So for a couple of years I wrote a blog. It was a bit of a mixture of book reviews, articles on historical Black figures who had links to London, and a bit on my journey to become a ‘proper writer’. I haven’t blogged for a year or so, deciding to focus my writing time on the novel that I hoped might one day be published. And guess what – it will be!
This Lovely City, will be published in spring 2020 by HQ. With just over a year until publication, I hope to share some of the pre-publication process on these pages. Friends keep asking me what happens next – the answer is that I don’t really know! I’m currently working on a new draft of the novel as well as researching and writing a (very) rough first draft of a new novel.
A riveting read. A timely reminder of how initially welcomed immigrants suffered at the hands of the population and the authorities. Ironic that a war had been fought to combat fascism and all its evils and British citizens were treated poorly and often led very precarious lives in a country that, although it was on its knees, had invited them in the first place. I say timely, because some things have not changed and the prejudice against those who are ‘other;’ or different remains and is fostered amongst the , frequrtly working class populations, by neo-fascists , often manipulated by the rich and powerful populists.
Anyhow, as an ex police officer, i recall such attitudes from those in authority in the early 1980s. by the time I retired in 2015, overt prejudice and frankly stupidity, had largely disappeared, but not from some people’s minds.
Towards the end of your book you mention police cars with flashing lights. This is notv accurate, as these were not introduced until the late 1960s. The Detective Sergeant is also portrayed as having a red Morris Minor.This car only came out in October 1948 and all but a tiny minority produced, went for export to help with the balance of payments and gain foreign currency. There was a long waiting list for such cars and such as remained often went to drs etc. It may, of course, have been the pre-war minor, rather a different car. The Sgt may have been able to afford one of the latTer but they were not used as police cars.
Thank you again for a cracking , as well as informative read.