, does that brilliantly. Hope you enjoy it.
I also enjoyed Aravind Adiga’s Last Man in Tower, which in turn made me think of Eva Dolan’s This Is How It Ends – which features an apartment block under threat from gentrification in London.
The Adiga is beginning to sound like an essential read for this small fiction niche. I like the sound of the Dolan, too. Thanks, Kate.
I’ve not read any of these, but now want to read most of them! I’d add Observatory Mansions by Edward Carey to the list.
More than happy to have a recommendation for an Edward Carey book. I loved Little.
My comment was going to be exactly the same as Annabel’s! I really must get to the Perec, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it so I don’t know why I keep failing to pick it up…
It’s quite long which may make it a bit off-putting but it’s one of those books to sink into. I hope you enjoy it if you get to it.
Neat idea of post! Perec’s is fabulous.
Another one comes to mind, also in an apartment building: The Master Key, by Masako Togawa (1962): https://wordsandpeace.com/2018/03/05/book-review-the-master-key/
He is, isn’t he. Many thanks for the link. Not one I’ve read.
The 13th is Magic by Joan Howard is such a favorite it sells for ridiculous amounts online but unfortunately cannot be republished because of its un-PC depiction of Native Americans.
New York is a magic city where almost everything can happen – especially if you live on the 13th floor of an apartment building on Central Park West. The children in this book, along with their cat Merlin, have adventures on a 13th floor that doesn’t exist, as the elevator goes from 12 to 14.
That sounds intriguing!
I just came across a book at the library today that would fit this theme and be right up your street, if you don’t already know it:
Tales from Firozsha Baag by Rohinton Mistry.
That’s brilliant! Thanks, Rebecca.
Brought at my local book sale..Elegance of the Hedgehog.Thirteen Stories..pun..horror.
Ah, not one I’ve read!