London

London appears as both a real destination and an imagined literary place. As Tessa prepares to visit England, the gap between the city in her novels and modern London becomes a point of affectionate exchange with Hardin’s father—and a reminder that reading has helped shape what she expects to find.

The City in Tessa’s Imagination

Hardin’s father warns Tessa that modern London is not quite like the London in her novels. His teasing qualification acknowledges how strongly literature can furnish a reader’s picture of a place, while marking the difference between an imagined city and the one she is about to visit. Tessa takes the warning in good humor rather than treating it as a correction to her plans.

Literary History and the Planned Visit

Tessa answers with a specific historical distinction: Dickens’s London fog was actually smog. The exchange links her literary interest to the material conditions behind the city’s familiar image, complicating the picturesque atmosphere associated with the novels. Her father also suggests a visit to Chawton, less than two hours from Hampstead, where Trish lives; the suggestion places London within a wider English itinerary without making it the only destination.