From Amazon.co.uk
Synopsis
It is 1948, and England is recovering from a war. But at 21 Nevern Street, London, the conflict has only just begun. Queenie Bligh's neighbours do not approve when she agrees to take in Jamaican lodgers, but Queenie doesn't know when her husband will return, or if he will come back at all. What else can she do? Gilbert Joseph was one of the several thousand Jamaican men who joined the RAF to fight against Hitler. Returning to England as a civilian he finds himself treated very differently. It's desperation that makes him remember a wartime friendship with Queenie and knock at her door. Gilbert's wife Hortense, too, had longed to leave Jamaica and start a better life in England. But when she joins him she is shocked to find London shabby, decrepit, and far from the golden city of her dreams. Even Gilbert is not the man she thought he was.

RELEASE NOTES:

Another book of Drusillamac's chosen from the oh-so-tempting table full of books at the Uncon yesterday.

This is a fascinating read. Queenie, Gilbert, Hortense and Bernard each tell their own stories of World War Two and the years immediately following it. Hearing their own reasons for their actions explained why they behaved as they did, even if it doesn’t justify their behaviour, and I cringed with shame and embarrassment at the unenlightened attitudes of half a century ago. The main theme is of course racism - cruel and shocking - but attitudes to women and people lower down the social scale (the miners in Queenie’s hometown; the victims of the East End bombing raids) are also put under the spotlight. I found it to be a real page-turner, an excellent, thought-provoking read.

The author’s website is here; this site offers a critique of the novel; and there are lots of interesting points to ponder here.

I've lent this to a colleague, who will be taking it on holiday to Dubai (lucky her! lucky book!)