by Andrea Levy
First published 2017
Gilbert Joseph fought for Britain as one of thousands of Jamaican RAF pilots during the war against Hitler. Now it's 1948 and he's back in London as a civilian, facing treatment far worse than he received in uniform. Desperation drives him to remember Queenie Bligh, a white woman he befriended during wartime, and he arrives at 21 Nevern Street seeking lodging. Queenie agrees to take him in despite her neighbors' disapproval. Her husband vanished during the war and she doesn't know if he'll return. Gilbert's wife Hortense soon joins him from Jamaica, expecting to find the golden city of her dreams. Instead she discovers a shabby, broken London that bears no resemblance to her fantasies. Even Gilbert himself proves different from the man she thought she married. At the heart of the story lies the collision between dreams of a better life and the harsh reality of postwar Britain, where the people who fought for the country find themselves unwelcome in it.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, african-american-historical-fiction
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Jamaica, London, Nevern Street
Period: 1948, World War II
533 pages · Paperback · Headline Review
Content warnings: racism