‘The Lovely City’ is a terrific story, brilliantly written, I’ve reviewed it on my blog. Here’s the book description. ‘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.

During the two hundred or so years when the sun never set on the British Empire, a multitude of migrants from its outposts made their way to London, either voluntarily or under duress. They often found that the ‘Mother Country’ was not the welcoming homeland they had been led to expect. Furthermore, they sometimes learned that justice and the law were not always the same thing. I think a good example of this is what happened to Laurie Matthews. I wanted to find out if his creator agreed with me, so the first question I asked her was on the effects of Empire.

LOARN: Louise, how are the events in your story related to the idea of empire?

LOUISE: While the main plot of the book isn’t focused on empire, the setting I suppose is. Lawrie and his friends are in London precisely because they came from a country that at the time was under British rule. Growing up in the UK, we don’t learn about the British Empire at school. We might watch the Commonwealth Games on the telly every four years but we don’t necessarily understand that most of the nations competing were at one time under British rule, or what that might mean. Lawrie travelled on a British passport so when people turn round and say that he’s not British, really it shows up their ignorance.

Lawrie was too young to fight in the war but his brother did, and died. During my research I found a lot of first person accounts from those who fought and then returned after the war. They found that while they were welcomed when they were in their uniforms, fighting under the British flag, there was the common feeling that they should have gone home afterwards. They were only welcome while they were actively fighting to save Britain, which really doesn’t feel like a fair deal!

LOARN: It has been said that a man is merely spoiled by his vulnerabilities, while a woman is soiled by hers. Thinking about your protagonists, do you agree with this statement?

LOUISE: I do consider myself a feminist and so writing historical fiction I always have to address this disparity. It’s impossible to not talk about the attitudes of the time (not that they’ve changed as much as I’d like). For example, Rose who is not a major character but creates a large impact. She is the archetypal bored housewife, except that she had known what it’s like to have a job and to have freedom, while her husband was away during the war. Her main problem is that she’s seen what she could have. Unfortunately she’s married to a man who expects his dinner on the table at a certain time and doesn’t want his wife to work.

In terms of the main plot, I can’t say much without spoilers but I think as a society we are certainly harder on women than men. The way single mothers are talked about by people like our Prime Minister, with his own track record! Several of the characters fall victim to societal pressures throughout the book, whether that’s living up to the image of a ladies’ man, dating outside your race, or having a baby out of wedlock.

LOARN: Which childhood memories did you take inspiration from, while writing your book?

LOUISE: Mostly I used my own memories with Evie. A lot of the racist incidents she experiences are things that have happened to me. The little things that hurt, such as overhearing people making racist comments. A so-called friend saying she would never find someone of your race attractive. The teacher who never praises Evie even though she’s good at school.

It has been interesting to see how these incidents in the book have been received. I also think that people underestimate how often these things happen to Black people. One comment said that I had moved on too quickly from an incident, and shouldn’t my character be devastated. From my own knowledge of it happening to me, multiple times, I know that it’s something you get used to. It sounds depressing but that is the reality of it. I’d rather save my energy for things I can change rather than get hung up on things I can’t.

LOARN: What will be the key themes of your next novel?

LOUISE: My next novel is a murder mystery set in 1936. My character Lena is a jazz singer travelling on the Queen Mary between Southampton and New York. She’s mixed race but can pass for white, and on the ship she has to as she’s in First Class. In her London life she’s always been able to pick and choose how she wants to represent herself but now that she’s going to be living in America she has to make a decision about what race she is, who she is going to want to be friends with, because there is very much a colour bar even in New York at that time. Just to complicate her life even further, people then start to get murdered! And then it turns out she sort of has a motive.

As I mention above, I do talk about the position of women as well, because it’s important. And class – most of the book is set on the ship which has an automatic class system so it’s impossible to ignore. Lena herself grew up in the East End so she’s a fish out of water in several ways. I’m having a lot of fun writing this book and it should be out at some point next year.

LOARN: Thank you, Louise, for giving such full and interesting answers to my questions.