This is a wonderful novel. It is full of the most delightful characters, sparky dialogue and sweet relationships. These Streets also pulls no punches about the housing crisis in London.

Jess is a single parent threatened with eviction. The story follows her journey as she negotiates the hurdles and bureaucracy of trying to find a new home. All the characters are superbly created and have distinct individual voices. There is lovely humour and the pace is perfect. It is a treat of a read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HQ Stories for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Powerfully insightful, this contemporary story explores life in twenty-first century Britain through authentically created characters and their relationships. It is poignantly raw as it documents how easy it is for familial relationships to fail with the threat of homelessness. Hope, humour and humanity lighten the darkness and deliver a believable story that resonates.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

Unfortunately, this is not the book for me. I found this hard to relate to, become invested in and want to pick up. This could be a reflection of my reading preferences at this time, and not the book at all, hence why I do not feel comfortable giving this a star rating. I will try again at a later date as I have read some amazing reviews about it, and am gutted not to have the same experience, as an anticipated read for me. If I do manage to complete it, I will be back to update my review accordingly and share it over my social media.

Nightingale Point was a fantastic book, so I was very excited to get my hands on These Streets. Having been born and raised on a council estate in East London, and having spent my life living and working in various parts of London, Luan Goldie describes a London I know and understand. She is able to describe the hardships people face (which we can see currently getting much worse) and the impact gentrification is having on all parts of London and it’s working class residents. However, what she is able to depict so well in both books is the strength of community, of love, of family and the desire we all have to find contentment and stability. It also shows how close we can all come to losing it all.

The characters are well drawn, believable and I cared about them, I desperately wanted them to get the things they were searching for. It was also a well considered, believable story.

I loved this book and Luan Goldie is fast becoming one of my favourite authors.

Thank you to the author, HQ and Netgalley for an ARC in return for a honest review.

Jess is a single mother to two teenage children: star student Hazel on the way to Oxford University and becoming more distant by the day; and lovable, quirky Joseph who is coping brilliantly with his deafness, but struggling to find where he fits in this crazy world. Perhaps life with teenagers is not always easy, especially when she's working six days a week as an outreach worker for a local community theatre group, but Jess is not unhappy with her lot living in Stratford, East London, where she was born and raised - although she wouldn't say no to finding a decent man for a change.

Then her landlord decides he is going to sell the house that is their family home, and Jess is forced to confront the fact that there is no way she can afford to rent anything even half-way decent for them in the same area. As the pressure mounts, Jess starts to drop more and more of the plates she has been frantically spinning, and she finds it impossible to regain control. She begins to realise that her life was not quite as stable as she thought, including her relationship with her children, and their impending homelessness has caused a chain reaction that seems to be gaining momentum. It doesn't help that the shadow of her difficult childhood suddenly starts to loom over her once more when her estranged, and thoroughly reprehensible, older brother reappears on the scene - or that her 'free-spirit' father now needs more care than he's willing to admit.

This is hardly the best time to meet the man that might just be the one she has been looking for - her father's new neighbour, divorced single dad Ben. The timing is all wrong... and so is the fact that bashful Ben has weighty problems of his own, and a secret he daren't confess about his connection to Jess' family.

Where do I start with how wonderful this book is? Through the story of Jess and her children, Luan Goldie examines the housing crisis in London, showing how easy it is for a family to find itself without somewhere affordable to live, and how lives can rapidly spiral downwards once the prospect of homelessness enters the equation.

But that is not all, because there is more than one thread to grab our attention here. We also meet Ben who has returned to live in London following a failed marriage, and is trying to come to terms with the breakdown of his mental health and forced separation from his daughter, while being overwhelmed by memories about his unhappy childhood in Stratford. By chance, he moves in to a flat doors away from Jess' eccentric father Wolf, and meets Jess. The seeds of a tentative romance begin to sprout between them, that could be really special - if only Jess' life wasn't an ever worsening disaster zone, and Ben was able to come clean about his past. Timing is all, and everything seems to be out of kilter right now.

Goldie writes these characters with such skill that they jump off the page right into your heart, and this draws you into a world where the trials and tribulations of modern British life become all encompassing. As the threads of each of their complex stories weave around each other, Goldie nicely covers a lot of insightful ground. Homelessness and what it can lead to is the heart-rending central focus, but she also cleverly intertwines the effects of both inner city decay and gentrification, and highlights how many Londoners are forced out of the city in the search for affordable accommodation.

Along the way, Goldie deftly touches on so much more. Family dynamics and romantic relationships are integral to the story, especially where they have broken down and estrangement results; and we see the legacy of childhood trauma, guilt, and recrimination. And if all this wasn't enough to make this book astonishingly good, loneliness, race, identity, belonging, privilege, false stereotypes, the weight of the unspoken, and the pain of the misspoken all have a big part to play too. Fortunately, there are nuggets of gold amongst all the heartache, which thread the whisper of hope throughout the stories of all the characters, and the whole book thrums with humour, warmth, and love.

I have to make a special point of saying how well Goldie writes about single motherhood though Jess' eyes, and she paints the picture of living with teenagers to perfection. Hazel hits just the right infuriating spot, teetering on the edge of womanhood with a know-it-all, self-absorbed attitude, covering up her vulnerability with a hard as nails outer shell; and Joseph is all endearing, nerdy teenage boy awkwardness, with a great sense of fun, who has no idea how the real world works. I promise you will find that their interactions really resonate if you have lived with teenagers.

This is the kind of book that begs to be lapped up in a single sitting, and I did just that. I adored it from start to finish, marvelling at how Goldie says so much, and with such subtlety, through a cracking story that captivates from the first page to the last. It gives your emotions a proper workout too, not least because this is much more of a romance than I was expecting. My thoughts have been well and truly provoked, and the cockles of my heart nicely warmed - who could ask for more?

I really loved Nightingale Point when I read it a while back. So much so that I was very excited to get my hands on an early copy of this book. And then a tad scared as I feared it would not live up to my rather high expectations. But I shouldn't have worried, it smashed it!
As with NP, this is a very character driven book. We meet Jess and her two children just at the worst time in their lives as their landlord is evicting them as he wants to sell up. Her relationship with both children, Hazel and Jacob, is already strained and this just makes everything a whole lot worse. Meanwhile, we also meet Ben who has just moved into a flat and is still finding his feet when he bumps into a rather eccentric older man - Wolf. Who just happens to be Jess's dad. This helps Ben as he is still reeling from a breakup that has taken his young daughter to live abroad.
And so begins a wonderful, uplifting and harrowing read that had me on the edge of my seat throughout, running the whole gamut of emotions as it rose and fell putting the characters through a lot as the narrative progressed. Holding me captive as I really needed and wanted to know what was next for each and every character.
With things in the world as they are at the moment, there's a lot in this book that is quite topical but the story never crosses the political boundary. Everything that happens is for a reason and there is no exaggeration to make a point. If indeed you can exaggerate the plight that many find themselves in these days.
It is also a book about hope. And adaptation. And how the two are linked. And how, when you get over yourself and try to stop being selfish and become more open to change, how that scary change might not be as bad as you once thought.
It's a cracking book that had me laughing one minute and bawling the next. It's a book that will stay with me for a while yet. It's a book I feel privileged to have read. And makes me all the more excited t see what comes next from the author. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I’m a huge fan of Luan Goldie’s writing and Nightingale Point is still one of my favourite books! These Streets follows along with Luan’s style of writing honestly about contemporary life in London, east London to be exact. We encounter two families, a single mum and a single dad, and the story is told from their lives.

I love that Luan creates these wonderful characters, who you become completely immersed in! We experience firsthand the ups and downs, all the emotions and the pure love the parents have for their children.

These Streets really highlights the diversity in London and the different ways families can be made up, and I loved that. It feels like such an inclusive book, whilst showing real honesty about the places she writes about. We see real deprivation and reality in her writing, but she does this so well and uses it in a powerful, resilient way.

This book is about real people and real life and another brilliant piece of contemporary literature by Luan Goldie!

A contemporary story set in East London. Well written, dealing with some very relevant issues in a gentle way. Just when you think you couldn't be any more unlucky, you realise you can. Some great character help this story come alive

📚 Book review 📚
These Streets by Luan Goldie
🌟🌟🌟💫

(E-ARC through @netgalley & @harpercollinsuk - thank you for the preview!) Publication date: 23rd June

These streets is a great name for a book that’s very much about its geography. Set in East London, this formed a great companion read to Joy White’s ‘Terraformed’ - also based in Newham and exploring overlapping issues.
Jess was an engaging main character; single mum to Hazel and Jacob. Her father was a really great character (don’t want to say too much for fear of spoilers) and the relationship between Jess and her dad… and her errant (I’m being polite!) brother was very well conveyed. There was a sense of inevitability to repeating patterns of behaviour that were harmful. Similarly, the relationship between Jess and her children as it was challenged by the increasing hardships the family face really showed the pressures put on them because of who and where they are.
The big overlap with Terraformed was in the impact of ‘Improving’ an area - who that brings in and pushes out. How easy it is in this context to become homeless and the impact on the family of homelessness were shown in many small details that formed a bigger picture of becoming increasingly trapped. Belonging seemed to be a core theme of ‘These streets’.

I did enjoy this one and I would read it again - probably in conjunction with Terraformed and as part of my teaching around social justice and homelessness.

A gentle, sometimes humorous, romance with rough edges. There are some lovely characters in this book by the author of Nightingale Point. Jess is struggling to bring up her two teenagers single-handed and take care of her sprightly father. When her landlord decides to sell up, she's made homeless. Then she meets Ben, who's recently moved back to London with his lovely dog, Harold. An easy and enjoyable read about people trying to get by in the London suburb of Stratford.

A well written love story with the issue of homelessness giving it added depth.
However, I was slightly disappointed that, to me, the message was that a woman needs a man (Wolf, Ben, Cat- tie Tim) to help her through the darkest times and into a better future
Thank you to netgalley and HQ for an advance copy of this book
3.5 rounded up to 4

Jess doesn’t have much luck,no job,no lover and soon to have no home,it is a well written book as she tries to get to grips with these things and introduces some great characters,overall a good read

These Streets by Luan Goldie is a fascinating look at contemporary life in east London.
The reader is introduced to two families – a single mum with two teens and an elderly father nearby, and a single dad separated from his six year old daughter. All the characters are unique, warm and welcoming. Luan Goldie gives us glimpses into their lives as we witness that it is not money that makes us happy but love and friendship. Some of the richest people are materially poor but with huge hearts.
We witness how our school days form the adults we become. They leave a lasting impression on our lives, for better or for worse. Bad experiences still have the power to hurt twenty years down the line.
There is no such thing as a ‘typical’ family. Families are unique in their make-up and their functioning.
We see a mother’s pride for her children as she puts their needs first. It is sacrificial love in action. Sometimes the truth is hidden in order to protect. We also see the children trying to sort lives to make it easier for their mum. They are a lovely, caring family unit.
A single dad whose daughter now lives in Spain, struggles to come to terms with being alone. His bond with his beagle Harold makes the reader smile as we see the love between them. Harold becomes a character in his own right.
Luan Goldie tells us life as it is in east London. She does not sugar coat it. We see the deprivation, the dysfunctional lives and we see the love and care. It is a place where people know your name.
I always love Luan Goldie’s novels. She writes about ‘real’ people with ‘real’ problems. The nitty gritty of life is laid bare. Life is hard but there is much love and laughter. These Streets is a fabulous read.
I received a free copy from Harper Collins. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

I wanted to like this book but I'm afraid that Jess was just too irritating for me to care about or sympathise with her. The story line is a bit too predictable and neat, and just a bit too unbelievable. Not one I would recommend.

"These Streets" is a simple story really. A woman facing her home being sold from under her. It's the sharp slap of reality. Of how a community changes. Families being priced out of their own homes. It's the relationship we have with both people and places.

It's simple, but it's powerful and rewarding.

Goldie writes superb characters. They're familiar and relatable. You can even say that about Harold, who's a beagle. There's a healthy restraint in the way she writes, it's measured and delicate, allowing the story to feel organic and natural. This allows serious issues to be part of the stories. It never feels like it wants to educate you, it trusts that you understand the real problems faced by an ever-growing number of people. It doesn't seek to solve anything, it simply tells a story. In fact, Goldie tells a very good story with real care and craft. There will be much praise for this book, and deservedly so.

This, I suppose, is actually a love story but it has many other dimensions to it as well. Jess is the single mother of two teenage children when her world falls apart. She loses her rented home then her job. She also finds her relationship with her teenage daughter becoming difficult. Jess has an older brother who has brought disgrace on her family so when she discovers her new friend, Ben, has a past with her brother as well, that relationship cools. The characters are very well drawn including her son Jacob who has a deafness problem. The book is well written, drawing attention to the many hazards facing a lone mother in London. The book sails through to a satisfying conclusion. I recommend it.

This story made me anxious wondering what was going to go wrong for Ben and Jess next. The characters in this book are great, all different personalities, and warm and likeable. It's frightening how quickly things can go wrong without a job and home, and highlights the homelessness exacerbated by the extortionate rents in London as areas are gentrified. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and was relieved by the ending.

I was given an advance copy of this book as I had loved Nightingale Point - and again, I was not disappointed and I devoured this book in a day!

Whilst the book gives us a bit of romance, it also gives us an insight into race, gentrification, poverty in a really realistic way. The characters to me, felt real and I wanted only the best for them. Living in London, I felt this book really represented how life is.

Despite the old warning about judging books by their covers, a lot of how we perceive and experience a book comes from our expectations and how it is presented to us. From the blurb and quotes, 'These Streets' appears to be a novel centred on the challenges of poverty in early 21st century Britain. As inflation is soaring at the time of its publication, it looked to be an inadvertently well timed novel. I was looking forwards to reading it, to get new insights into the struggles facing more and more ordinary people.

What I actually found between those plaudit-strewn covers was a rather tedious love story about two people, one of whom happens to be facing various life problems including being unable to find affordable accommodation in the London area she'd lived in all her life. The novel is told from the perspective of two characters in alternating chapters. although oddly enough only one is mentioned on the cover. Perhaps the bloke was simply not trendily poor enough. Jess is the single mother who has a run of bad luck after the house she's lived in for an unbelievably low rent is sold, and she then loses her job. Ben is a lonely divorcee who misses his daughter. The two meet, discover they like each other, go through various romantic misunderstandings - you get the picture. There is also the underlying threat of Jess's violent brother, who appears to have caused Ben problems at school, and whose unacknowledged existence hangs like a cloud over them both.

The frustrating thing is that it is really important to tell stories that reflect reality and current issues - through fiction we can gain understanding and empathy in a deeper way than is sometimes possible through dry factual reports. But this was a wasted opportunity. Whilst Jess's situation is of course horrible, she never has to face the choice between eating and heating, as many people do. And unlike a lot of people in her situation, she has choices. Maybe not ideal choices, but still feasible ones. So it's hard to feel a real sense of anxiety about her. She also seemed unrealistically naive = even I had more idea of what a London rent costs and I don't live anywhere near the city.

In fact, try as I might, I couldn't warm to Jess. I found her irritating for reasons I don't even understand. On paper she should have been a completely sympathetic character, but I just didn't respond to her in that way. Unlike most people who get to the age of forty - and it wasn't like she'd had an easy life - she didn't seem to have realised that life is unfair, people don't get what they deserve, and you have to make do with what you get. Yes, I felt sorry for her - but was she any worse off than me or most people I know? No - in fact, she was better off than many. Doing a job you don't like and are overqualified for because you need the money, and having to still live somewhere that is the opposite of your dream home because that's all you can afford, is normal. She also really didn't help herself a lot of the time - playing into the irritating narrative that people in financial difficulties bring it on themselves. Everyone likes that idea - no one wants to believe you can do all the right things and still not be able to make ends meet - but sadly it's all too possible.

As for Ben, maybe the reason he is missed from the cover blurb is because he is an empty shell of man, who merely exists to be a love interest for Jess and the obvious happy-ever-after. That's another reason this book never resonated - the reader is never in doubt that everything will work out nicely in the end. And the whole storyline with the brother was an attempt to inject some tension into the book which never really worked.

It's not necessarily the author's fault - she probably didn't get to decide how her book would be packaged and pitched. She probably set out to write a modern love story with a bit of added drama generated from the characters going through a difficult time with housing, children and jobs. And she did that adequately. The people who want to read that sort of story though are not necessarily going to be the ones attracted by the way the novel is presented.

If you do like romances that are closer to 'real life', you might love this book. But I'm not convinced - the characters really didn't do it for me and the writing style, whilst adequate, isn't special. Goldie's first novel, 'Nightingale Point' was a great deal better than this.

As ever Luan Goldies books are a fantastic read. She sculpts such likeable characters and you are drawn into their lives and compelled to read more and more. Her storyline are on point and there are many things that resonate with daily life.