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This Lovely City
- Narrated by: Theo Solomon, Karise Yansen
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
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This Lovely City
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Summary
Longlisted for the HWA Debut Crown Award
Indie Book of the Month for March, selected by the Booksellers Association
One of OBSERVER’S 10 best debut novelists of 2020 / WOMAN & HOME Best of 2020 / EVENING STANDARD Best books of 2020 / MAIL ON SUNDAY 2020 Highlights / I Best of 2020
* * * *
‘Full of life and love . . . it made my heart soar, and should be on every Londoner’s shelf’ Stacey Halls, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Familiars
‘The writing is wonderful; London’s energy runs right through it; the characters leap off the page. I was truly sad to leave them behind’ Adam Kay, Observer
‘Convincing and involving’ Sunday Times
‘Fans of Zadie Smith and Andrea Levy won’t want to miss Louise Hare’s enthralling debut novel’ Elle
* * *
The drinks are flowing.
The music is playing.
But the party can’t last.
With the Blitz over and London reeling from war, jazz musician Lawrie Matthews has answered England’s call for help. Fresh off the Empire Windrush, he’s taken a tiny room in south London lodgings, and has fallen in love with the girl next door. Lawrie has poured his heart into his new home – and it’s alive with possibility. Until, one morning, he makes a terrible discovery.
As the local community rallies, fingers of blame are pointed at those who had recently been welcomed with open arms. And, before long, the newest arrivals become the prime suspects in a tragedy which threatens to tear the city apart.
Atmospheric, poignant and compelling, Louise Hare’s debut shows that new arrivals have always been the prime suspects. But, also, that there is always hope.
* * *
MORE PRAISE FOR THIS LOVELY CITY:
‘I loved, loved, loved it’ Cathy Rentzenbrink, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Last Act of Love
‘Full to the brim with such complete joys and heart-aching tragedies . . . you can feel the warmth and colour emanating from the pages’ Magic Radio Book Club
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Critic reviews
‘Superb . . . compelling storytelling, beautifully drawn characters and atmosphere that’s deeply immersive’ Harriet Tyce, bestselling author of Blood Orange
‘This Lovely City is a beguiling, atmospheric and important novel, with wonderful, memorable characters and a vital message about love, loyalty and hope’ Caroline Lea, author of The Glass Woman
‘This debut is a joy to devour. The characters are beautifully drawn. The tender, compelling storytelling is immersive and atmospheric. I believe Hare is a major new talent who delivers a vital message about love, loyalty and hope’ Adele Parks, Platinum
‘A story about solidarity and love but above all hope’ Zoella
‘A thought-provoking and imaginative debut that conjures up the experiences of the Windrush generation in post-war London. Heartbreaking but full of hope’ Woman & Home
‘Tense . . . this thoughtful novel captures what life was like for the Windrush generation’ Good Housekeeping
‘Poignant and authentic . . . it’s [Hare’s] steady, calm prose and the animating authenticity of her material that make it so hard to resist . . . there’s] music, solidarity and courage to be found in pages laced with rum punch’ Observer
‘Hopeful and inspiring; the story of a man, his community and the country they strive to make home’ Abi Dare, Observer
‘Hare’s enthralling novel pulls off the rare trick of being a clever murder mystery, an evocative portrayal of Windrush London and a genuinely touching love story’i
‘Paints a vivid picture of what life was really like for the Windrush generation. Fans of Andrea Levy’s Small Island will love it’ Red
‘Mistress of suspense, Hare keeps us guessing to the last page. I loved the post-war atmosphere: bombed, broken London as a visual metaphor for the story’s violence and racism’ Daily Mail
‘A poignant story of love, isolation and prejudice in a post-Second World War London’ Radio Times
What listeners say about This Lovely City
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lorna
- 29-04-20
Great story
I really enjoyed listening to this book. Both the narrators have good clear voices and were able to provide convincing accents. Its a bitter sweet tale with several doses of harsh reality examining life in London as it must have been for the new arrivals from the Caribbean in the post war years. A really human story of love, death and motherhood told with compassion but without any sickly sweet romance. Really entertaining and intriguing.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Sair0075
- 10-08-20
As the title suggests: Lovely... but with a twist
I didn't see the full ending coming of this story but it made for a pretty clever and subtle twist. Every time I read something about racism, I am deeply angry and upset. The characters in this story are well meaning people that have happened to go through some really horrendous things just because of the colour of their skin. It saddens me that in 2020 this is not completely behind us. The audiobook is worth your time and I really enjoyed the voice actors work and their interpretation.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Chloe
- 06-11-21
great performance and storyline
really enjoyed the narration of this one, with the musical interludes. the story really drew you in and you cared so much for the characters. It kept me guessing all the way through, very well done. Sad that this was the way people treated eachother, and although things have improved, there is still some way to go!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- 1st renassance
- 06-08-21
Lovely Debut Novel
This Lovely City
One of my favourite lockdown reads is Louise Hare’s debut novel This Lovely City, which featured on Sara Cox’s Between the Covers (Series 1 Ep. 4) .
It’s set in London in 1948 and 1950 and focuses on the discovery of a body and how this impacts the lives of the two main characters Lawrie and Evi, who are a couple. Lawrie has arrived from Jamaica on Windrush, which docked at Tilbury in 1948, but it’s important to remember that mixed-race Evi (with Sierra Leonean and Irish heritage) is part of Britain’s mixed-race population that predates Windrush. The novel captures the different cultural needs of Evi, who has known no other country yet is in search of a community to belong to, and Lawrie as a 19-year-old Jamaican, dealing with disillusionment and homesickness in England, but who has a strong sense of identity.
The music scene plays an important part in the novel: it’s a bit of a side hustle for Lawrie and most of his band mates. It’s also a place of camaraderie and longer-term career options for the musicians, In reference to the pardner scheme, it reflects this black support network, which was to play an important part in black acquisition of property in the UK. The music scene when contrasted with other scenes in the book is also telling of a kind a racism that is more or less comfortable with black people as entertainers, but not necessarily as social equals in other respects (living next door, doing the same jobs, being bosses etc.). In reference to this Lawri says that he feels ‘trapped in a foreign land and used to parading himself before a paying audience’.
The novel portrays some of the iconic images of Windrush passengers in their trilby and fedora hats in one of the first descriptions of Lawrie after he comes home after a night playing his clarinet with the band. It also describes the air raid shelter in Clapham, which accommodated Windrush arrivals who didn’t have places to go when they first got here, making me as a Londoner curious to know more about some of the legacies of World War II in the capital.
Although it deals with some uncomfortable topics, it’s a very good read. I can’t wait to see what Louise Hare has in store for us with her second novel, which is out next year.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kathleen Coffey
- 18-06-22
Exceptional
Probably the best audible book I have listened to Great jazz helped!Well done Louise Hare
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Elizabeth Williams
- 10-08-22
social history
Interesting comment on the impact of Wind Rush on London society, the good and bad
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Veronica
- 08-06-20
I truly wish times would change
I listened to this book at the time of the George Floyd murder. Those who want to educate themselves need to know how ingrained Racism is.
A great book. Made me remember my parents ‘welcome’ to theUK.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Laura
- 03-11-21
A gripping tale
I listened to this in about 5 days as it was so intriguing and I was keen to find out how it would resolve. Very well narrated and performed. If you liked this you will enjoy Ordinary People and Small Island, which are set in a similar time period.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Juliet Weller
- 01-05-21
Loved the story
Interesting story beautiful narrators of a time in recent history. Based in South London were I lived.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Kindle Customer
- 20-08-20
Another Brilliant Debut
I loved this novel and it taught me so much about post war British society and what the first wave of West Indian immigrants went through on a arrival.
Gripping and so well written. Louise Hare and Abi Dare both have a brilliant future ahead of them. Strange you should be friends.
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