This Lovely City

Written By Jess Pancholi
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This Lovely City by Louise Hare
Reviewed by Jess
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This story really does have something for everyone - mystery, romance, music, history and hardship. The scene is perfectly set in chapter one, as we meet Lawrie the local postman. He makes a shocking discovery whilst on his daily round and suddenly nothing is the same, and this Lovely City is anything but.

Lawrie and Evie’s love story is at the heart of this book. It’s tested so much throughout, in particular by such evil characters like Rathbone and Evie’s mum. The mother-daughter dynamic for me was fascinating, I kept trying to understand why she treated her child with such disdain but I kept coming up short with reasons. Rathbone was a mirror to society at the time and the way the Windrush generation suffered through institutional racism and the backwards mentality of “othering” the new arrivals who had come to England to help.

The book picks up speed towards the end; as the mystery unravels the story reaches a massive climax which I don’t want to ruin for anyone but is gripping, and perfectly executed. I think Louise Hare has done an amazing job capturing the essence of the 50s in London, and the trials and tribulations of the tight knit Windrush community there, a topic that I can’t believe I haven’t read about in fiction before. Evie and Lawrie are the most loveable characters and a joy to read. A wonderful debut novel!

Jess Pancholi

I’ve got to start this off by thanking Linda for putting together this amazing group of ladies who I love dearly! Linda was my uni/PhD wife for 8 solid years and books were one of the many things that bound us together - pun intended! I really think our book family is amazing, diverse and we really influence each other to push our reading boundaries (and crack each other up with our banter and jokes haha!) The family extends to you followers too - and we are just getting started!

According to everyone in my family and numerous home movies I was forever reading books.  Spot the Dog and anything Beatrix Potter were my jam. They say your love of reading never dies and I can absolutely say that is true! The books might be more grown up but I’m still there, book in hand (and snacks to boot!) ready to lose myself in a story.I can’t say for sure what my preferred genre of book is - I’ve read everything from biographies to epic modern novels and classic tales too - and of course as a scientist I dabble in a little popular sci lit on the side. I’m always willing to try something wacky and weird, even if I don’t like it in the end but I guess that’s why I’m part of The Candid Book Club, eh?

If you asked me to recommend some books to you, I would say that Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy is my absolute favourite ever; its worth it, I promise!I also love: Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli (shout out if you read this in high school - it’s YA that really sticks with you) Brave New World by Aldous Huxley The Good Immigrant edited by Nikesh Shukla (this is ESSENTIAL reading) Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami A Little Life by Hanyayan Agihara, Yes Please by Amy Poehler. And of course- The Tale of Jemima Puddleduck by Beatrix Potter

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