Kae Tempest is an artist. And what I mean by that is a multidisciplinary artist: Kae is a rapper, a poet, a playwright, and a novelist. The Bricks That Built The Houses is Kae’s only published novel to date. If print is not your favourite media form, I have good news – I would highly recommend the audiobook of The Bricks That Built The Houses read by Kae in their gorgeous voice.
The Bricks That Built The Houses is rendered so vividly. I have gifted this book to my eldest sister and my partner, and they both enjoyed it. The novel follows the relationship between Harry, a gender queer entrepreneur who wants to run a community center, and Becky, a dancer who wants to be a choreographer – dismissed by agents as an implicitly filthy Artist. They meet at a launch party in London full of “cackling, crotch hungry monsters throwing their heads back”. They bond over a bag. Becky talks about her side hustle as a masseur without shame, she speaks of being treated with respect by most clients – when they aren’t acting entitled because of their affluence. She speaks to Harry about not disclosing the work to most people and how their jobs are similar. They both seem to cringe in their comfortable vulnerability with each other. Harry observes this disclosure in awe, with a pleasant curiosity and intrigue.
The same plot and characters of this novel are enshrined in Kae Tempest’s glorious album “Everybody Down”. One of my personal favourite tracks on the album is “The Beigeness”. Kae’s live music performances carry the same razor sharp presence and precision that their prose does. I had the privilege to see Kae perform at Brighton Dome, commanding the audience gently to “put your phones away come on a journey”. I feel like that's how I consumed The Bricks That Built The Houses years before I saw them perform live. Curled up in a Tufnell Park heritage-listed share house, I devoured my hardback copy from cover to cover. It's written so beautifully. You can see this same dedication as a wordsmith in Kae’s music lyrics. I absolutely adore “Europe Is Lost” and “Ketamine for Breakfast”, both featured on the “Let Them Eat Chaos” album, which I love as an epic whole.
If you’re already a fan of Kae’s music and you’re yet to read this novel, you will hear their voice clearly in the prose. To call this novel a queer love story is too reductive. The simplicity of that statement can’t begin to share with you the kind of story this is. Both protagonists are fully formed, fully fledged and possess so much breadth and depth. Unfortunately, the book is currently only available in print under their deadname. The audiobook however, is under the author's name but does still display the thumbnail of the original print cover.
This book is one I return to when I need the comfort of an escape, to sate a wanderlust for London. Kae writes about sex work with nuanced compassion. Becky is a character, not a plot device. She is a lead protagonist in a narrative that explores the complications of relationships, gender, and capitalism, which are common themes in Kae’s work. The Bricks That Built The Houses is one of the few exceptions of – to the best of my knowledge — a non-worker writing a sex worker character well. Kae renders Becky with the same depth and diligence that they would take with any other character. Becky is a whole character, she isn’t reduced to cliche/plot device/raunchy subplot, she is a normal person like any other. Becky dreams of running her own dance company, doing her own choreography, and printing her own money. Her dreams drive her to make ends meet doing jobs she doesn't love, but on her own terms, unashamed and unapologetically.
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