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Andrea Levy

The Long Song Hardcover – 4 Feb. 2010

by Andrea Levy (Author)

4.4 2,458 ratings

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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.

Print length

336 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Headline Review
Publication date

4 Feb. 2010
Dimensions

16.5 x 2.9 x 24.1 cm
ISBN-10

0755359402
ISBN-13

978-0755359400
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Andrea Levy
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Popular highlights in this book

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Please pardon me, but your storyteller is a woman possessed of a forthright tongue and little ink.
Highlighted by 55 Kindle readers
But, upon that day, the act that made John Howarth question his God for allowing such barbarity within a world he knew, and gasp at the cruelty of his fellows, while a righteous anger fermented within his belly until he felt sickened, ashamed and disgusted, was the sight before him now: nine white men dressed as women.
Highlighted by 49 Kindle readers

Product description

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

Book Description

Praise for Andrea Levy: 'There is 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

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Headline Review; First Edition (4 Feb. 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0755359402
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0755359400
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 16.5 x 2.9 x 24.1 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 564,379 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 6,290 in Women's Literary Fiction (Books)
- 40,469 in Historical Fiction (Books)
- 53,290 in Literary Fiction (Books)

Customer reviews:
4.4 2,458 ratings

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About the author

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Andrea Levy

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Andrea Levy was born in England to Jamaican parents. She is the author of four other novels, including Every Light in the House Burning (1995), Never Far from Nowhere (1996), Fruit of the Lemon (1999), and Small Island (2005). Small Island won both the Whitbread Book of the Year Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction: Best of the Best. Selling over a million copies worldwide, Small Island was also adapted for the small screen in a critically acclaimed series that aired on BBC and will debut on PBS’s Masterpiece Classic on April 18 and 25, 2010. Levy lives in London.

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M. J. Gilfedder

Powerful read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 9 April 2023

Verified Purchase

Very intelligently written story about July, a Jamaican slave living during the last days of slavery upon that island. Levy's style is vivid and colourful, with even some humour creeping in, but never put of place. The characters are memorable and well rounded. It's a touching, shocking, poignant book.

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R. A. Davison

An authentic voice yet rather cliched at times

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 1 February 2012

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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. It won the 2011 Walter Scott prize and was along with other titles on the blog shortlisted for the 2010 Man Booker Prize. It is the first Andrea Levy novel that I have read.

The Long Song concerns the uprising of slaves in colonial Jamaica in 1831, which was known as the Baptist War, or rather it provides the backdrop to our tale, as our narrator was not caught up in it but her story, or the bulk of it, occurs at the time of this upheaval.

It is constructed in a very unusual way, using a strange form of double direct address, we are first addressed by Thomas Kinsman, a printer frustrated at his mothers attempts to tell him stories who encourages her to write them down to be printed. When the narrative changes hands she too, outright addresses her potential, unseen readership. To further complicate the narration, in her writing about her past Thomas Kinsman's mother July refers to herself in the third person, but in the "present day" part of the story she refers to herself in the first. So there is a double authorship at work here, Andrea Levy is our author of a fictional story, and her character July is the author of her own true story.
To compound the complicated narrative, July is an unreliable narrator, not just through a lack of remembering over time but, as a willful deceit, wanting the reader to think better of her, or wanting to forget the worst of moments. At these points, the present day will interrupt the story as Thomas reads her latest pages and challenges her on their veracity. But Thomas is not fully aware of his own mothers history, that's part of the point, so there's always a chance that some of what July tells us may not be what actually happened. Despite the tricksy narrative web Levy has weaved, it still works and proves easy to navigate.

Slavery is one of those issues like with The Great War and The Holocaust, that's so important that it continues to be written about "Lest We Forget". The United States may now have its first Black President but the big White House he lives in was built by the blood and sweat of slaves.
These are Jamaican colonial slaves working on sugar cane plantations and we begin by meeting Caroline Mortimer who has travelled to America to live on her brothers estate. As her brother John Howarth gives her the grand tour they come across Kitty and her daughter July. The manner in which Howarth speaks of Kitty as if she were mere livestock, boasting of her leg muscles brings home the inhumanity and barbarism of the era. Caroline is then allowed to just take July from Kitty as her pet as if she were a kitten, and change her name to one which she prefers. And so July grows up in service to the white folks.

Despite it being called The Long Song it is not particularly long, coming in at just over 300 pages. The voice is authentic, but though the story is an accurate portrayal of the time, it is the kind of story that has been told many times, so even with its probable historical accuracy it can feel slightly like cliche. In terms of the 2010 Man Booker Prize I am beginning to feel that Room was the most affecting but it loses points for being exploitative in a way that The Long Song isn't. The only book I have not yet read is C by Tom McCarthy, once I have read that I can say for sure, but so far I think The Long Song may be the best book of the six. Ultimately, I liked it, it made me think of Jamaican Rum Chocolate and that's never a bad thing. I have had Small Island by Andrea Levy floating around my house for some time, and on the strength of this book will definitely give it a look 8/10

4 people found this helpful

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Brutal but beautiful and uplifting tale

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 23 October 2010

Verified Purchase

Andrea Levy's excellent Booker short listed novel `The Long Song' tells a familiar story, but from an oft neglected perspective. Her concern is with the system of slavery in the Caribbean, and her narrator is July, born a female slave and now looking back on her experiences with honesty, humour, and a sometimes imperfect memory. Levy uses a clever device of other characters, such as July's grown up son Thomas, questioning the story and the storyteller throughout to ensure that the whole tale is told.

July was born to a slave who had been raped by one of the white massas, and is heartbreakingly taken from her mother when she is just nine years old at the whim of the plantation owner's sister. Caroline Mortimer sees July when out riding in her carriage, and finds her just too adorable to resist. She is gathered up and taken away like a doll to amuse Caroline, and obviously also to be her house servant and answer to her beck and call for the rest of her life. Caroline calls her `Marguerite' as it is a proper name in her opinion, so she is even robbed of the name her mother gave to her, and her mother is cruelly left to mourn the loss of her little girl without complaint.

Levy's story is a real page turner, fast paced and engaging. The reality of the lives of the slaves is shocking as they are routinely whipped, hit, abused and more by the white plantation owners and their overseers. There is a terrible sadness about the events that unfold, and the almost unbearable cruelty of the system of slavery and the people who perpetuated it is staggering.

The heartbreak of July's early separation from her mother is repeated in her own experience, as her beautiful baby girl is also taken from her by trickery. But it is not all heartbreak by any means. This is a tale of strength and fighting back as well as of terrible poverty, total insensitivity and inhumanity among the planter community to their negro slaves. Levy tells how the slaves bite back, when the system is abolished by the King of England himself. They quickly learn how to use their bargaining power to their best advantage, and sometimes, but not always, succeed in getting one over their former owners.

This is a great book, not having read all the other Booker short listed entries I can't say if it should have won this time, but I can say that I certainly enjoyed it immensely, and a lot more than last years successful entrant `Wolf Hall'.

6 people found this helpful

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roshan

Disturbing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 31 March 2023

Verified Purchase

Very handy for book club readers- there are a bunch of questions for discussion at the end!

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