Vauxhall

Gabriel Gbadamosi

From Shelf: Reading List: Black History Month UK 2023: Saluting our Sisters.

Vauxhall is a tender and occasionally dark portrait of a child growing up and looking for his place in inner city London. A debut novel that is populated by a stunning aray of charcters, who bring to life the experience of growing up in this part of south London during the early 1970's.

1970s London: Young Michael runs past the railway arches and terraces of Vauxhall. Reaching the street on which he lives, he witnesses a young girl fall from a window, her sari floating down behind her. Her lifeless body lies crumpled on the ground. This incident marks the beginning of a period in which Michael's life threatens to unravel. From his sister's taunts to a series of house fires, police harassment, his parents' crumbling marriage and the realisation that the council intends to clear out the 'slum' he calls home, he learns to navigate his way through an array of obstacles, big and small. An extraordinary debut novel, Vauxhall tells a warm and hopeful story of a young boy and the city that surrounds him.

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