Mick Jackson

The Underground Man is a novel by Mick Jackson. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for that year. It shows the life of an eccentric and reclusive Victorian Duke, loosely modeled on William Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck, 5th Duke of Portland. His latest scheme involves building a set of tunnels beneath his estate.

A newly-widowed woman has done a runner. She just jumped in her car, abandoned her (very nice) house in north London and kept on driving until she reached the Norfolk coast. Now she's rented a tiny cottage and holed herself away there, if only to escape the ceaseless sympathy and insincere concern. She's not quite …