Originally published in a limited but beautifully designed edition by the Uppingham gallery owner Mike Goldmark in 1987, White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings was picked up and republished by Paladin a year later, introducing Iain Sinclair's work, for the first time, to a mass audience. It went on to become the sole runner-up in the Guardian Fiction Prize. Previously known as a poet, White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings was Sinclair's first novel. As the author himself notes in the book's acknowledgements, it may be regarded as closing a trilogy begun with the poetic works, Lud Heat (1975) and Suicide Bridge (1979), while also opening a trilogy of novels concluding with Downriver (1991) and Radon Daughters (1994).
As is the case with all of these works, White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings is centred on the history, landscape and...
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Citation: Cunningham, David. "White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 March 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8768, accessed 06 December 2025.]
