The Housing Lark by Sam Selvon Narrated by: Don Gilet was Just excellent from start to finish. Plus, great to listen and is the first book i have listened/read and I really enjoyed it. This book was First published in 1965 and I am so glad its now an audio book. and Don Gilet was great as the narrator he made it come alive.

Big thank you to Netgalley and to Penguin for an ARC via NetGalley.

Sam Selvon's 'The Housing Lark' comically and evocatively depicts the journey of a group of young men who band together to try and buy a house amidst the racially prejudiced society of 1960s London. It's a novel of youthful dreams and ambitions, typified by the boys' collective commitment to pursuing women. The motley crew are seen to hang around Brixton market, on copious occasions pretending to be South American in order to avoid local disdain towards West Indians. Overall I found the short book to be deeply enjoyable and yet another example of Selvon's brilliance at capturing the heart of West Indian life in London, with its highs and lows and just about everything in between. The audiobook itself benefits from being wonderfully narrated and brings the characters and their dialects to life. I highly recommend this format for anyone who is new to Sam Selvon's work or is a fan already.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House UK Audio for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Housing Lark by Sam Selvon is a beautifully poetic, yet heart wrenchingly honest deep dive into black culture in the united kingdom in the 50s. I found The Housing Lark an incredibly interesting, quick read and I'm definitely interested to see what else Sam Selvon had written during the time period.

Sam Selvon's 'The Housing Lark' follows a group of friends from the West Indies who are now living in London. During their time in London they are all finding it increasingly hard to find places to live that will allow them to live there and that are also affordable, so Battersby comes up with a plan for them all to find a house together. From here the book explores the groups dynamics, individual stories and the journey to making this idea a reality.

The book is a really interesting exploration of what it means to be displaced. The opening chapters of this book are refreshing and extremely funny, and really set up the narrative of the story moving forward. I really liked the cast of characters, however at times I did struggle to keep track of each story and how they fit into the overall plot. Despite this their were some key character's that stood out for me that really made this book for me.

Overall this was an interesting exploration of the era. I didn't really enjoy it's portrayal of women, and had this been slightly different I would have given it another star. This was the first book I have read from Sam Selvon, and whilst I didn't love every aspect of this book. I am excited to read his other works.

The Housing Lark is part of the most recent batch of ‘Penguin Modern Classics’ to be published into audio and was written by the late Sam Selvon in 1965. The story takes off with the arrival of Harry Bango who inspires his new roommate Battersby to convince his friends to save up for a house share. Allowing them to escape the extortionate rate of renting in London where racist attitudes drastically reduce their housing options. Given that Selvon’s works have never been available in audio before, The Housing Lark is an interesting choice to start with. Selvon is better known for his earlier work The Lonely Londoners in which he first used his innovative narrative style, of third person stream of conscious spoken entirely in a creolized form of English. Still perhaps it will make an appearance in the audio collection later on.

Selvon’s writing style is made for audio. Whilst I enjoyed The Lonely Londoners it took me a while to adapt to the narrative flow as it was so unlike anything I’d read before. Additionally Selvon doesn’t use chapters. From start to finish the story is unbroken, it takes the occasional detour but it never pauses. Listening to The Housing Lark was like listening to someone tell you a story by the campfire. Don Gilet draws you in, signals when he’s providing context and pre-empts flashbacks with his tone alone, making it much easier to follow the different story threads. As someone who rarely experiences ‘pidgin’ English I found that listening to Selvon’s writing provided a richer experience than reading it.

Of course a big part of that richness was the incredible narration by Gilet. His accent work is breathtaking. It’s one thing to narrate an entire audiobook in an accent that’s not your own, it’s another to then create individual tones for each of the characters and to keep that consistency throughout. His trinidadian accent was so good I was completely thrown when the first english character spoke in the story and he switched back to his natural accent. He also really understood the pacing of the story and I flew through hours of audio without realising how much time had passed. I really hope he’ll be narrating more audiobooks in the future.

This book tells of a collection of unique characters that group together in an attempt to buy a house in London in the 1960's. There are ingenious schemes in making money and ducking and diving from some of the characters.
The characters are beautifully illustrated and this is a funny story with serious themes of inequality and racism in the 1960's and the price of housing.
It is well narrated and very enjoyable.
Highly recommended.
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley in allowing me to listen to in return for a review.

This book is about a few immigrants from the West Indies who settle in London and their friendship and what they have to deal with as immigrants, They decide that they want to buy a house after struggling with landlords and making payments without steady incomes. It’s an insight into their lives at this time in the 60s-70s. It’s more of a slice of life with the plot of saving for the house. I found the accent a little tricky to follow at times.

This Penguin Modern Classic audiobook reading by Don Gilet of the 1965 novel The Housing Lark is a delight. It captures the struggle and humour of the Windrush generation from the West Indies into Britain. The dialogue and observations are well-captured and delivered by the reader, in particular the beautiful patois of Battersby and Alphonse who are always looking out to make pound or two whist struggling with the weather, finding a room to rent, and indiscriminate racism. There is lots of sexual observations of the women characters but they are fully realised in their own right and are often given the upper hand.

Thanks to Penguin Random House UK Audio and Netgalley.

First published in 1965, The Housing Lark is a quick witted and spirited short read with a serious undertone.

The narrator does a great job at making each unique character come alive.

The Housing Lark is a short book that centres around a group of West Indians living in 1960s Britain. Owing to the hideous price of rent in London (not much has changed!), these friends decide to band together to save enough money to get themselves a house. What follows is a beautifully depicted tale of friendship, hardship and strength in the face of adversity.

Don Gilet does a brilliant job of bringing this cast of friends to life and really added to the "reading" experience.

Leaving Trinidad and Jamaica for the motherland and all the streets paved with gold, except the harsh reality of London in the 1950s is a far cry from the image. Yes fortune to be made but by the landlords already renting out accommodation to the new and excited immigrants. With no benefit system to fall back on its survival of the fittest, landlords can choose who they want no black, no irish, no dogs! As harsh reality bites, the residents of one bed sit house decide to join together to buy their own house and beat the system. Hilarious at times, this story is a snapshot of what life would have been like and how inspirational ideas take a beating, the characters are well described and their personalities shine. Narration was authentic and really loved this book. Thank you #NetGalley for the audio copy.

This is a lovely, gently funny book with engaging lively characters and a wicked sense of humour. Selvon's deft prose and beautiful observations are wonderfully given life by the Don Gilet, and it was a great pleasure to ride alongside the various characters in this romp through London. A delightful slice of optimism and friendship.