Book Synopsis:
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.
Touring Soho’s music halls by night, 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, 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.
Ths Lovely City is available in ebook and hardback now. You can purchase your copy using the link below.
My Review:
This Lovely Life is a fascinating look into postwar London which manages to be both poignant and hopeful at the same time.
Firstly the author does a great job of setting the scene in this book and I felt completely transported to postwar London. As you could well imagine the atmosphere at the time was quite unsettled, tense and suspicious after so many years or fear which is vividly described in the book. I haven’t read much about this period so found all the historical details very interesting especially learning more about the windrush generation and their experiences here. The shabbiness of London is contrasted well with the fun and hopefulness of the time too which helped bring some light moments in an otherwise sad book.
There are some fantastic characters in this book who I enjoyed getting to know. Lawrie was definitely my favourite character and I loved how positive he tries to be even when faced with daily discrimination. DI Rathbone on the other hand- ooh how I hated him! He’s such a nasty, cruel and racist man that I wished I could have reached into the book to give him the slap he really deserved. I felt my blood rise with indignation for Lawrie as he was so horrible to him!
This is a book that is great to get lost in as there is always something going on to keep the reader absorbed in the story. There are some twists that took me by surprise but ultimately this is a story of joy and hope in a bleak time which was brilliantly written. I think this would make a great book club read as there would be lots to discuss.
Huge thanks to Joe Thomas for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
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
louisehare.com
Over The Rainbow Blog 
I loved this book too such an interesting story with lots of secrets and revelations
LikeLike