All The Houses I’ve Ever Lived In: Finding Home in a System that Fails Us
£10.60£14.20 (-25%)
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We’ve all had our share of dodgy landlords, mould and awkward house shares. But journalist Kieran Yates has had more than most: by the age of twenty-five she’d lived in twenty different houses across the country, from council estates in London to car showrooms in rural Wales.
In prose that sparkles with humour and warmth, Yates charts the heartbreaks and joys of a life spent navigating the chaos of the housing system. Drawing on interviews with marginalised tenants across the country and the stories behind our interiors, she explores the unexpected ways we can fight back – finding beauty in the wreckage of a broken system, friendships in cramped housing conditions, and home even in the most fragile circumstances.
All the Houses I’ve Ever Lived In is at once a rallying cry for change, a gorgeous coming-of-age story and a love letter to home in all its forms.
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‘Illuminating, thoughtfully written, damning’ OBSERVER
‘I read this in two sittings . . . so incisive it’s hard to put down’ PANDORA SYKES
‘A beautiful exposition of home and what it means. Stunning’ BOLU BABALOLA, author of Honey & Spice
‘So relatable . . . injects a glorious dose of love and joy and hope’ BIG ISSUE
‘Yates manages the unthinkable: she makes the housing crisis funny’ i
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Additional information
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster UK (27 April 2023) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Hardcover | 336 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1398509833 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1398509832 |
| Dimensions | 13.5 x 2.45 x 21.6 cm |
by Novel Reader
Kieran Yates does a great job of telling the story of housing in Britain and it’s social relevance through the lens of the places she’s lived.
She covers huge topics such as inequality at university, gentrification and slum landlords in a way that’s totally accessible and very personal.
What’s great about it is that you don’t feel like you’re reading social history. You feel like you’re relating to someone you know, such is the skill of what Yates does.
Recommended: it really makes you think about the sociocultural meaning of home and housing without ever preaching, and it thoroughly entertains.
by A book n brew 2
This book is brilliant and should be read by everyone. We all need a home, somewhere safe we can come back to at the end of the day, and yet this book shows us how actually achieving that, having a place to call your own, is becoming ever more of a challenge.
It is much more than an examination of the housing crisis. Whilst the book has been written by a journalist, with facts, figures and research to back up all the claims, it is also a memoir/biography of the author’s life so far, detailing some of the places she has lived, both as a child, teenager and adult. She tells us about her family life, growing up in temporary housing, sofa surfing, even floor surfing at one point. Yet it is always told in a positive light and with lots of good humour.
The book covers the usual problems associated with housing, such as the lack of it, especially for minority groups, social housing, from the huge sell off of council property to living conditions associated with damp, mould and security. From the gentrification of areas and the ever increasing unaffordability of any type of ownership, be it rented or bought, to the breaking up of communities and what it means to be part of a community.
Kieran Yates isn’t just another investigative journalist relating other people’s stories of their struggles with housing. She has lived it herself, every aspect of it. I love the way this book has been written. It is so compelling, I just couldn’t put it down. She comes across in a chatty, friendly way. Yes, she is angry at how people are expected to live, but is always able to find a silver lining in the most daunting of situations. Above all, she gives a glimmer of hope in activism, in community, in looking out for each other. An inspiring, informative, powerful account of our housing crisis which needs to be heard, but more importantly acted upon.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.
by Chloe
“All The Houses I’ve Ever Lived In” by Kieran Yates is a memoir that explores the author’s relationship with the concept of home, identity, and family. The writing is evocative and introspective, with a keen eye for detail and a poetic sensibility. Yates has a talent for capturing the nuances of human experience and translating them into vivid, relatable prose.
“All The Houses I’ve Ever Lived In” is a beautifully written and deeply personal memoir that will resonate with anyone who has ever grappled with questions of home, identity, and belonging. Yates is a talented writer with a unique voice, and this book is a testament to her skill and sensitivity.
The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, and no significant gaps between words, and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.
This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC
by Sarah Mathews
a complex topic written about in a truly accessible, heart felt, compelling and beautiful way. i loved this book and am recommending it to all of my friends.
by Jordan D. Taylor
In “All The Houses I’ve Ever Lived In”, Kieran Yates explores the challenges and issues or the British housing market/system through the lens of her own experiences.
Yate’s experiences are definitely a window into a broken system that we don’t hear about in such a comprehensive way. You hear stories of insecure housing, but Yates uses her various housing situations from birth and the experience of her family to show how housing is really the foundation of a person’s life chances.
I do wish that Yate’s had been a little more structured with her information. The chapters are divided up to follow the trajectory of her life but the supplementsry information on housing issues seemed peppered throughout and I wasn’t sure what the turn of a page would bring.
Yate’s (justifiable) anger at the issues she’s faced also means that there was little discussion of the problems that led to this situation, just scorn that anyone thought the current situation could have worked. I’m sure that many housing policies have good intentions behind them but their execution has been flawed, without knowing what the intentions were we can’t avoid history repeating itself.
Overall I think the memoir portion of this book was a very worthwhile window into how the housing crisis directly affects a person’s life, but not of housing as a whole.
by Barbara P.
The young author, Kieran Yates, writes movingly, passionately and incisively about her own experiences of homelessness and she draws on the accounts of others in today’s society. She investigates where the problems lie. She fights against prejudice and injustice.
by Mabaker
Excellent read – thought provoking – outlines the punitive nature of privilege in society- excellent discussion of the inherent racism and bias in capitalism- draws in unexpected threads and is actually poetic – laced with humour and describes the author’s experiences with beauty. Read it to understand how one way the world could be better – thank you!
by elizabeth
item arrived damaged twice!!
shocking – don’t order