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Award-winning poet and rapper Kate Tempest's electrifying debut novel takes us into the beating heart of London in this multi-generational tale of drugs, sexual identity, desire and belonging.
Becky, an aspiring dancer who works evenings giving intimate massages to businessmen; Harry, an androgynous lesbian who is attracted to Becky; Pete, Harry's brother, who is also in love with Becky; ascetic, capable Leon - they are all young Londoners who bounce between love affairs, drug deals, stalled careers and family disintegration in a series of pubs, clubs, cafes and shabby flats.
But now they are leaving town in a fourth-hand Ford Cortina with a suitcase full of money, on the run, and in the hope of escaping the restless tedium of life in south-east London - the place they have always called home. As the story moves back in time, to before they had to leave, we see them torn between confidence and self-loathing, between loneliness and desire, between desperate ambition and the terrifying prospect of getting nothing done.
In ''The Bricks that Built The Houses'', Kate Tempest explores contemporary city life with a powerful moral microscope, giving us irresistible stories of hidden lives, and showing us how the best intentions don't always lead to the right decisions.
Author: Kae Tempest.
Paperback, 400 Pages, Published April 2017