This article examines the intersection of ethnicity, sub/urbanisation, and identity as depicted in the fiction of Andrea Levy, a prominent figure in contemporary British literature. It uses Levy’s narratives to reflect on the complexities of identity, particularly in relation to the experiences of Black British individuals. The article also explores the themes of ethnicity and its impact upon and within urban and suburban environments. The issues are illustrated by Levy’s novels Every Light in the House Burnin’, Never Far from Nowhere, and Fruit of the Lemon, as well as her acclaimed and award-winning novel Small Island which focuses on an English family of ethnically mixed background. The protagonists settle in London where instead of assimilating with the locals, they are forced to create a “small island”—their own small suburb—in order to survive. The paper examines the process of alienation in society, the postcolonial subjugation and lasting subordination of former colonial subjects. Furthermore, it discusses the vulnerability of feelings, the loss of pride, and disillusion springing from rejection that all lead to life in isolation in the created fictional suburb.