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The Long Song
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Review
'Beautifully written ... a thoroughly researched historical novel that is both powerful and heartbreaking' --Daily Express
'Told with irresistible cunning; it is captivating, mischievous and optimistic' --Telegraph
'As a story of suffering, indomitability and perseverance, it is thoroughly captivating' --Guardian
'A beautifully written and cleverly constructed novel that projects convincing personal relationships on to the feral backdrop of the Jamaican plantations'
--Times
'A tumultuous tale, superbly evoked'
--Woman & Home
'Told with irresistible cunning; it is captivating, mischievous and optimistic' --Telegraph
'As a story of suffering, indomitability and perseverance, it is thoroughly captivating' --Guardian
'A beautifully written and cleverly constructed novel that projects convincing personal relationships on to the feral backdrop of the Jamaican plantations'
--Times
'A tumultuous tale, superbly evoked'
--Woman & Home
Product Description
You do not know me yet. My son Thomas, who is publishing this book, tells me, it is customary at this place in a novel to give the reader a little taste of the story that is held within these pages. As your storyteller, I am to convey that this tale is set in Jamaica during the last turbulent years of slavery and the early years of freedom that followed.
July is a slave girl who lives upon a sugar plantation named Amity and it is her life that is the subject of this tale. She was there when the Baptist War raged in 1831, and she was also present when slavery was declared no more. My son says I must convey how the story tells also of July's mama Kitty, of the negroes that worked the plantation land, of Caroline Mortimer the white woman who owned the plantation and many more persons besides - far too many for me to list here. But what befalls them all is carefully chronicled upon these pages for you to peruse.
Perhaps, my son suggests, I might write that it is a thrilling journey through that time in the company of people who lived it. All this he wishes me to pen so the reader can decide if this is a book they might care to consider. Cha, I tell my son, what fuss-fuss. Come, let them just read it for themselves.
July is a slave girl who lives upon a sugar plantation named Amity and it is her life that is the subject of this tale. She was there when the Baptist War raged in 1831, and she was also present when slavery was declared no more. My son says I must convey how the story tells also of July's mama Kitty, of the negroes that worked the plantation land, of Caroline Mortimer the white woman who owned the plantation and many more persons besides - far too many for me to list here. But what befalls them all is carefully chronicled upon these pages for you to peruse.
Perhaps, my son suggests, I might write that it is a thrilling journey through that time in the company of people who lived it. All this he wishes me to pen so the reader can decide if this is a book they might care to consider. Cha, I tell my son, what fuss-fuss. Come, let them just read it for themselves.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
170 of 177 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Despite the serious and at times harrowing subject matter, this book was a joy to read. Levy has created a wonderful character in the sassy, spirited Miss July, who narrates the story of her birth in a sugar-cane field and her childhood as a slave to the twittering, pompous plantation owner, Caroline Mortimer.
Her story is heartbreaking, but the touches of humour and pathos give the book a lighter feel than, for example, The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill, or Beloved by Toni Morrison. However, Levy doesn't shy away from portraying the savage brutality of slavery and the ignorance of the white settlers, who treat the slaves as commodities to be bought and sold (and the the case of the women, raped).
This is my fifth Andrea Levy book and I've enjoyed them all. Her first three concentrated on the experiences of young black women growing up in modern Britain, but Small Island and now The Long Song have seen her reaching back into black history and creating some wonderful stories. It would be wrong to pigeon-hole her as a writer who only deals with 'black' issues though, because her themes and characters have relevance and appeal right across the board.
Her story is heartbreaking, but the touches of humour and pathos give the book a lighter feel than, for example, The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill, or Beloved by Toni Morrison. However, Levy doesn't shy away from portraying the savage brutality of slavery and the ignorance of the white settlers, who treat the slaves as commodities to be bought and sold (and the the case of the women, raped).
This is my fifth Andrea Levy book and I've enjoyed them all. Her first three concentrated on the experiences of young black women growing up in modern Britain, but Small Island and now The Long Song have seen her reaching back into black history and creating some wonderful stories. It would be wrong to pigeon-hole her as a writer who only deals with 'black' issues though, because her themes and characters have relevance and appeal right across the board.
135 of 148 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
What a fantastic book that illustrates the cruel devastation that was the THREE HUNDRED YEAR OLD slave trade. Not since "Roots" has anything so moving been written. Three hundred years of beatings, unpaid back breaking work, women raped and impregnated by their massa's, pregnant women having to continue working in cane fields, giving birth in the very same cane fields and minutes later resuming work (their very survival depended on it), children ripped from their mothers and sold to other massa's. Grown men being beaten by their white massa's (male and female) and women abused by their massa's in front of their men folk - this is how the story opens and it must be said as it sets the scene for the rest of the story.
In spite of the brutality, the book highlights the sheer strength and defiance of the slaves. It is based around the story of a woman called July, who was born a slave on Amity plantation and lives through the turbulent years that led to its abolition. By page 95 things start to change but the struggle continues. The book is heartbreaking especially when you read how the light skinned slaves were fortunate enough to work in the house instead of the fields and the prejudice and ignorance amongst them that comes through. Although they were often the product of rapes, they saw their light colour as an advantage. The author also has the amazing ability to intersperse the story with funny events. I found myself howling with laughter to the point of tears as I read it on my way to work.
I salute Andrea Levy. I've read all of her books and all of them have touched me. As someone who is descended from slaves (my parents are Jamaican) it is particularly poignant and touching. The slave trade like the many stories of war, human cruelty and genocide should never be forgotten. Slaves were forbidden from reading and writing so those that could have documented their story are now long gone and there were no videos and cameras around to capture these stories. Nonetheless, it is a very important era in world history, it's reach was far and wide. I personally believe that much of the societal afflictions prevalent in African Caribbean and African American cultures today (particularly around relationships and family structure) are as a direct result of slavery, this is my own opinion and observation but when all is said and done, that's a different story altogether.
The book cuts deep but the author does an amazing job of keeping the reader gripped from the very first page. Absolute work of art !!!
In spite of the brutality, the book highlights the sheer strength and defiance of the slaves. It is based around the story of a woman called July, who was born a slave on Amity plantation and lives through the turbulent years that led to its abolition. By page 95 things start to change but the struggle continues. The book is heartbreaking especially when you read how the light skinned slaves were fortunate enough to work in the house instead of the fields and the prejudice and ignorance amongst them that comes through. Although they were often the product of rapes, they saw their light colour as an advantage. The author also has the amazing ability to intersperse the story with funny events. I found myself howling with laughter to the point of tears as I read it on my way to work.
I salute Andrea Levy. I've read all of her books and all of them have touched me. As someone who is descended from slaves (my parents are Jamaican) it is particularly poignant and touching. The slave trade like the many stories of war, human cruelty and genocide should never be forgotten. Slaves were forbidden from reading and writing so those that could have documented their story are now long gone and there were no videos and cameras around to capture these stories. Nonetheless, it is a very important era in world history, it's reach was far and wide. I personally believe that much of the societal afflictions prevalent in African Caribbean and African American cultures today (particularly around relationships and family structure) are as a direct result of slavery, this is my own opinion and observation but when all is said and done, that's a different story altogether.
The book cuts deep but the author does an amazing job of keeping the reader gripped from the very first page. Absolute work of art !!!
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Long Song is the latest of Andrea Levy's books but the first that I have read. Having finished it, all I want to do is get hold of everything that Miss Levy has written. The Long Song is simply a delight, the life and times of the canny, cunning and beguilingly cantankerous Miss July, a hearty if sometimes harrowing recounting of the last years of slavery in Jamaica. A busy schedule meant that I took more than a month to finish a little more than three hundred pages. But even if I had had the time to read, I would have delayed as much as I could - just to spread the pleasure of listening to a unique voice, telling a mesmerising tale. Really, a very good book indeed, a wonderful story highly recommended.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Long Song was not long enough
Listened to the audio CD story of The Long Song whilst driving my teenage daughter to school, and we enjoyed it immensely, so much so that we gave it to her gran, who is West... Read more
Published 4 days ago by Evadne
A well told tale
The Long Song purports to be a work of fiction by former slave July, although it becomes clear from her interruptions in the narrative that it is in reality her memoir. Read more
Published 14 days ago by Jimbo
another levy hit!
Since discovering Levy's books back in 2004, I have been drawn into each novel and feel transported. Read more
Published 1 month ago by jen d
Just another slavery story!
I remember the Falconhurst books from wayback and this book reminded me of them. It was dull, as said by a reviewer before, I couldn't care less what happened to any of the... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Isabelle Smith
Brilliant, funny, harrowing story
The Long Song deals essentially with an uncomfortably harrowing subject matter but it is pivoted perfectly between humour and brutality so that the reader is gripped from the... Read more
Published 3 months ago by S. Enston
An interesting and sometimes unexpected read.
[...]
Set in Jamaica in the 1800's this book follows the story of July, a slave girl taken from her mother aged only about 8 years old. Read more
Set in Jamaica in the 1800's this book follows the story of July, a slave girl taken from her mother aged only about 8 years old. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Big Book Little Book
An authentic voice yet rather cliched at times
The Long Song is Andrea Levy's fifth novel following Every Light In The Whole House Burnin', Never Far From Nowhere, Fruit Of The Lemon and the critically acclaimed Small Island. Read more
Published 3 months ago by R. A. Davison
An amazing read....
Just finished "the Long Song" and I was thoroughly engrossed from beginning to end. I loved the character, "July", her wit and mischievousness, and quite simply I just loved the... Read more
Published 4 months ago by sandw
"Long" being the operative word
The very descriptive prose started off as something to appreciate because it helped create a vivid picture in my mind of the characters, the setting and the action. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Sid
A easy read on a difficult subject
There are a lot of historical novels out there which feature slaves or slave owners as main characters and I've read a fair few myself. Read more
Published 6 months ago by J. Willis
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