Genre Fiction
![Andrea Levy - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B001IGNHGE.jpg)
Small Island: A Novel
An international bestseller. Andrea Levy's Small Island won the Orange Prize for Fiction, The Orange Prize for Fiction: Best of the Best, The Whitbread Novel Award, The Whitbread Book of the Year Award, and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize.
Hortense Joseph arrives in London from Jamaica in 1948 with her life in her suitcase, her heart broken, her resolve intact. Her husband, Gilbert Joseph, returns from the war expecting to be received as a hero, but finds his status as a black man in Britain to be second class. His white landlady, Queenie, raised as a farmer's daughter, befriends Gilbert, and later Hortense, with innocence and courage, until the unexpected arrival of her husband, Bernard, who returns from combat with issues of his own to resolve.
Told in these four voices, Small Island is a courageous novel of tender emotion and sparkling wit, of crossings taken and passages lost, of shattering compassion and of reckless optimism in the face of insurmountable barriers---in short, an encapsulation of that most American of experiences: the immigrant's life.
Hortense Joseph arrives in London from Jamaica in 1948 with her life in her suitcase, her heart broken, her resolve intact. Her husband, Gilbert Joseph, returns from the war expecting to be received as a hero, but finds his status as a black man in Britain to be second class. His white landlady, Queenie, raised as a farmer's daughter, befriends Gilbert, and later Hortense, with innocence and courage, until the unexpected arrival of her husband, Bernard, who returns from combat with issues of his own to resolve.
Told in these four voices, Small Island is a courageous novel of tender emotion and sparkling wit, of crossings taken and passages lost, of shattering compassion and of reckless optimism in the face of insurmountable barriers---in short, an encapsulation of that most American of experiences: the immigrant's life.
Editorial Reviews
"It's all here: exceptional dialogue, clever narrative, and a rich story that tells us something new about our shared history on a planet that is increasingly small and yet will always be inhabited by individuals possessed, at our best, by singular consciousness and desire." ―Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
"There is a great skill in the way she presents characters and dialogue; she has powers of observation and an ear for language that make her books a pleasure to read." ―Times Literary Supplement (UK)
"Andrea Levy gives us a new, urgent take on our past." ―Vogue
"A perfectly crafted tale of crossed lives and oceans . . . Happily, the hype is warranted--Small Island is a triumph." ―San Francisco Chronicle
"Andrea Levy's beautifully wrought novel is a window into 1948 England. . . . A bristling, funny, angry tale of love and sacrifice." ―Entertainment Weekly
"Levy tells a good story, and she tells it well--using narrative voices across time and space as she revisits the conventions of the historical novel and imagines the hopes and pains of the immigrant's saga anew." ―The Washington Post
"Familiar cultural observations in closely observed and surprising lives . . . Levy's writing deftly illuminates the complex and contradictory motives behind each character's behavior." ―The New Yorker
"There is a great skill in the way she presents characters and dialogue; she has powers of observation and an ear for language that make her books a pleasure to read." ―Times Literary Supplement (UK)
"Andrea Levy gives us a new, urgent take on our past." ―Vogue
"A perfectly crafted tale of crossed lives and oceans . . . Happily, the hype is warranted--Small Island is a triumph." ―San Francisco Chronicle
"Andrea Levy's beautifully wrought novel is a window into 1948 England. . . . A bristling, funny, angry tale of love and sacrifice." ―Entertainment Weekly
"Levy tells a good story, and she tells it well--using narrative voices across time and space as she revisits the conventions of the historical novel and imagines the hopes and pains of the immigrant's saga anew." ―The Washington Post
"Familiar cultural observations in closely observed and surprising lives . . . Levy's writing deftly illuminates the complex and contradictory motives behind each character's behavior." ―The New Yorker
Readers Top Reviews
M. F. CrowlKindle I
Small Island is a wonderful book. I first began to read it in a bookshop, couldn't put it down, but couldn't afford it at the time. I then read it from the beginning again in a Library copy, and finally bought it online and encouraged my wife to read it, which she did, and also thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters are rich and vividly drawn; the intricate plot, with its rewinding of the same episodes from different perspectives is well done, and Levy has a delightful wit and humour. She presents black and white characters with all the foibles, without making one or other race superior to the other. And she creates various worlds - London after the War and during the War (the story weaves back and forth a good deal); the Caribbean, and Europe - without missing a beat. The details in this book are rich too, forever adding colour to the overall story. Highly recommended.
Teresa Lane
Not so evenly metred, it fulfilled its promise. The earlier parts were less convincing than the latter. The characters of Queenie and Hortense, the main female protagonists were delightfully drawn with their flaws and their victories. From pre-war Jamaica to post-war England, there was a big, important time frame as well as a large geographical and cultural divide explored and paralleled. Interesting read with intriguing, personable characters.
Old school
And the rating should be at least 4.5. I think I was restrained by the fact that it's a bit hard to read in these times, but by the same token, important to read. I wish I had realized from the beginning, as I should have, that it's told from the perspective of each of the four main characters, and that the first to appear is not Jamaican. But I loved getting to know the characters and their challenges--they are not like any I've encountered elsewhere. Definitely recommended.
D. Howard
I wasn’t sure at first where this book was going, and the switching of narrative voices was confusing. But, the deeper I got, the more I was hooked by this tale of the Windrush generation, its struggles and the response of the English. The author made us feel the pain of racism for its victims and, paradoxically, the causes of that racism from the viewpoint of the Englishman confused in a changing time.
Holly Smith
This novel accomplishes so many feats of craft in stand alone chapters, reoccurring symbols and managing pov characters deftly. Levy unapologetically captures the ignorance, panic and damage of anti-blackness on her white characters and the needful dignity, rebellion and sometimes submission of her Jamaican characters. She intertwines her characters and holds back from cheap reveals or sentimentality. A fabulous fabulous novel that gives an alternate telling of war not often given the chance to be heard. Some sexual content but tastefully and often humorously handled. Many instances of racial slurs. Some violence. Ok for mature teen readers, but would need to be previewed for high school-level if you are considering teaching this novel, which would be an excellent addition.
