This Lovely City

This book was a brilliant read and gives a great insight into what the Windrush generation had to put up with. The storyline was really gripping . The themes are really topical and give an insight into being on the receiving end of racism must be like, quite harrowing in parts. People can be so cruel to other human beings. A must read, I’m sure you will enjoy it.

A murder mystery set in postwar Britain. It detailed some of the challenges faced by the Windrush generation. Not an easy read, I found myself putting the book down alot.

A murder mystery, a jazz musician, a romance, post-war London, a long-buried secret... What's not to love?

I really enjoyed This Lovely City. It was unlike any other post WW2 book I've read in that it focusses on the Windrush generation and their struggles upon arriving in the UK. Before this book I'd only heard of "Windrush" while reading UK immigration pages, so it was fascinating to hear more about these Jamaicans who moved to the UK after WW2.

It's hard to think of anything I didn't like about this book. The characters were interesting, the writing was good, the setting was fun, and the murder mystery plot running throughout kept the story going without ever seeming melodramatic.

I think my biggest frustration with the novel was the age-old problem where the main characters have a massive falling out over something that is essentially a misunderstanding. If they would only tell each other the truth, then everything would be alright... This always really frustrates me in novels, and, while I think that Hare did a decent job of showing why the characters couldn't simply talk, more needed to be done to explain their strange reluctance to be honest with each other.

Overall, I couldn't quite give this novel 5 stars because I didn't quite feel that magic "spark" that comes with a novel I truly loved, but I did really enjoy This Lovely City and would heartily recommend it.

Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3778061520

Louise Hare has created an absolute gem of a debut novel. Set in post war Britain, the story revolves around Lawrie; a Windrush immigrant and his struggles to fit in and be accepted. The plot is essentially a murder mystery but is so much more than that. Its a wonderful social commentary of post war Britain, the austerity and racism suffered by the Windrush generation and yet the portrayal of the emergence of jazz culture is uplifting .

Lawrie leaves Jamaica in 1948 and arrives in London on the Windrush, having answered Britain’s call for help. He is expecting to be welcomed with open arms and for his services to be rewarded with a good wage. The reality is somewhat different. London is still reeling from the devastation caused by the war. Rubble, rather than gold, is paving the streets and finding somewhere to live, leave alone a job, proves very difficult for somebody “coloured”. He, along with all his fellow countrymen, is treated with suspicion and subjected to outbursts of violence and prejudice. Two years on and he has both lodgings and a job as a postman, supplementing his income by playing the clarinet in a band. He also has a soft spot for Evie, the girl next door. He has learnt to survive with the discrimination, largely by keeping his head below the radar wherever possible. Things all change dramatically when Lawrie is in the wrong place at the wrong time and makes a dreadful discovery. A murder enquiry ensues which not only escalates the racial tension in the area but also threatens to destroy the lives of both Lawrie and Evie.

This is a fabulous book. Whilst it could be described as a murder mystery (and as murder mysteries go, it is quite a good one), this would be missing the point of the whole novel. It is really a very detailed look at the prejudices which were prevalent in British society just after the war and which, sadly, are still around today. The murder is used to highlight the extent of those prejudices and serves the purpose of creating a situation in which the prejudices are unwittingly revealed. And the scary thing is that it is all too familiar. It is a very interesting and poignant study of both institutional racism and individual prejudice. In addition, the book has a great storyline, is very well conceived and has wonderful characters. I also learnt a lot about the circumstances surrounding the arrival of the “Windrush generation”, which is obviously very relevant in terms of the more recent Windrush scandal. Finally, this is an emotional and heartbreaking book in places, counterbalanced by the inspiration, patience and forbearance shown by the recent Windrush arrivals in the face of an awful lot of adversity.

The only negative comment I can really make about the book is that it is not always comfortable to read. Of course, it is meant to be this way and the fact that it makes me feel ashamed of both our collective behaviour as a nation and, to some extent, of my own attitudes can only be a good thing. That doesn’t mean I liked the way it made me feel though!!

I really enjoyed this book and can’t praise it highly enough. Thoroughly recommended

A charming novel which explores the life and loves of people in the black community in London in the post-war period. Laurie Matthews is of the original Windrush generation and tries his best to get settled in his new home, though he is viewed with suspicion, more so when a tragic death occurs.

This is Louise Hare's debut novel and it’s an engaging read. The title gave me the expectation that it would be more of a love letter to the city of London; as it happens, the city and its people don't come out particularly well. For the great sadness of its ending, as secrets are finally revealed, the book ends on an optimistic and hopeful note. Most definitely worth a read!

Interesting, given the recent news about the Windrush immigrants. Life was tough and very few people were in favour of these people. Some never settled but others persevered and made a new life in a cold, wet country. Louise gives good insights into their situation.