In the first few pages, she moves from a snail escaping a pot of escargots to a multi-century history of Soho before settling down to tell a rollicking tale of pimps and prostitutes, property and posterity.
You want to have the pattern of an escargot, or a snail, if you just keep that in mind and start at the top, and work your way all the way around to the center, you can't go wrong.