Nick and Pascal live outside on London’s streets, but do not identify as homeless. Nick is an intellectual conversationalist who loves reading, Pascal a quiet and reflective thinker who loves nature; for nearly two decades these pals have stuck together, watching each other’s backs and enjoying their companionship.

Out for a walk during lockdown, Emma Tarlo – an anthropologist and emeritus professor, feeling hemmed in while working from home – met Nick and Pascal in Regent’s Park, in their sleeping bags under a hornbeam tree. She started bringing Nick and Pascal home cooked food on a regular basis, and from there a friendship developed.

Under The Hornbeams documents a year in the life of Nick, Pascal and the author – plus a supporting cast including Bachi, who regularly visits Nick and Pascal with his rescue dog. What develops over the pages of this quasi-memoir are meaningful and generous friendships, rich in kindness. It seems that each person, Tarlo included, has experienced some kind of trauma in the past: Bachi’s backstory, for one, is a jawdropping tale of resilience and determination.

Nick and Pascal’s chosen quest for freedom helps Tarlo make decisions to change her own life, but by no means is Under The Hornbeams supercilious oraromanticised account of life on London’s streets. It does however prove that through human connection and giving, some streets need not be so mean. A beautifultestamentto individuality, friendship, food and nature.