OPINION - Under the hornbeams review: A unique tale of two lives lived in Regent's Park

The wise hobo is a common trope in literature. In George Orwell’s classic Down and Out in Paris and London, the writer meets a street-dwelling artist named Bozo on the Embankment. As they cross the Thames, Bozo teaches him about the different constellations in the night sky, and shares what he’s learned from being away from the trappings of society. “If you set yourself to it, you can live the same life, rich or poor,” Bozo explains. “You just got to say to yourself, ‘I’m a free man in here’.” But is it really that simple not having a home in London? It’s a question of some urgency.