Smallie

by Eden McKenzie-Goddard

In 1961, 19-year-old Lucinda Brown travels to England in search of her lover, Clarence Braithwaite, a jazz musician who left Barbados to join the British army. Aboard the ship to Southampton, Lucinda meets Raldo, a free-wheeling Trinidadian, who offers her the wild freedom that both her old life in Barbados and the life that awaits her in Britain lack. Driven by loyalty, and the memory of the little boy she left behind, she chooses Clarence – though soon realises that he is no longer the saxophonist she fell in love with, but a veteran at war with himself.

Fifty years later, Patrick Braithwaite, a father, husband, business owner and recovering alcoholic from Tottenham, has to rally his three siblings when their mother receives a letter from the Home Office that tears their life apart. They need to prove their mother’s legal arrival, to prevent her deportation, and to do that they need to find a man their mother once loved, known only by the name of Raldo…

Tender, rich and big-hearted, Smallie is a stunning British debut about three generations of a Bajan-British family affected by the Windrush scandal that will move, enrage and pull you in.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Race, Historical

291 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 7, 2026

Reviews

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

I loved this story.

Historical to present day fiction. This story, inspired by true events, addresses the UK Windrush Scandal and follows Lucinda, a 19 year old girl leaving Barbados in 1960s for the UK where she hopes to meet her lover, Clarence. Fast forward to the present day chapters, we follow Lucinda’s children, with a focus on her son Patrick, trying to prove his Mother’s legal entry into the UK, otherwise, she faces deportation.

It was so disheartening to read a story on a woman who was invited to the UK, only to be told that she was marked as being illegal. The writing is very descriptive, filled with beautiful sentences, vivid and immersive. The author does a fantastic job in conveying the effects on all parties involved in the scandal. I did initially struggle with the poetical writing style, however once I got into the flow, I adored this storytelling!

There are so many themes to unpack in this book but here is what stood out for me:

The immigrant experience is perfectly captured.

The relationships surrounding Lucinda. Particularly the chapters on her childhood and her father’s strict upbringing. The friendship dynamics with Sheila and love interests, Clarence & Raldo were elegantly composed.

Motherhood - Lucinda left a son in Barbados and her lack of communication with him weighed heavy on me.

How the effects of Lucinda’s potential deportation affected her children was well depicted.

The Bajan dialogue is outstanding and all the characters are realistic. A bittersweet ending, but for me, it was satisfying and heartwarming and an ending that I wanted!

[Bukola Akinyemi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smallie
By Eden McKenzie-Goddard

Panic is a spider, crawling in my folds, hatching eggs in soft places, until I am swarmed with tickling nerves across my entire body.

I thought I’d start this review by showing you how beautiful the writing in this book is. If this passage made you feel something, pick this book up when it comes out in spring 2026, in fact, preorder it now.

📒📒📒📒📒

Smallie switches between Lucinda’s story in 1961 as she leaves Barbados to travel to England in search of her lover Clarence at the age of 19. While on the ship, she meets Raldo, a carefree man from Trinidad who has his eyes on Lucinda, he calls her Smallie and she likes him but she is loyal to Clarence.

The other storyline follows Patrick Braithwaite fifty years later. Patrick and his siblings are trying to prevent the deportation of their mother and prove her legal arrival in the country fifty years before.

I found Patrick’s chapters informative but absolutely adored Lucinda’s. I couldn’t wait to get back to them because of the emotions I felt while reading them. I felt love and longing on the pages, anger and irritation and then understanding. I felt joy and then pain.

The characters were so well developed. From young Lucinda, her controlling dad and her loving Nanny Florelda, her lovers, Clarence and Raldo to Patrick and Mark. I saw the complexity of relationships, effects of war and trauma.

This book covers political scandals of recent years like the Windrush Scandal and historical events like the Post-War Caribbean to Britain migration (1950s-1960s), building the Panama Canal and Irish indentured servants known as the Redlegs of Barbados.

I would highly recommend this book to everyone, especially lovers of historical fiction and Caribbean books, lovers of literary fiction and beautifully crafted sentences and those who love nuanced characters.

[readsbycoral · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The streets of London are filled with the phantom children of immigrants. When you see a mother without her child, recognise you are not seeing her. You are seeing limbs that do, eyes that see, and a mouth that says. But she is not there. She is wherever they are.”

Some people are born to write, and McKenzie-Goddard is one of those people. It is truly astonishing that Smallie is a debut, as novels like this do not come along every day. This book announces a remarkable new voice in British fiction, unravelling a story which, from the very outset, burns to be told.

Smallie follows the life of Lucinda Brown, a warm hearted and fiercely brave mother, who travels to England in 1961, in search of her lover and the father of her son, Clarence Braithwaite, a jazz musician who left Barbados to join the British army. From the moment Lucinda boards the ship to England, the trajectory of her life changes forever, after she meets someone on that crossing who will hold her heart in his palms for the next 60 years. Fast forward to 2017, three generations of a Bajan-British family fight the Home Office with everything it takes, so that their loved one can remain in the UK. The question is, can love, strength and hope outweigh hatred, ignorance and fear?

Smallie is an ode to home, to belonging, to human strength, to love. As readers, we are confronted with a multitude of important questions about injustice, cruelty, displacement, betrayal and loss. McKenzie-Goddard underlines the plight of the Windrush generation in the UK with a narrative voice so compelling, so accomplished, that I am certain we will be talking about this book for generations to come.

It may only be January, but I already know that this book will be on my top reads of 2026.

Thank you so much Penguin Viking for giving me the chance to read this 5 months ahead of release!

[Esme Kemp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genuinely at first thought this book was a product of AI with sentences like “A road of clumped houses. Rationed white. gutters of mobbed moss”, and “Clouded in condensation, his warmth in my lids, I flutter lashes against the breeze. When I open he cocks his head and curls chapped lips into a grin”. But after about page 40 it calms down a bit and it’s just a really good(awful) story. Working in immigration law I was reading with a fine tooth comb but aside from a pretty lazy opening speech from the lawyer at a tribunal hearing for deportation - it was all pretty well explained.

Loved the characters so much. Think it could have been a bit longer and needed to tie some parts together at the end, the story felt like there were some gaps. Part 1 stronger than Part 2. Raldo 💔 good ending. Overall, loved it.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though I love historical fiction, I had never heard of the Windrush Scandal, which was the result of changes to government policy that led to people from the Caribbean who had been invited to emigrate to England decades earlier were left fighting for the right to stay. People were wrongly detained, denied legal rights and threatened with deportation. It tore families apart and devastated lives.

Debut novelist Eden McKenzie Goddard explores this scandal through the eyes of one family, telling the story in dual timelines. In 1961 nineteen-year-old Lucinda Brown travelled to England from Barbados to join Clarence Braithwaite, her son’s father. But while on board the ship she meets a man named Raldo and the pair have an instant connection. Raldo offers her a different life, but Lucinda chooses Clarence. In 2017 Lucinda receives a letter from the Home Office that tears her whole world apart. They claim she came here illegally and will be deported in six weeks time. Her son, Patrick, narrates this timeline as he and his three siblings come together to try and prove her legal arrival, leading them to try and track down Raldo, who could be her last hope.

Ambitious, tender, affecting and totally immersive, Smallie is an impressive debut. Richly told, lyrical and emotionally nuanced, I was in Eden’s thrall. A story of love, longing, family, community, second-chances and justice, it explores important moments in British and West Indian history through multiple generations of one family. The characters are compelling, flawed and real and I cared about them. Having different narrators for each timeline was a good choice as it gave them distinct voices and avoided confusion when moving between them. I loved Lulu. She’s warm, brave, kind and determined but also painfully human. Raldo, Patrick and Sheila were also particularly vivid characters that I enjoyed reading. The love story between Lulu and Raldo had me on tenterhooks and in the present timeline I loved seeing the siblings come together for their mum even though they didn’t all have the best relationships.

A wonderful debut from an author who is a talent to watch, I recommend this book.

[Books By Your Bedside]

I think there's the opportunity for a really good story here but I couldn't finish it. I cannot stand books that don't have speech marks in and it completely ruins the reading of the story sadly. I may give it another ago at a future time but for now, I just couldn't stick with it.

[Alicia Coote · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely and thought provoking read. It made me wish I’d asked my grandparents more questions and made me thankful for the Windrush generation who built up from nothing. Slow in parts but overall I really enjoyed it

[Whitney Ambriton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felt a bit like it’s missing something hence the 4 star review.

Generally great book. Loved majority of it but the ending didn’t captivate me as most of the book did. I think it might just be me hoping for more to the storyline of Raldo and Lulu.

Would’ve like to find out a bit more detail about their lives between 2017 and 1960s… a brief summary of it might’ve worked? But it does leave a lot to the reader’s imagination which is also a good thing!

[Pamela Haynes FRSA]

I listened to the audiobook. Great story dodgy Bajan accents.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

They teach you in AA that addiction is hereditary. That one way or another this insatiable yearning opens up within us and sobriety is learning to live with the reality it will never be filled. But I left the conversation with Mum feeling so angry. So enraged. The way Yarl’s Wood security walked me out of the visiting area. The smiles from the receptionist as I left. The normality. Acceptance that this place can exist. I hate it all. I hate the politeness of this country. I hate having a stiff upper lip and pretending these systems are acceptable. That we can’t all agree that removal centres should not exist, and are neither discussion worthy or vote dependent, but stand as lessons that humanity should never put in place again. Then there’s Mum and her f*** generation. Why is pain such a taboo? Why are we told stories but never allowed to ask details? Why is it so hard for her to admit for once in her life that she is suffering?

 
Featured in the Guardian “10 Debut Novels to Look Out for in 2026” list – and I think a strong contender for literary prizes, particularly those targeting Debut Novels (Waterstones, Nero, Author’s Club) and perhaps most of all the Orwell Prize for political fiction to which it seems very suited (politically themed and even with two fictional politicians as side characters) and timely (with its publication date – on week before the Finalist announcement - coinciding with Reform sweeping seats across the nation with their policies of mass Deportations.
 
Because it is a novel which while rather conventionally for British literary fiction deals with the Windrush generation of Caribbean immigrants to the UK and their experience coming to and adapting to England, as well as the experiences of subsequent generations (as an aside the novel has a deliberately provocative epigraph – “There is something about the nature of Europe that destroys by assimilation” from Jonny Pitts “Afropean”) but also, and in my experience rather uniquely for British literary fiction, deals with the Windrush scandal (in which under Theresa May’s oversights as home secretary and then Prime Minister a policy of forced deportations of illegal immigrants caught up members that same Windrush generation – who at the time of their legal entry did not need formal documentation of their citizenship).
 
It is largely told in two alternating first party sections.
 
The first begins with Lucinda (Lulu) Braithwaite – arriving in Southampton in 1961 from her native Barbados – to meet her ex-serviceman jazzman soon-to-be-husband Clarence (although we quickly realise Clarence has no idea she is coming and that Lucinda is equally unaware of the need to give a place to stay).  With no other option she accepts a ride with a man Raldo - who has befriended her on the boat and who gives her the titular nickname, due I think to their both coming from smaller Caribbean Islands – telling the authorities she is staying with him.  On their journey to London, driven in a well-appointed car by one of Raldo’s friends – where she is still intending to meet Clarence, they are stopped and beaten by the police on the pretence of them having stolen the car and in the ensuing fracas Lucinda is knocked unconscious.  In hospital she is offered a job as cleaner by Raldo’s friend’s employer – a soon to be Conservative MP.  Despite Raldo’s obvious feelings for her she moves in with the equally obviously unfaithful and unreliable Clarence (sharing a single room with another couple – the woman of which Sheila joins her as cleaner).
 
Lulu’s father is a patriarchal Church of England minister in his local Bajan parish – which both explains, importantly for the novel’s narrative the background to her conflicted relationship with Clarence and her leaving Barbados and importantly for the novel’s language, her beautiful way with words.
 
Almost immediately we are told of her father that: “Words were soldiers he ranked and collated to fight the incomprehensible. Yet my feelings were never defined. I was nothing more than a drill. A cut-out at a firing range before he charged Barbados with his magazine of definitions. But Daddy could never sound like them. A Bajan tongue toiled teeth, dulling the t’s, bouncing where he needed the tone to lie flat like coiled hair. There softened to dare, and he would froth until he could splutter the thhh sound like the Englishman who traded a thesaurus for his labour.” and his requirements on Lucinda gave her an equal Thesauras-obsession and love of language leading throughout her narrated life to some beautiful metaphors, for example “Outside, rageful brake lights surround a pothole in the middle of a zebra crossing” and “Despite easing forward gently my bones click, a snapped twig in the forest that is my body, where time is the only predator.” – rendering her sections at times an almost poetic read.
 
Over time Lucinda comes to realise that in the eyes of the English she is almost white – which causes a slight resentment from her friend Sheila and over time leads her to an act of assimilation (albeit in the interests she believes of a family member left behind in Barbados) which causes a breach with Sheila drastic for Sheila in the past, and with repercussions for Lucinda in the present (and with a link to cultural appropriation).
 
Those present sections are initially narrated by one of her sons Patrick (she also has – of which she seems in oblivion – a gay son, and another son who is a Conservative MP and soon to be Home Secretary).   We almost immediately realise that in these 2017 sections Lucinda, it seems via checks carried out on a passport application, identified as someone who never applied for naturalization and who not being able to immediately provide evidence of arrival before 1971 – at which point the automatic right to citizenship was withdrawn – has been taken to the Yarl Wood immigration centre ahead of a deportation flight in only a few weeks).  Later we hear from Lucinda herself before and after her detention (including in the Detention Centre where she meets an ISIS Bride).
 
The family (including also a daughter) and with the reluctant involvement of their estranged father Clarence come together in a series of meetings to try, with the aid of a high powered lawyer, to mount an appeal against deportation – quickly realising that their hopes might lay with either an elderly and resentful Sheila or – at Clarence’s suggestion – finding Raldo.
 
An additional depth is added to these sections is given by the alcoholic Patrick’s relapse into drinking immediately after hearing about his mother’s detention.  His son Jevan – struggling with his own writing – forms a side character and for a short period of time a third first party narrator.
 
There is a lot to like about this novel: in its timely and yet under-represented main theme, in its vibrant language (particularly in Lucinda’s sections), in its memorable main characters, in its detailed set of side themes and side-characters and in what is I think a very well judged ending (which is just the right side of overly sentimental).
 
If I had criticisms: the inclusion of a single Conservative politician was perhaps unnecessary – two rather overplayed things and the second as both soon to be Home Secretary and as son of a Windrush scandal mother felt that it rather heavily stretched coincidence (I suspect largely done to allow for a dramatic scene in which his siblings physically confront him with evidence that he knew – via constituent letters – of the brewing scandal); the Jevan sections – which I suspect partly autobiographically inspired – felt better left to another novel.
 
But overall as I noted a novel I expect to see on Prize lists.
 
My thanks to Viking, Penguin General UK for an ARC via NetGalley

[Hanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley for my early copy.

An important story that focuses on the Windrush scandal; a scandal that sadly did not receive the attention and disgust that it should have. Eden McKenzie-Goddard paints a vivid picture of a family that spans multi-generations; a family that love each other but realistically have flaws.
It focuses on multiple perspectives – Lucinda ‘Lulu’ who came to London to meet with her husband, Clarence and Patrick, Lulu’s son. The book has a good pace; it doesn’t rush through the events – events are explored thoroughly and you really know and understand each character. For me, I preferred Lucinda’s chapters to Patrick’s.
I would recommend this to anyone but particularly British readers and anyone who loves historical fiction.

[Andy – And The Plot Thickens · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5*

Listen, di number-one rule about being a West Indian in London? Promise everything. Have nothing.

It’s 1961 and thousands of people from the Caribbean, now known as the Windrush generation, are arriving in England, amid a government call to help rebuild post-war Britain. Among them is Lucinda Brown, only 19, traveling from Barbados searching for Clarence Braithwaite, the father of her three-year-old son, whom she has to leave behind on the island. Onboard the ship, Lucinda meets the charming Raldo, with whom she forges an indelible connection that she mostly refuses to acknowledge, choosing the troubled Clarence instead.

Five decades later, she receives a letter from the Home Office telling her there is no record of her arrival, that she’s in the UK illegally and will be detained and deported imminently. Her children do all they can to help (bar her politician son), but the government destroyed all the arrival documents several years earlier, putting thousands of West Indians who arrived legally, at risk. The only way to help her, is to go digging into her past.

‘Smallie’ (an informal West Indian term for someone from a small island) is a moving, gripping debut. I knew about the real-life Windrush scandal, but not nearly enough. This crucial book, which is said to be the first novel about this topic (has no one thought to write about this important subject in fiction before?!), has changed that. It is heart-wrenching to think what thousands of people, like Lucinda, have had to endure because of deliberate bureaucratic cruelty.

Eden McKenzie-Goddard’s use of language is fascinating: Lucinda spends her childhood looking through dictionaries and thesauruses, while her strict minister father, forces her to learn ‘correct’ English pronunciations. The author chooses words with care, plays with them – both English and Bajan – and has a rare, luminous turn of phrase that is unique (at least, to me) amid the vivid prose.

This is a story that is ultimately about identity and belonging, and comes at a crucial time, amid strong anti-immigration sentiment across the world, including the UK. Lucinda has no family or connections left in Barbados, yet that isn’t even taken into consideration during the deportation process, never mind that Lucinda has made economic contributions to the economy, such as paying taxes, for decades, or that she worked for the NHS.

It’s also a story about love and loss, about family – both found and blood – about deep friendships, the betrayals people will make and endure, thinking they are doing the right thing. I would perhaps have wanted a stronger ending, because the rest of the book is so powerful. That said, it is a memorable read that I’ll think about for a long time.

I highly recommend this novel if you want to understand more about the Windrush generation or simply want to understand the history of immigration in the UK a bit better.

Thanks to Penguin Viking and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Other notable quotes:

This has to be bullsh*t.
Unfortunately not …
I hold in my hands a newspaper clipping from the Daily Mail archive, a long shot of Mum wielding a baton, over a police officer.

The streets of London are filled with the phantom children of immigrants. When you see a mother without her child, recognise you are not seeing her. You are seeing limbs that do, eyes that see, and a mouth that says. But she is not there. She is wherever they are.

When you fall in love, your senses have purpose, you volunteer yourself to feelings.

A thing, is a thing, is a thing, I say. And Mum shares the same fate as people who are being removed from Britain … But you’re not worried about that. What your fear is simple. If Mum is considered illegal, then in the eyes of Britain, you will be too.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

1961. Nineteen-year-old Lucinda Brown travels to England, searching for Clarence Braithwaite, the man whose promise of love resulted in the young son she has left behind in the care of her grandmother. Clarence had left Barbados to join the British army, leaving her to raise Reggie alone. All she knows is that he is now living in a place called Tottenham.

On the journey she meets a man called Raldo, who offers her the chance of a different kind of life, but shaped by her upbringing with a strict father she believes her future lies with Clarence - only to realise too late that he has been changed by his experiences fighting in Kenya, and is no longer the person she fell in love with.

2015. Years later, an unhappy marriage to Clarence has resulted in a family filled with tension. Lucinda receives a letter from the Home Office that shakes her to the core - she has been deemed to have no legal right to remain in the UK, despite arriving in England on a British passport and long-service as an NHS employee. Her family rallies round to help fight her case, but evidence she travelled here before the cut-off date for automatic citizenship for Commonwealth residents is elusive. Only one person can provide the proof they need - Raldo - and Lucinda has not seen him since the day they said goodbye in 1962.

This beautifully written and many-layered debut novel is a compelling combination of family drama and powerful examination of the shocking Windrush scandal of recent years. The story unfurls in two compelling timelines, following Lucinda's arrival in England in 1961, and the fall-out of the letter she receives in 2015.

The story weaves beautifully between the timelines, delving into expansive story-lines about broken promises on an international, institutional and personal level, as the Windrush generation face betrayal in the past and the present. Lucinda's heart-rending first person account of her upbringing, meeting with Raldo, reunion with Clarence, and the choices she makes are an utterly compelling account of life for a Smallie (small islander) in the 1960s. In parallel, the incisive contemporary drama in the present addresses the shameful treatment of so many people like Lucinda, when political point-scoring rides rough-shod over their lives. 

This is a novel of intense moments that hit you hard, with a high proportion of tear-jerking human frailty and whopping injustice, but there are golden moments that will make you cry for more positive reasons too. I am seriously impressed with the way Mckenzie-Goddard writes so well about complicated families and tricky relationships against the wider backdrop of the Windrush scandal - and he threads a very clever vein of mystery through the whole wonderful lot that only reveals its significance right at the climax of the story.

If you love a novel that captures you heart and soul, and leaves you with a lot to think about when it comes to uncomfortable history, then this is the debut you need. I could not put it down until I had absorbed it cover to cover!

[Kevin Crowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the start of Eden McKenzie-Goddard's debut novel, "Smallie", the young Bajan woman Lucinda (also known as Lulu and Smallie) is on a ship docked at Southampton that has travelled from her home island of Barbados. The year is 1961 and she intends to earn enough to pay for her young child to join her. Although she moves in with the father of her child, sharing a room with another Caribbean couple in a multi-occupancy house, the real love of her life is Raldo, a man she met on the ship. In the second chapter, narrated by one her sons Patrick, we move forward to April 2017 when Lucinda receives a letter from the Home Office informing her that they can find no evidence that she has the right to live, work and claim benefits in the UK, and unless she can provide such evidence, she will be taken to a detention centre before being deported.

Over the course of the novel, the narrative alternates between Lucinda's life in England in 1961-62 and her attempts in 2017 to prove she is a UK citizen who has worked in the NHS, paid taxes and - until payments were stopped - in receipt of an old age pension.

We read of Lucinda getting a cash-in-hand job cleaning for a middle class white family, of the racism she and others experience, of her attempts to save to bring her child to the UK despite her partner spending most of the money they earn on booze. She becomes friendly with house-mate Sheila and gets her a job with the same white family. There are also passages where we are taken back to Lucinda's life in Barbados and the reason she left her home.

In the chapters in 2017, her children are attempting to do their best to find a way of her being allowed to stay in the UK. Ironically, one of her children is a right-wing Tory MP who finds himself conflicted. The narrator of most of the 21st century chapters, Patrick, is a recovering alcoholic who starts drinking again after his mother receives the Home Office letter.

Lucinda's story is, sadly, familiar: so many of the "Windrush generation" have been treated as illegal immigrants, despite living all their adult lives in Britain, working, paying taxes and know no other home. So many of them were unable to prove their right to stay because the Home Office had either destroyed or lost information about them. Many of them were deported to islands where they knew no-one and had no way of earning a living or any entitlement to benefits. Once the scandal was exposed, some others were able to stay in the UK, but had already lost jobs, lost pensions and in some cases were unable to access much-needed health care. The scandal still resonates today. And all because when Theresa May was Home Secretary, the government introduced what they called a "hostile environment" for immigrants.

This novel is a searing indictment of the inhumane treatment of immigrants who helped run the NHS or who worked in transport or factories or elsewhere and of the racism that was and in many ways is still endemic in our society.

[Janine R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Advance copy received through NetGalley from Penguin. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title.

Being the daughter of someone who came over during Windrush means this story landed differently for me.

My parents and grandmother came from the Caribbean as British citizens. They came from Commonwealth countries before independence, travelling on British passports, recruited to help rebuild the “mother country.” They did not arrive as outsiders trying to sneak in. They were invited, encouraged, needed.

That is why the cruelty of the Windrush scandal remains so devastating and insulting.

This novel follows Lucinda, who comes to the UK during Windrush and builds a life here, only to later be told she is effectively illegal. Much of the story centres around her son Patrick, who attempts to gather evidence for a tribunal while navigating the emotional and bureaucratic fallout surrounding his mother’s treatment.

The book highlights the hostility inflicted upon Afro-Caribbean communities who had already spent lifetimes investing into Britain — working, paying taxes, buying homes, raising children and grandchildren here — only to suddenly have their citizenship questioned.

It is heartbreaking.

The writing itself is often beautiful. There is a lyricism to the prose that I really appreciated, and the use of patois felt familiar to me in a deeply personal way because it echoed language I heard growing up within my own family and community.

At the same time, I found myself struggling occasionally to fully hold onto the narrative. The lack of conventional punctuation around dialogue sometimes made conversations difficult for me to follow and interrupted my emotional connection with the story. That may not affect every reader in the same way, but it did impact my immersion.

What saddened me slightly is that I think the ideal audience for this book is not solely the Afro-Caribbean community, but also those outside of it — readers who may never have stopped to consider what it would feel like to be invited to help build a country only to later be criminalised and treated as though you never belonged there at all.

Reading this made me feel angry, sad, and at points deeply unwelcome in the country I was born into. I am British, but I am aware that many people look at me and do not instinctively see Britishness. They see Black skin first and make assumptions about belonging, legality, or legitimacy.

That reality hangs heavily over books like this.

Ultimately, despite some struggles with cohesion, I did value the experience of reading Smallie. The combination of the subject matter, the lyricism of the writing, and the cultural familiarity within the dialogue made it an emotionally significant read for me.

A strong 3/5, though personally closer to a 3.75.

[Cozy Sabie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"...Acceptance that this palce can exist. I hate it all. I hate the politeness of this country. I hate having a stiff upper lip and pretending these systems are acceptable. that we can't all agree that removal centres should not exist, and are neither discussion-worthy nor vote-dependent, but stand as lessons that humanity should never put in place again."

GENRE: Historical/Lit Fiction
RATING: 5/5
FORMAT: physical ARC

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Review:
What a book. Smallie is a Historical/Lit Fic and is inspired by the Windrush Scandal. It was an emotional read and a fast paced one as I was reading so quickly after you get into it from the first few pages.

We mainly get two POVs and it's a dual timeline, with the focus on Lucinda from her younger days and her in the present plus Patrick. We see the dynamic of the whole family through Patrick's POV and eventually, we get to see it from Lucinda's too.

Essentially, Smallie is a story about what it means to leave behind a home and find a new place that eventually becomes your home. It's a dive into what it means to build a new community, only to lose everything again. It's a story that shows the cycle of moving, the way it changes things in ourselves.

Most importantly, it's a story showing the experience of the Windrush Scandal that has happened in the UK in the late 2010s. It's a story that shows the impact of where we are today politically and how this hurts on an individual and familial level to the people harmed by politics.

As for the writing, I thought it was done in a lyrical way. The prose flowed and it was a book that left me flipping the pages and thinking about it as soon as I put it down. I would have loved to know what happened to a few things in the story in a bit more details but I do recognise that leaving it as a mystery means I'll be thinking about the few unresolved things for a long time to come.

I was provided a free advance reader copy and I’m sharing my honest thoughts.

[Stephanie Bull · Rating 3 out of 5]

Smallie follows Lucinda and a cast of interconnected characters across dual timelines, exploring the lasting impact of the Windrush scandal and the experiences of the Caribbean community in Britain. Through Lucinda's journey from Barbados to London, the novel examines themes of identity, belonging, family and survival against a backdrop of racism, prejudice and systemic injustice. The shifting timelines gradually reveal how past decisions and hidden truths ripple through generations, while also highlighting the emotional toll faced by those caught up in the scandal. Rich in atmosphere and cultural detail, the story aims to give a voice to people whose experiences have often been overlooked.

This had the makings of a truly outstanding novel, especially as it is inspired by such an important real life scandal. The dual timeline worked very well and I appreciated how clearly each period was identified at the start of every chapter, making it easy to follow the shifts between past and present. Unfortunately, despite the strength of the subject matter, I found the book really hard work to read. It took a while to adjust to the Caribbean patois and, while I understand why the author chose to write in that style, it sometimes interrupted the flow for me. My biggest struggle however, was the complete lack of speech marks, which often made conversations difficult to follow and left me re-reading sections to work out who was speaking.

For me there were far too many supporting characters introduced whose storylines seemed to begin with purpose but then disappeared without resolution. Interesting threads were abandoned before they were fully developed. The ending was especially frustrating, I never mind an open or ambiguous conclusion but finished the book a tad confused. I reread the final page a couple of times, convinced I had missed something important.

Despite all this I cannot deny the ambition behind this novel or the importance of the story it is trying to tell. There are moments of real emotional power and the themes covered are incredibly important. Sadly, for me, the execution never quite matched the potential.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin General UK for my advanced reader copy in return for my honest and unbiased review.

[Amina (aminasbookshelf) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Smallie is inspired by the true events of the Windrush scandal, in which legal British citizens from the Caribbean were wrongfully detained and deported in 2017. Many of those affected had arrived in Britain in the 1960s, built lives and families here, and were later denied their basic rights. This novel is a moving testament to those who suffered this profound injustice.

I expected a sweeping, plot-driven historical novel, but instead found a quiet, literary work whose strength lies in its subtle and descriptive style. While there were aspects of the characterisation and emotional connection I wanted to explore in greater depth, these are relatively minor criticisms of an otherwise thoughtful and beautifully crafted novel.

More importantly, this is an essential work of historical fiction that educates readers about the Windrush generation and the ongoing consequences of Britain’s colonial legacy. Although I considered myself reasonably familiar with the Windrush scandal, I had naively assumed that the government had taken accountability for the destruction of the landing cards and it prevented them from deporting those affected. The novel illustrates that the reality was far more complicated, demonstrating how institutions can avoid accountability, particularly within today’s climate of anti-immigration rhetoric. It serves as an important reminder of how colonial subjects who were invited to Britain have continued to face racism despite their immense contributions to the country and empire.

An impressive debut with a brilliant central concept that is executed with considerable skill, Smallie provides an important reminder that the injustices of the hostile environment are not simply history but continue to shape lives today. I’m excited to see what Eden McKenzie Goddard writes next.

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[Kat(ja) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went into this book knowing very little about the plot, but heard that the debut novel was praised by one of my favorite authors, Caleb Azumah Nelson, and I would gladly follow his recommendation any day. I then quickly learned that the story was inspired by the Windrush scandal, which I will admit I also knew shamefully little about. However, in short, that meant it was a story about victims of statelessness and people with insecure citizenship status – something that remains a very prominent issue in today’s political climate.

Eden McKenzie-Goddard managed to weave a beautiful, tragic and poignant multi-generational tale spanning decades and continents that will break your heart. You get insights into one family’s life and how the past can resurface when you least expect it. The language in Smallie often feels special, at times poetic and always intentional, yet the author doesn’t shy away from showing ugly or unpleasant moments either. There were some aspects I would have liked to explore further (e.g. Reggie) but the messiness and uncertainty of how some things were going to pan out made it feel all the more authentic and rich. I cannot deny the emotional impact the story had on me. Especially towards the last couple of chapters, I was fighting tears that were threatening to well up.

Ultimately, I’m very glad I got to read this debut and am looking forward to what the future holds for Eden McKenzie-Goddard.

As a final heads up I’d like to mention that a lot of the dialogue is written in dialect and without quotation marks. While I didn’t mind those things too much, I know that the latter is a pet peeve for some.

Lastly, thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

[Katharine Bubbear · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit that I had high hopes for this debut from Eden McKenzie-Goddard. A supposedly “character-driven” story with “emotional depth”, I was excited to read a fictionalised family’s story surrounding the terrible Windrush Scandal.

The concept itself - the family’s desperate fight to overturn their elderly mother’s imminent deportation ruling, while simultaneously struggling with their own personal demons - sounded like a fascinating read. And don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed Lucinda’s storyline - her childhood in Barbados under the rule of a strict Anglican father, her escape to the UK in order to be reunited with the man whose child she has had, their desperate living conditions in an inherently racist society, which had purported to be welcoming. All of this was well written and captivating. Where the book lost me was the interweaving of so many different characters’ stories. I struggled to keep up with who was who, and it felt as if not enough time had been given to each character, so that I found it almost difficult to care. The ending was also disappointing, and I felt unrewarded for the amount of effort it had taken to actually get to the conclusion.

This may be an unfair point of view, and I’m fully prepared to accept the responsibility for the lack of concentration required to follow the narrative. But such is life. Sometimes you want a story that hooks you in, makes you fall in love with the characters and grieve when the book ends. This wasn’t it for me, but I still think it’s an important work of fiction, shining light on the appalling treatment of the Windrush generation and the hugely damaging impact it has continued to have on their families, their communities and the country as a whole.

[Jamad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Smallie follows Lucinda Brown, a young woman who leaves Barbados for England in the early 1960s in search of Clarence, the jazz musician she loves, who travelled ahead of her after his military service. On the voyage she meets Raldo, a warm and hopeful Trinidadian, and for a moment her future seems open to different possibilities. In Britain she chooses Clarence, only to discover that war and migration have altered him. Years pass. She builds a life, raises children, works hard, belongs. Then a letter from the Home Office arrives demanding proof of her legal right to remain. As the Windrush scandal unfolds, her children scramble to piece together documentary evidence from decades earlier, retracing her steps and reconnecting with figures from her past in an attempt to prevent her deportation.

I enjoyed the story and learning more about the Windrush scandal and the impossible position people were put in, expected to prove their right to remain in a country they had lived in for most of their lives. The novel brings home the human cost of bureaucratic failure, not in abstract political terms but through one family’s anxiety and bewilderment. There is a quiet anger running beneath it, and rightly so.

Where I struggled was with the style. The heavy use of dialect often pulled me out of the narrative, making me conscious of the writing rather than absorbed in it. I would also have preferred conventional punctuation for speech; the lack of it is a pet peeve of mine and it repeatedly made dialogue feel harder work than it needed to be.

So this settles at three stars for me. A worthwhile, humane story about a shameful episode in recent British history, but one I might have enjoyed more had the stylistic choices been a little less intrusive.

[Audrey Haylins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smallie is a debut. A quite extraordinary one. Powerful, brilliant, challenging. A lyrical ode to family, to home, to belonging. And I almost gave up on it.

It’s the story of Lucinda ‘Lulu’, who leaves her native Barbados in 1961 at the age of nineteen to sail to England, in search of the father of her toddler son. Clarence had left a pregnant Lulu to join the British army, with the promise that he’d send for her.

Fifty years later, after a lifetime of living and working in London and raising a family, Lulu receives a letter from the Home Office stating that she’s about to be deported as an illegal migrant.

The scope of this novel is astonishing. From the hostile migrant experience and the Windrush scandal to themes of choices, missteps and second chance love, it’s a story that will make you rage, cry, then send your heart soaring with hope.

Lulu is a triumph. Everything you’d want in a female protagonist. With weaknesses, yes, but brave, determined, ambitious, and oh so very human, her heart as big as the moon.

What really blew me away, though, was McKenzie-Goddard’s prose. Sharp to the point of opaqueness, it is replete with metaphor, personification and the kind of imagery that dazzles. Many’s the time I had to pause to consider a phrase or a sentence to derive its meaning. And then nod in appreciation.

So why, with such effusive praise, did I almost walk away? Well, I struggled—and I mean really struggled—with the use of patois and the lack of speech marks. Initially, I couldn’t understand what was being said—IF something was being said—and by whom. But, by some strange alchemy, Lulu’s story got under my skin, and after a few chapters, these irritations quietly melted away.

Smallie may be a novel you have to work at to appreciate, but it’s an effort that’s rewarded tenfold. A sublime debut and an incredible new writing talent to follow.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is cleverly told across two life times: Lulu in 1961 as she arrives as in England from Barbados, and her children in 2017 who are working against the clock to prove when their Mum came legally to England all those years ago. If they can’t find evidence, then they can’t stop the order to prevent her from being deported, eradicating the life that she has built in all the decades since she first landed on English soil.
Lucinda has six weeks to ‘‘prepare to leave a life of 60 years.’ She has been declared an illegal immigrant.

The chapters set in the sixties, as Lulu navigates her new life in England, are so well drawn. I loved the accents and how you could hear the musical patois so beautifully, which Lulu’s father is desperate to mask in the early chapters centred around her upbringing. The push and pull between home and the rest of the world, expected life and desired life, what you imagine versus reality, and the allure felt for different people, create really compelling themes through the book (and - there is jazz music!)

Smallie is perfect for readers who love stories about families navigating their past and their present, families with stories that they don’t talk about and families who represent a rich cultural heritage. It is a story about encounters, choices and chances. It is a story which turns a lens back to the past and makes us reflect on how the sanctions of a few can affect the lives of many.

Eden McKenzie Goddard has created a story which is accute, and demands accountability. It is an amazing debut. Massive thanks to NetGalley, Penguin UK and Viking Books for the ARC opportunity, I am so glad I was granted this one.

[Rachel Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Windrush Scandal resulted from changes to government policy which meant people from the Caribbean who were invited to England as economic migrants found themselves fighting for their right to stay decades later.

Smallie humanises this injustice through the story of Lucinda Braithwaite, a Bajan woman who immigrated to England in 1961 only to find herself facing deportation decades later in 2017.

McKenzie-Goddard is a skilled writer, his character work is excellent particularly for the 1950s/1960s timeline. Lucinda, Raldo, Sheila and Gus were all vivid characters and their stories were at times frustrating, triumphant, sad and inspiring.

The modern 2017 timeline wasn't as strong and the ending felt rushed. I think an additional 50-100 pages to fill in the modern storylines would have helped. There were some interesting themes around alcoholism, generational trauma and the challenges of being a person of colour in politics but these were not as fully developed as I would have liked.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. McKenzie-Goddard has the talent to write compelling characters and, for a debut novel, Smallie is ambitious with lots to commend. I look forward to future books from him as he continues to hone his craft.

[Jayslibrary_ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a dual timeline novel set between 1961 Barbados and present day England. It follows Lucinda, who leaves Barbados at 19 to come to England in search of her partner and father of her child, Clarence. In the present day, she is an elderly woman who has built a life in the UK, worked, paid taxes, raised a family, yet finds herself caught up in the Windrush scandal, sent to a detention centre with the threat of deportation.

One thing that stayed with me is how the older generation often kept parts of their past hidden from their children. It made me think about how much was left unspoken and the impact that has later on.

While fictional, this story it reflects the real life Windrush scandal, people who had lived in the UK for decades being told they had no right to remain, with some ending up in detention centres or being threatened with removal to countries they barely knew anymore.

I also found the storyline involving Chris quite striking. An MP who ignored pleas from migrants in detention centres, only to face the same situation when it affected his own mother. That irony really stood out.

One thing I wasn’t fully clear on was Lucinda and Clarence’s son, who was left in Barbados while they planned to send for him. I don’t think the book ever fully explains what happens to him, and that uncertainty added to the emotional weight of the story.

The writing style took a little getting used to, especially the lack of speech marks, but I’m glad I stuck with it.

Overall, Smallie is a heartbreaking yet insightful novel that shines a light on a painful part of British history. It reminds us that the Windrush scandal wasn’t just headlines, it affected real people, real families, and lives that were turned upside down. It’s an important story that deserves to be read.

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Smallie by Eden McKenzie-Goddard tells the story of Lucinda (Smallie). In 1961, she travels from Barnardos to England to join her husband; fifty years later, she becomes a victim of the Windrush scandal. The novel moves between Lucinda’s childhood, her arrival in England in the early 1960s, and her life decades later.

The pacing was a little slow for me, though I still enjoyed reading it. The characters felt believable, and Raldo was my clear favourite. Overall, I was engaged, but I found myself much less interested in the characters in the 2000s as they felt flatter and less interesting, and I didn’t really warm to them. I wanted more of Lucinda’s story, and I was particularly keen to know about Reggie's story.  The use of dialect added authenticity and atmosphere; although I found it difficult to follow at first, I did get used to it.


While the ending was 'nice', it wasn’t entirely satisfying for me. Too much felt unresolved. That said, I appreciated learning more about the Windrush scandal, and it’s prompted me to want to read more about it. I received a free advance review copy, and this is my honest review.

[Que Wolf]

Smallie is the stunning debut from Eden McKenzie-Goddard. A historical fiction rich with romance, suspense, and heart.
Set between 1961 London and the present day, the story follows Lucinda Brown, who travels from Barbados to London in search of her lover Clarence, a jazz musician turned British Army soldier. On the ferry, she meets Raldo a smooth-talking Trinidadian who makes an instant impression,
What unfolds is a journey through migration, love, loss, and survival. When Lucinda finally reunites with Clarence, he’s no longer the man she once knew, hardened by war and the realities of being a Black man in Britain.

Fast forward 50 years later, and Lucinda now faces deportation unless her children can prove she arrived in the UK legally. Their search forces them to retrace her past and uncover stories and people they never knew existed, including Raldo.

Smallie is a beautiful, tender, and deeply human story, a powerful debut that feels close to home and a must read for lovers of generational novels set in London.

If you love stories about family, memory, migration, and untold histories, this one’s for you.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️4.5⭐️

Thank you Penguin General UK , Eden McKenzie-Goddard & NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

In this book we follow the main character Lucinda Brown who travels from Barbados to England in 1961 during the Windrush era in hopes to find her son father.
Nearly fifty years later, Lucinda receives a letter from the Home Office that threatens to tear her world apart. Her children rally together to prove her legal arrival, and to do so they must track down an elusive man from her past, a man she wanted to love but instead lost, a man who now holds the key to her family’s future. Raldo . . .

An exhilarating and expansive tale of a family thrown into collision with the Windrush scandal.

When I got accepted to read this arc I was completely over the moon. any book that is based on real events in history pull on my heart strings and this book was no different.
The writing was beautiful and heartfelt and I cant wait to see what Eden McKenzie-Goddard comes out with next.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

The attraction to this short novel was the Windrush connection. Arriving in the UK having survived an Atlantic Ocean voyage from Barbados, Lucinda meets Raldo, a Trinidadian, who offers her the freedom that both her old life in Barbados and the life that awaits her in Britain lack.This is far removed from the life that Lucinda had been expecting. Initially the interspersion in Creole dialect makes reading slow as I spent more time deciphering its meaning. In essence, the novel is about three generations of a British Bajan family affected by the Windrush scandal. Very emotive, distressing and raw reading, reminding me of how badly these people were treated by our government. Not my preferred genre, but nonetheless worthy of a read to get a good grasp of Windrush.

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books for this ARC for review.

[Fatguyreading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Smallie is the debut novel from this author and follows the story of three generations of one family whose lives were impacted quite heavily by the Windrush scandal and how badly they were treated by the British government.

It's an incredibly emotive, evocative read, full of raw, deep emissions as we follow the generational story of this family from their origins in Barbados, to their journey to across the Atlantic to Britain, to the harsh reality if having to prove the right to remain in the country, over 50 years after arriving.

So all in all, a very interesting read on the subject of an important period of history, and one that should not be forgotten.

It's an engaging read, with characters that are believable and feel real and the story bobs along nicely and holds your attention throughout.

4 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 's from me.