I haven’t finished a book all week but I did read Never Far From Nowhere by Andrea Levy last weekend. While it’s not as good as Small Island or The Long Song, it’s still a solid read, taking a look at two sisters living in London, born to Jamaican parents and trying to navigate life in the 70s. The sisters end up on very different paths and we hear from them in alternating chapters which are used to great effect. I couldn’t say which sister’s story I preferred, as both were compelling!

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It’s a bleak read at times, with Levy tackling issues like domestic abuse, racism, classism and the stigma in the UK that comes with being on welfare. Vivien, the younger sister, finds herself in the skinhead scene of the 70s, listening to her ‘friends’ spout racist abuse who then turn to her and assure her ‘she’s not like the others’. I also found the sisters’ relationship with their mother interesting. It’s often fraught since their mother is convinced the UK will bring about a better life for her daughters; she determinedly turning a blind eye to racial prejudice, convinced they are not like other first and second generation immigrants.

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Sometimes it risked tipping over into melodrama, but overall I would still recommend it!