Sam Selvon

Both devastating and funny, The Lonely Londoners is an unforgettable account of immigrant experience - and one of the great twentieth-century London novels. This Penguin Modern Classics edition includes an introduction by Susheila Nasta. At Waterloo Station, hopeful new arrivals from the West Indies step off the boat train, ready to start afresh in 1950s London. There, homesick Moses Aloetta, who has already lived in the city for years, meets Henry 'Sir Galahad' Oliver and shows him the ropes. In this strange, cold and foggy city where the natives can be less than friendly at the sight of a black face, has Galahad met his Waterloo? But the irrepressible newcomer cannot be cast down. He and all the other lonely new Londoners - from shiftless Cap to Tolroy, whose family has descended on him from Jamaica - must try to create a new life for themselves. As pessimistic 'old veteran' Moses watches their attempts, they gradually learn to survive and come to love the heady excitements of London. Sam Selvon (b. 1923) was born in San Fernando, Trinidad. In 1950 Selvon left Trinidad for the UK where after hard times of survival he established himself as a writer with A Brighter Sun (1952), An Island is a World (1955), The Lonely Londoners (1956), Ways of Sunlight (1957), Turn Again Tiger (1958), I Hear Thunder (1963), The Housing Lark (1965), The Plains of Caroni (1970), Moses Ascending (1975) and Moses Migrating (1983). If you enjoyed The Lonely Londoners, you might like Jean Rhys's Voyage in the Dark or Shiva Naipaul's Fireflies, also available in Penguin Modern Classics. 'His Lonely Londoners has acquired a classics status since it appeared in 1956 as the definitive novel about London's West Indians' Financial Times 'The unforgettable picaresque ... a vernacular comedy of pathos' Guardian

The Lonely Londoners

'Irreverent, spirited ... a seriously funny novel' New York Review of Books Sitting in his cramped basement room in Brixton, Battersby dreams of money, women, a T-bone steak - and a place to call his own. So he and a group of friends decide to save up and buy a house together. But amid grasping landlords, the temptations of spending money and the less-than-welcoming attitude of the Mother Country, can this motley group of hustlers and schemers, Trinidadians and Jamaicans, men and women make their dreams a reality? 'Selvon's meticulously observed narratives of displaced Londoners' lives created a template for how to write about migrant, and postmigrant, London for countless writers who have followed in his wake, including Hanif Kureishi and Zadie Smith' Caryl Phillips

The Housing Lark

Ways of Sunlight

Housing Lark

An uproarious exploration of Carribean immigrant experience from one of the great writers of the twentieth century Moses thinks he's got it made. Originally a poor Caribbean immigrant, he is now the proud landlord of a ramshackle house in Shepherd's Bush, London. He has visions of being master of his own domain, writing his memoirs while his trusty sidekick and handyman, Bob, does all the work. But Moses' problems are far from over... Soon a Black Power group take over the basement, headed by the indomitable - but very sexy - Brenda, and an illegal people-smuggling ring is discovered upstairs. Not to mention harassment from racist police, sheep-slaughtering in the back yard and a Black Panther (the human kind) on the loose. Will Moses' elaborately constructed castle in the air be demolished by these unruly forces? Following the fortunes of characters from Selvon's The Lonely Londoners, Moses Ascending is a hilarious and telling depiction of 1970s Britain.

Moses Ascending

Sam Selvon’s Moses Ascending depicts West Indian Immigration in England. Moses, a Trinidadian who has been in England for some years now represents immigrants who come from all corners of the world to seek a better life. Like many immigrants he is hard-working. After years of living in a dingy basement he saves up enough money to buy a house. Moses calls this his dream house in the beginning of the book but later on he realizes that the house is a piece of garbage.

Various

Jamaica Kincaid

Eric Walrond

Jean Rhys

Kamau Brathwaite

Austin Clarke

Lorna Goodison

Paule Marshall

James Berry

Wayne Brown

Lawrence Scott

Andrew Salkey

Erna Brodber

Earl Lovelace

Makeda Silvera

Neil Bissoondath

Olive Senior

Roger Mais

Wilson Harris

Hazel D. Campbell

Willi Chen

Pauline Melville

Louise Bennett

Wilfred Wood

Kenneth Vidia Parmasad

Seepersad Naipaul

Claude MacKay

Frank Collymore

C... L. R. James

Garth St Omer

Vidiadhar Surajprashad Naipaul

N... D. Williams

Clyde Hosein

Alecia MacKenzie

Spanning the history of Caribbean writing, this meticulously compiled collection of 40 short stories includes pre-Columbian legends and myths from India and Africa, and many stories that are an evocative reminder of the turbulent history of the region. Authors featured include Andrew Salkey, Jean Rhys, V.S. Naipaul, Jamaica Kincaid, and Lawrence Scott, among others. A major anthology reflecting the diversity and richness of Caribbean writing.

The Penguin Book of Caribbean Short Stories

Hari Kunzru

Moses thinks he's got it made. Originally a poor Caribbean immigrant, he is now the proud landlord of a ramshackle house in Shepherd's Bush, London. He has visions of being master of his own domain, writing his memoirs while his trusty sidekick and handyman, Bob, does all the work. But Moses's problems are far from over . . . Soon a Black Power group take over the basement, headed by the indomitable, but very sexy Brenda, and an illegal people-smuggling ring is discovered upstairs. Not to mention harassment from racist police, sheep-slaughtering in the back yard and a Black Panther (the human kind) on the loose. Will Moses's elaborately constructed castle in the air be demolished by these unruly forces? Following the fortunes of characters from Selvon's The Lonely Londoners, Moses Ascending is a hilarious and telling depiction of 1970s Britain.

In the post-War Caribbean colony, as an earlier generation thinks of returning to India, Foster, a young man, goes to England and Rufis his brother leaves for the United States, each in search of himself and his world. Combining his characteristic humour with a vivid sense of place, Selvon's An Island is a World tells a moving story of personal and intellectual quest in our time. With an introduction by Kenneth Ramchand.

An Island Is a World

Sam Selvon

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