The Housing Lark cover art

The Housing Lark

Penguin Modern Classics

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Housing Lark

By: Sam Selvon
Narrated by: Don Gilet
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £7.99

Buy Now for £7.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Sitting in his cramped basement room in Brixton, Battersby dreams of money, women, a T-bone steak - and a place to call his own. So he and a group of friends decide to save up and buy a house together. But amid grasping landlords, the temptations of spending money and the less-than-welcoming attitude of the Mother Country, can this motley group of hustlers and schemers, Trinidadians and Jamaicans, men and women make their dreams a reality?

©1965 Sam Selvon (P)2021 Penguin Audio
Classics Fiction Literary Fiction Dream
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Pao cover art
Incomparable World cover art
Me Dying Trial cover art
Dallas Noir cover art
Port Authority (Unabridged) cover art
A Bridge to the Stars cover art
Alfie cover art
Gloria cover art
Happy Dreams cover art
The Book of Ebenezer le Page cover art
A Kind of Loving cover art
The Butcher Boy cover art
And the Land Lay Still cover art
You Have to Make Your Own Fun Around Here cover art
Miguel Street cover art
The Town House cover art

Critic reviews

"Irreverent, spirited...a seriously funny novel." (New York Review of Books)

"Selvon's meticulously observed narratives of displaced Londoners' lives created a template for how to write about migrant, and postmigrant, London for countless writers who have followed in his wake, including Hanif Kureishi and Zadie Smith." (Caryl Phillips)

What listeners say about The Housing Lark

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    13
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    13
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    13
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Tantalising & enjoyable

It's a great little story with twists and turns and is well performed. I would love to see this produced as TV mini series.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful sense of mid 20th century London

Loved the story, loved the performance, loved the picture Sam Selvon drew or contemporary London/Britain in 50s/60s - the people British & from the West Indies, the differentiations between Islanders and men & women, adults & children. Fantastically performed. A treat for the ears. And a great sense of nostalgia looking back from the first quarter of 21st century Britain

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Marvellous insight into windrush friends

This was a short but punchy insight into wind rush immigrants living and renting in London. The performance was flawless. It was amazing to hear the actor depict the accents of each islander. Very impressive. The ending was somewhat sudden, but an entertaining take all the same.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

enjoyable reading

humourius characters based on reality of British life for Westindians. keeps you interested to the end

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!