In an author meetup on 17^th December 2020 at the Owl Bookshop, Michelle Cottam was the author promoting her travel book titled ‘Maybe It’s Because I’m a Londoner’. The meetup provided an excellent opportunity to meet the cherished author and to speak to her about the city of London. Michelle’s book is one of the must-read travel books; which takes the reader on a voyage to London. The city of London has its charms and it attracts tourists from around the world. But those who cannot manage to visit London can perhaps live the experience through this amazing historical travel guide book.

Michelle Cottam has lived the life of a travel guide in London. Her role surely has granted her with a rich exposure to the city. She has captured all details with her eye and put them into pages for others to read. This book has established her reputation as not only a writer but also a historian. She writes about London as a dynamism which has moved through history to be what it is now. This book will be especially appealing for people who have a knack for history; since the author, herself has been keenly interested in history. She did not plan to write this book. Rather, it happened by chance and she found herself composing a book from her random tourist guide scripts.

The book captures all major events that happened and transformed London. It begins with the times when London was a Roman settlement and moves through to The Great Plague, The Great Fire covering all major transitions. It touches a reader’s heart to read an alternative historical narration. The author critically questions the historical facts as we know them and gives a new perspective to her readers.