An atmospheric and utterly compelling debut novel about a Jamaican immigrant living in postwar London, This Lovely City shows that new arrivals have always been the prime suspects — but that even in the face of anger and fear, there is always hope.
London, 1950. With the war over and London still rebuilding, jazz musician Lawrie Matthews has answered England’s call for labour. Arriving from Jamaica aboard the Empire Windrush, he’s rented a tiny room in south London and fallen in love with the girl next door.
Playing in Soho’s jazz clubs by night and pacing the streets as a postman by day, Lawrie has poured his heart into his new home — and it’s alive with possibility. Until one morning, while crossing a misty common, he makes a terrible discovery.
As the local community rallies, fingers of blame point at those who were recently welcomed with open arms. And before long, London’s newest arrivals become the prime suspects in a tragedy that threatens to tear the city apart. Immersive, poignant, and utterly compelling, Louise Hare’s debut examines the complexities of love and belonging, and teaches us that even in the face of anger and fear, there is always hope.
An atmospheric and utterly compelling debut novel about a Jamaican immigrant living in postwar London, This Lovely City shows that new arrivals have always been the prime suspects — but that even in the face of anger and fear, there is always hope.
London, 1950. With the war over and London still rebuilding, jazz musician Lawrie Matthews has answered England’s call for labour. Arriving from Jamaica aboard the Empire Windrush, he’s rented a tiny room in south London and fallen in love with the girl next door.
Playing in Soho’s jazz clubs by night and pacing the streets as a postman by day, Lawrie has poured his heart into his new home — and it’s alive with possibility. Until one morning, while crossing a misty common, he makes a terrible discovery.
As the local community rallies, fingers of blame point at those who were recently welcomed with open arms. And before long, London’s newest arrivals become the prime suspects in a tragedy that threatens to tear the city apart. Immersive, poignant, and utterly compelling, Louise Hare’s debut examines the complexities of love and belonging, and teaches us that even in the face of anger and fear, there is always hope.
| Published By | House of Anansi Press Inc — Apr 7, 2020 |
| Specifications | 400 pages | 5.5 in x 8.25 in |
| Keywords | Brixton; race riot; racism; Trinidad; Caribbean; migrant; diaspora; 1950s; post colonial; love story; Where the Crawdads Sing; Queenie; Zadie Smith; Maya Angelou; Langston Hughes; Well Read Black Girl; Frying Plantain; Black character; Toni Morrison; murder; Contemporary British Literature; Black Author; Immigrant community; Call the Midwife; Summer of Rockets; Bletchley Circle; Debut; |
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Excerpt |
| Written By |
LOUISE HARE is a London-based writer and editor with an M.A. in Creative Writing from Birkbeck, University of London. In 2016, her short story “The Odyssey of Dee Lennox” was shortlisted for the Just Write Creative Writing Competition, and in 2017 she was a finalist for the prestigious Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize. This Lovely City is her first novel. @LouRHare |
| Written By |
|
LOUISE HARE is a London-based writer and editor with an M.A. in Creative Writing from Birkbeck, University of London. In 2016, her short story “The Odyssey of Dee Lennox” was shortlisted for the Just Write Creative Writing Competition, and in 2017 she was a finalist for the prestigious Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize. This Lovely City is her first novel. @LouRHare |
“Louise Hare’s debut novel pairs a poignant tale of young love and shameful prejudice with a twisting mystery, all embedded in a historical moment with keen contemporary resonance. Tantalizing ingredients to be sure, yet it’s her steady, calm prose, and the animating authenticity of her material that make [This Lovely City] so hard to resist.” —Guardian
“Tenderly evokes the experiences of the Windrush generation in postwar London.” —Independant
“You’ll root for Lawrie and Evie and won’t fail to notice the timely message of Hare’s beautifully told tale.” —Cosmopolitan
“This Lovely City tells the story of a group of people searching for a place to belong and discovering the power of persistence and hope to carry them through.” —Booklist
“Hare’s absorbing narrative builds a compelling portrait of immigrants struggling to belong to a country that needs but doesn’t really want them . . . A must read for fans of Zadie Smith and Call the Midwife.” —Kirkus Reviews
“This hotly anticipated debut offers a vivid portrait of the immigrant experience in postwar London.” —Sunday Times
“You’ll be rooting for the pair from start to finish.” —Glamour
“[A] mistress of suspense, Hare keeps us guessing to the last page. I loved the postwar atmosphere: bombed, broken London as a visual metaphor for the story’s violence and racism.” —Daily Mail
“A well-told mystery, a powerful depiction of the prejudice experienced by the Windrush generation, and a poignant love story, This Lovely City is a must read.” —Irish Times
“Expect to be obsessed … [A book] you need to know about.” —Good Housekeeping
“Poignant and compelling.” —Hello!
“An exciting ride … I demolished it in two sittings.” —Daily Record
“Vividly captures the life of the times, and the trials faced by the Caribbean immigrants who were enticed to come to Britain by the government, but who faced discrimination and economic hurdles in society … [Louise Hare’s] characters are well developed … and give life to the immigrant community … This Lovely City’s many storylines — prejudice, romance, dark hidden secrets, immigrant life — are engaging and paint a vivid picture of life in a nation that is trying to reshape itself in the years following a devastating world war and new economic and societal challenges.” —Winnipeg Free Press