Brixton Beach

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As the daughter of a Tamil father and a Singhalese mother, an autobiographical element often found in her fictional families, Tearne experienced the divisive effects of the conflicts in her family microcosm as both her parents were made outcasts by their own relatives. In her writings Tearne is particularly interested in documenting the effects of the civil war on her characters’ personal lives and the ensuing traumas of migration and diaspora to the United kingdom. While Tearne’s fourth novel, The Swimmer (2010), is set in East Anglia and is less concerned with a Sri Lankan locale than her three previous books, the civil war still shapes the life of Sri Lankan doctor and asylum-seeker Ben. As other post-colonial writers concerned with the consequences of the end of the Empire in their own countries, Tearne interweaves highly personal and intimate narratives within a larger political and social context. Tearne’s books are rich in metaphorical language and visual imagery that the writer borrows from her work as a painter. A large range of beers on tap and a resident kitchen by White Men Can’t Jerk makes this a real destination on a sunny afternoon. This lovely space has fantastic views across Brixton and is a great place for an uncrowded yet still fun drinks spot. Whether you’re after a relaxed drink or somewhere to get the party started, Hope & Anchor is here to help.

Throughout the summer Surrey play their first-class county matches and limited overs (shorter) matches at the Oval. So, for better or worse, art house cinemas, craft beer pubs and concept bars rub shoulders with exotic markets and artisan studios. My personal favourite is Jalisco as I’m a huge fan of Latin American food, and who doesn’t love a burrito, right?

copaCABANA at the Southbank Centre

As with the heroines of Tearne's previous two novels, the therapeutic power of art enables Alice to survive. She names her house Brixton Beach and is mentored by a young art teacher who encourages her to develop the driftwood creations which provide a symbolic link to her lost home. If that’s not enough, the beach will also be hosting a summer-long residency from Ministry Does Fitness so you can get sweaty inHIIT, zumba and yoga sessions. If you’re more of a film buff than a fitness freak, Brixton Rooftop will be hosting a series of rooftop cinema screenings, including cult classics and guilty pleasures. Above all her prose is illuminated by a painterly sensitivity to light. Alice inherits her talent from Bee, who is slaughtered in reprisal for harbouring Tamil refugees. "Words were not his thing; explanations were best done with brushes. The colour of a place, the angle of the light, a tree, these spoke volumes."

Barrio is also one of the best places to go for bottomless brunch in Brixton, which always improves a bar in my books. Bone China and Brixton Beach explore the tensions within Sri Lankan society that would lead up to the outbreak of violence and would force thousands into exile, tearing apart families both emotionally and geographically. Both novels combine a focus on the characters’ struggle for survival in a hostile homeland with a narrative of immigration and exile into a foreign country, the United Kingdom. The De Silva family in Bone China and the mixed-race Fonseka family in Brixton Beach have to integrate in a new society, which, especially for their eldest members, is far from their idealized expectations. As Savitha puts it to her husband Thorton in Bone China, 'We are nobody'. Caught between the old ways of their Sri Lankan heritage and the overwhelmingly liberated modernity of London, the De Silvas and the Fonsekas experience a sense of loss and non-belonging that undermines the stability and unity of their families. The younger characters, Anna-Meeka in Bone China and Alice in Brixton Beach, fare better although they too experience the grayness of London and the loss of their most cherished relatives such as grandfather Bee for Alice. With Brixton Beach,Tearne also started to develop an interest in portraying the effects of apparently remote conflicts on British society and in framing her characters’ lives within the context of a bigger global conflict. The novel opens with the London bombings of July 2005 whose events intersect with Alice’s story and with the surgeon Simon Swann’s attempts to find her. The Swimmer further develops Tearne’s observation of contemporary British society and of the interplay between world conflicts, immigration and the racist agenda of the far right. As in her first novel, the relationship between the two central characters, the 43-year-old English Ria Robinson and the 25-year-old Sri Lankan asylum seeker Ben, is threatened not only by their age gap, but also by social conventions and racial prejudice.To Tearne, writing is another artistic medium suitable to investigate these concerns and to explore how language can produce emotions. Thus it is not surprising that in her first three novels: Mosquito (2007); Bone China (2008); and Brixton Beach (2009), the writer dramatized the violent civil war that opposed Tamil rebels against the Singhalese regime in her native Sri Lanka. The war broke out in 1983 and was first suspended by a cease-fire in 2001. However, because diplomacy failed to find a political solution, the conflict started again in 2005 and it officially ended in May 2009 with the surrender of the Tamil Tigers and the death of their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. Fought over a period of 26 years, in Tearne’s own words 'the war had become a worn-out habit on the island ... the brutality of which was hardly noticed in the west. Other wars, more important ones in larger, richer countries, hit the headlines.'

The paintings are labelled on Google Maps, so you can take a tour through Brixton’s not so distant past. The HMT Empire Windrush was the ship that brought the country’s first immigrants from the Caribbean in 1948. After arriving they were given temporary housing a few minutes away on foot on Coldharbour Lane.I’ve rounded up the very best rooftop bars in Brixton so have a look through and book into your favourites! 1. Lost in Brixton Membership gets you access to the gorgeous rooftop dining space and terrace, while non-members can hire the private dining rooms should they so desire. Brixton’s dining offer is the definition of 21st-century London, and almost impossible to sum up in one paragraph.