Name: This Lovely City
ISBN: 9780008332570

Louise Hare

London, 1950. With the Blitz over and London still rebuilding after the war, jazz musician Lawrie Matthews has answered England's call for help. But before long, London's newest arrivals become the prime suspects in a tragedy which threatens to tear the city apart

This Lovely City

Pam Sartain

This Lovely City by Louise Hare is set in 1948 and 1950s, and is about Lawrie Matthews, who came over from Jamaica to England as part of Windrush.  We see his daily life, how he's making a living, and the racism he deals with every day.  He's in love with Evie, the girl next door, and we meet his friends.  

Lawrie discovers the body of a baby in a pond, and so the police immediately suspect him of being involved with the death of the baby. 

This is a story of homesickness, discrimination, power corrupting, and family.  It is well told, with flashbacks to 1948.  I thought this was well told, and kept me hooked!

This Lovely City was published on 12th March 2020 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Louise Hare on Twitter and her website.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to HQ.

Anika | @chaptersofmay

This Lovely City is a spirited and kinetic historical tale with a meaningful insight into the Windrush generation. As the blurb says, it “teaches us that even in the face of anger and fear, there is always hope.”

Lawrie is a Jamaican man, is fresh off the Empire Windrush, answering London’s call to help labour shortages. Lawrie expected to be welcomed with open arms and valued for his hard work, but quickly realised reality is far from what was promised. Still, he falls for Evie, a biracial girl who is finally among a community that makes her feel as though she belongs. Along with his friends, Aston, Sonny, and Moses, Lawrie find relief in music and jazz bars, as they navigate a racially tense city and search for a future of prosperity. But when a devastating discovery is made at Clapham Common, fingers point to the local Caribbean community, and more specifically to Lawrie.

It’s fascinating how Hare portrays the way Lawrie faces societal racism as he works as a postman by day and a musician by night. I also love the post-war, South London atmosphere she built from the beginning of the book. There’s vivid detailing of the actualities of bomb-ruined homes, changing neighbourhoods and rationing for necessities during 1948 and 1950. It feels deeply authentic, and very easy to picture. I really struggled to stomach some of the prejudice aggressions and phrases used towards the Black characters in the book, but sadly, it’s accurate. And Hare doesn't hold back from displaying the truths of hatred and violence in post-war Britain.

The characters of Evie and Lawrie make brilliant narrators for this book. Its chapters alternate between their POVs, as their young love blooms against the odds. I listened to the audiobook, and the use of Jamaican accents for Caribbean characters and jazz music between the chapters brought this book to life. The love between the two characters is an interesting backdrop to their own identity struggles, financial challenges, and other shortcomings. It inspires hope, and you can’t help but root for them.

I really like the way the murder mystery narrative was laced with prejudices in British society just after the war and Lawrie and Evie’s hopeful love story. The pace was occasionally too slow for me, and some chapters felt too long. However, it’s both grounding and stirring, and filled with emotion. On the whole, This Lovely City is a stellar debut.

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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.

This Lovely City

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