ed_moore 's review for:

The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon

3.75

emotional hopeful informative lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Sam Selvon’s ‘The Lonely Londoners’ is an insight into the experience of migrants from the West Indies in 1950’s London. It is distinct in its tone as it is written in a creole English, which reads almost as if it is written in the present tense. It follows Moses, a man who had migrated 10 years prior to the year the novel is set, as he helps out a new migrant from Trinidad get his footing in London, whilst sharing the stories of previous migrants he’s befriended or helped during his time in London. The book has no real present day plot, only the various inserts of migrant stories that are told, but the characters are each likeable and the story has a charm to it whilst highlighting issues of politics, capitalism and migrant experience in London.