Illustrator Joel Holland created his first book, NYC Storefronts, because he was missing all the places he couldn’t visit in his own hometown during Covid lockdown. Now he’s set his sights on London—a city that feels at once ancient and modern, traditional and quirky, homey and hip. Made with the same energy as NYC Storefronts, this book has a distinctly English vibe. It divides the city into five navigable sections (Central, North, East, South, and West), and highlights its diverse mix of cultures. In each chapter is a sprawling selection of shops, brought to life by Holland’s charming drawings and London-based journalist Rosie Hewitson’s captivating descriptions. This collection of more than two hundred shopfronts runs the gamut of old to modern-day London: stately bookshops, umbrella stores, tailors, hatters, and pubs, but also trendy restaurants, bars, and boutiques. A number of places are deeply profiled, including storied jazz club Ronnie Scott’s; Hatchards, the UK’s oldest- surviving bookshop; Caribbean record store People’s Sound; Rowan’s Tenpin Bowling Alley; beloved Turkish restaurant Mangal II; and gender-affirming hairdressers Open Barbers; each one is lovingly detailed in Holland’s gentle tones. An informative guide to discovering all the Big Smoke has to offer, this is also a lasting keepsake for London lovers of every age and style.
