I got bored at about 4 hours and could no longer remember the various characters and how they related to the fire and the death of one person.

And the contrast is I think even more deliberate and bought out in a number of ways: Michael (a key protagonist in both stories and now a committed social justice campaigner) takes time to reflect on the failed promises of the Obama-election; earlier, when his second wife – Nicole, a once famous singer – throws a party to celebrate Meghan marrying into the Royal Family (as an aside the author’s debut novel starts with Charles and Di’s wedding), Michael is more focused on the contrast with growing homelessness; and the only newly inaugurated administration in this book is Theresa May’s government and her early mishandling of the Grenfell Tower crisis as well as the implicit (if not explicit) message that Britain is no longer welcoming to those born elsewhere. Through their victories and defeats, Evans skillfully portrays the disparities that exist in England, where the class system and racism continue to hinder progress. Alice's longing for her homeland and her desire to spend her final years in Benin adds a poignant layer to the narrative. I should mention, I was unaware that this story was a sequel ( of sorts ) to one of the author’s previous works.Turns out this is due to A House for Alice being a sequel to Evans's debut, fact that is not clear at all. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.

But the setting is London which has changed since Ordinary People times: ‘the poverty is louder, fuller. Each chapter of the novel alternates between different members of the family as they remain divided over their mothers wishes and each face up to their own personal challenges and pain. Meanwhile, her piano-playing teenage daughter is grappling with what it means to be a young woman, “its performance, its humiliation and restriction”. A House for Alice is a story told in lyrical prose of love, loss, and the loneliness of people struggling to find a home/a place where they belong. It includes complicated familial and romantic relationships, racism, and political and social issues with the Grenfell tragedy and other current events such as Harry and Meghan's wedding, Brexit and Boris Johnson's blundering in the background.The book seems to announce that the story’s dramatic tension will be about Alice’s question of whether to leave Britain or not, but this is just its first trick.

Ordinarily, I wouldn't mind picking up the second book without reading the first, but I think the backstory on some of these characters is important, and the author doesn't rehash any of it. She has been an associate lecturer at Goldsmiths, University of London, holds an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. I did find the sections focused on the characters I already knew, such as Michael, Melissa and Damian, plus that of their close connections, to be much more compelling than the sections dealing with Cornelius and Alice so, as a result, the novel took a while to get going for me (I was probably a quarter of the way through before I really became captivated).A House For Alice didn't have a particularly clear storyline with the actual "house for alice" portion of the story being a fairly miniscule amount, in relation to the rest of the book. She was discovering, in these mounting waves and surges, that the more time passes the more profound the grief, because you are looking backwards at where the beloved stopped, while the chasm between there and where you go on, every day, is widening, so full in its emptiness. Her second novel, The Wonder, was also published to critical acclaim, described by The Times as 'the most dazzling depiction of the world of dance since Ballet Shoes'.

A House for Alice by Diana Evans is a deeply moving exploration of family, loss, and the enduring impact of the Grenfell Tower fire.It is rare for me to be so deeply moved by a book, a book that puts feelings into words, feelings which I’ve never been able to clearly express myself.