In the early 20th century, the novel began to move away from rigid Victorian values ​​and firm objective realism as writers sought greater freedom of expression and individuality. The world was changing rapidly and new modes of expression were needed to express the representation of life in this new enlightened modern world. Subsequently, an undercurrent of literary diversity began to emerge. This essay will first discuss what constitutes a novel, then consider the respective texts of Lonely Londoners (Sevlon) and The Emigrants (Sebald), and discuss why these narratives challenge preconceived expectations of the "novel" genre. The novel is the dominant form in Western literature and provides the reader with a means of social escape, especially because the novel includes many classifications within its genre to suit individual preferences, such as historical, fiction novel, crime thriller etc. However, the basics are fundamentally the same, as a novel is a complex work of imagination told as reality. A novel is defined as a piece of prose of considerable length, usually divided into chapters, which portrays characters and normally features a sequential organization of actions and events. () While nineteenth-century novels were predominantly realistic, with many literary works accepted into the canon of English literature as of the highest quality, and were predominantly influential in shaping Western culture. However, this canon is consistently unstable and highly contested in every period,' (Asbee, 2012 p 303) and while writers had previously responded to the experience and effects of mass movement around the world, as Asbee quotes 'These writers they actually changed a ...... middle of the paper ...... 'She had to get out of her nice warm bed, get dressed and go out in this bad weather to go and meet some guy she didn't even know.' (Sevlon, 2006, p.1) This form of narration captures Moses' frustration and is based on the free and indirect narrative style. Furthermore, the use of the same form of creolized English for the characters and the narration gives the impression that the person telling the story of immigrants to Britain is actually one of them, and not just a distant observer. The language of The Lonely Londoners is also different from standard English in the third person singular, for example. 'He doesn't know how he always puts himself in such a position...' (Selvon, 2006, p. 4). as in 'It have some boys who in Brit'n long,' (Selvon,2006,p. 4).