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The Bricks That Built the Houses

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The Bricks That Built the Houses

By: Kae Tempest
Narrated by: Kae Tempest
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About this listen

The Sunday Times best seller.

Award-winning poet and rapper Kae Tempest's electrifying debut novel takes us into the beating heart of the capital in this multigenerational tale of drugs, desire and belonging.

It gets into your bones. You don't even realise it until you're driving through it, watching all the things you've always known and leaving them behind.

Young Londoners Becky, Harry and Leon are leaving town in a fourth-hand Ford Cortina with a suitcase full of money. They are running from jealous boyfriends, dead-end jobs, violent maniacs and disgruntled drug dealers, in the hope of escaping the restless tedium of life in Southeast 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, Kae 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.

Cover designed by Greg Heinimann.

©2016 Kae Tempest (P)2017 Audible, Ltd Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Fiction Heartfelt

Critic reviews

"One of the leading wordsmiths of our time. She turns her raw, observational skills in book form to the urban young growing up poor - sex, drugs and increasing poverty amid the looming threat of gentrification." (Jon Snow)

"This is a bold, bright, beguiling novel; a lustrous pageant that dazzles and grips. An irresistible, immersive snapshot of a changing world, delivered in woozy, staccato sentences. There's great pleasure to be taken from Tempest's debut. She may well be unstoppable." (Sunday Telegraph)

"It's hard not to be blown away by Kae Tempest. A stirring, post-Dickensian lens trained on London's lonely underbelly." (Evening Standard)
All stars
Most relevant
loved it, like her music but deeper, more conversational, didn't want it to finish.
brilliant

such easy effortless conversational writing.

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Kate Tempest is fantastic as a rapper, poet and singer. She continues her work in this book by bringing back memories of my time in South London over twenty years ago. A story of social struggles, survival and interesting characters

In awe

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The Bricks that Built the Houses is amazing. I loved everything about it. I loved the setting, modern-day London. Tempest breathes life into the city and I could practically hear, smell and taste it. I loved the characters as well. They are all wonderfully formed, made of flesh and bone. I loved them all and wanted everything to work out for them. The plot is great as well, gritty and compelling. I really like Tempest’s prose style. The Bricks that Built the Houses is vivid and full of rich detail. I LOVED this book and will gush about it for months to come. Amazing!

Stunning

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i know some of kate tempest's poetry and love the intensity of it.
the prologue to the book was like a poem. i wasnt certain if the whole book were to continue in that style that i would manage to listen as it is intense. but it doesn't. however, there is great poetry throughout the book. her storytelling is rich and deep and full of sensuality. it reminds me of the way isabel allende tells stories. the backgrounds of the characters, exploring who and why they are.
i loved listening to kate read it. it was excellent.

deep and rich storytelling

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The descriptions of sounds, sights, smells, etc seemed jarring and sometimes outlandish but created the most atmospheric depictions. Wonderfully lyrical and narrated accordingly.

Beautifully evocative

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