The Bricks that Built the Houses

Kate Tempest

The following questions are intended to enhance your group’s discussion of The Bricks that Built the
Houses.

About this book

This timeless tale of love and revolution is covered in London’s fingerprints. As Harry, Leon, and
Becky make their escape, the novel travels back in time to tell the story of what brought them all together,
whose money is in the suitcase, and why the city they live and breathe is quickly vanishing behind them.
Becky and Harry are an unlikely love story. Just moments after they first lock eyes they are
divulging secrets to one another, each believing the other to be nothing but a kindred stranger. But their
lives are woven together in ways they could not have imagined. As life pulls them apart and back together
again, each woman must battle against the jealousy, deceit, and resentment that drive her further away
from reaching her goal, and the ability to shed her secret life forever.
Steeped in political revolution, high on drugs, and sparkling with passion, Tempest’s characters
are forcefully honest. As the younger generation inherits the pain of their parents, Tempest slides between
their thoughts with rhythm and urgency, all while weaving them together with precision. This first novel
is an intricate and powerful ode to London and the people who love her.

For discussion

1. London is a main character throughout this story. Harry’s tour of London’s elite apartments,
humble neighborhoods, seedy nightclubs, corner bars, and local suburbs provide a wide lens
through which to see one city’s many complexities. As London is marked by gentrification, so
too does its characters evolve and change. Consider the gentrification of London as a metaphor
for personal growth. Discuss the ways in which Tempest’s characters, and they city they love,
mirror each other.

2. Tempest often writes the same situation from multiple perspectives. Consider the scenes held
around the Miriam’s dinner table. Harry “wonders if two people remember the same situation
completely differently how either of the memories can be trusted.” (146). Explore how this
writing style informs the readers’ understanding of the truth. How do we decide whose
perspective is the most correct? Do you enjoy this technique? Why or why not?

3. The novel begins with Harry, Becky, and Leon escaping London with a suitcase filled with stolen
cash and an unknown destination. As London reluctantly lets them go, they feel safe but not
whole. After a few months of suspended bliss, Becky and Harry return separately. If their pasts
are so painful, why come back? Tempest writes, “People are killing for gods again” (3). What
gods does she mean?

4. At the bar, and heavily influenced by alcohol and drugs, Pete and Dale hatch a plot to test
Becky’s loyalty through trickery. This is the culminating act of Pete’s ever-growing mistrust,
 resentment, and insecurity. What fuels Pete’s deep-seeded insecurity? How does his state of mind
evolve from the moment he meets Becky to the moment he loses her? At the end of the book,
what does Pete mean when he says that he “feels like he’s becoming her” (385)?

5. Harry and Leon are an odd pair that is intensely devoted to one another. Harry’s nimble nature is
the face of their business, while Leon provides their protection. Explore the bonds that hold their
friendship together; what makes them inseparable? In what ways do their opposing personalities
balance or complement each other?

6. John Darke and Leon’s father, Alfredo, were both passionate political revolutionaries. Alfredo
“was convinced that once [the people] knew what was happening, once they could understand the
cost of the destruction, there could be no way that whoever was responsible for what was
happening to his people could choose money over human life” (186–187). This concept is
pervasive, but not always effectual: Pete’s subscription to conspiracy theories and frustration with
living on the dole make him paralyzed and bitter, whereas Harry is unable to convince Pico to
choose her life over his money. What are the effects of this altruistic vision throughout the novel?
Discuss the tension between the selflessness in this message and the selfishness it inspires.
Ultimately, does this concept cause more harm or good?

7. Becky’s sexual interest in both Pete and Harry sets them up as foils for one another. Explore their
similarities and differences. Which draws Becky to each of them? If this novel is a love story,
whose is it? Why?

8. In this novel, the friction between power and dependency plagues each relationship. As Pete’s
jealousy grows, Becky begs of him: “Don’t you make me exist for what you want, Pete. Don’t you
fucking dare think that I am going to cut my dreams in half to try and make you happy.” (218)
Compare Becky and Pete’s relationship to that of Becky’s parents, Paula and John. Who has the
power and who is dependent? Explain how this pressure is destructive. What does the fate of
these relationships imply about the nature of love?

9. Explore the connection made between the nature of womanhood and the act of dance: “‘To be a
woman, you must struggle, like a ballerina struggles. You have to work hard. It is painful work.
And when you do it right, it will look effortless. But where we’re different from the dancers, my
sweet, is that we will never be applauded for getting it right.’” (231) Explore how this quote
relates to the personal struggles and aspirations of Becky, Harry, and Miriam. What are they each
searching for? Do any of them actually obtain their ultimate goal?

10. Discuss the theme of interconnectedness. All of the characters in this novel are linked in an
unexpected way: Becky finds herself attracted to both Pete and Harry on separate occasions
before finding out they are brother and sister; Ron, Becky’s beloved uncle, turns out to be the
drug dealer seeking revenge on Harry; Dale, David’s son, disguises himself as a stranger to
Becky while she massages him. As each link is revealed, how do the characters react? What role
do these discoveries play in the novel?
 11. Discuss the novel’s title, The Bricks that Built the Houses, and its relationship to the following
quote: “The houses are filled with people. The people are filled with houses.” (123) How does
this quote inform your understanding of the novel’s title and overall themes? In your opinion,
what does it mean for a person to be “filled with houses”? Why is it significant?

12. “The crying mum and the happy mum were like two different people, never in the same space at
the same time, but both lived in Paula, and you never knew which one you’d get” (77). Many of
the characters live double lives: Louis assumes Giuseppe’s identity to survive the war, Harry
deals drugs under the cover of “recruitment worker,” and Becky supports her dancing career by
moonlighting as an erotic masseuse. How does each character manage, or fail, to keep both sides
of themselves in balance? Compare and contrast their experiences.

13. The characters can be divided into two groups: those who work jobs they dislike in order to
pursue their passion, such as Becky and Harry, and those whose passion is their life’s work, such
as John Darke and Graham. Which pursuit, if either, does the novel endorse? Discuss your
thoughts.

14. Discuss the ending. Gloria, having narrowly fought off attackers, has taken up boxing to be better
prepared for “next time”; she tells Becky, “In the end, yeah, I was fine” (399). Describe the tone
of this final scene. What does it foreshadow about Harry, Pete, and Becky’s future? In the end,
Harry, Becky and Pete all end up alone again, but somehow changed. Discuss the ways in which
each character has changed, or hasn’t changed, by the time the book comes to a close.

Recommended Reading:
Brand New Ancients by Kate Tempest; Now and Again by Charlotte Rogan; The Association of Small
Bombs by Karan Mahajan; The Girls: A Novel by Emma Cline; Private Citizens: A Novel by Tony
Tulathimutte