The Long Song in Around the World in 80 Books

Dec 26, 2020 Ann rated it really liked it

Perfect length for a novel spanning three generations. I learned so much about Jamaican culture and conditions during slavery and post-abolition.

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Nov 20, 2010 C. rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction, prize-winner, world-jamaica

The Long Song
by Andrea Levy

Andrea Levy is a british author born in England from Jamaican parents. She is the winner of the Orange Prize for her book Small Island. The Long Song is her fifth book and was long-listed this year for the Booker Prize.

This historical novel is about the personal experiences of July, a slave in the times of the Baptist War in 1831 who lives in Amity sugar plantation, at the times of the beginning of the end of slavery. The owner of the plantation has died and the proper The Long Song
by Andrea Levy

Andrea Levy is a british author born in England from Jamaican parents. She is the winner of the Orange Prize for her book Small Island. The Long Song is her fifth book and was long-listed this year for the Booker Prize.

This historical novel is about the personal experiences of July, a slave in the times of the Baptist War in 1831 who lives in Amity sugar plantation, at the times of the beginning of the end of slavery. The owner of the plantation has died and the property had gone to his sister, who had taken a liking to July as a growing child and took her away from Kitty, her slave mother, who had given birth to her after being raped by an Scottish overseer, thus making her a mulatto, a "higher" rank. The prologue and epilogue is narrated by her son who has asked her to tell her story. The story is told by a July in her later days, reluctant to tell her story, in her original patois and also with a victorian style playing some tricks on the reader as to how real her story is.
July is a playful and smart young woman. Her "missus" Caroline Mortimer teaches her to read and write to be of help to her dealing with the plantation affairs, causing some jealousy amongst the other slaves. July or Marguerite, as she was called by her mistress, is a mulatto and in the plantation, respect and honour were according to degrees of skin shades. Almost caught stealing some spirits for the benefit of other slaves during a special dinner, news came of the slaves rising in opposition to their oppressors, who had been tyrannizing them for years. Later on, a new overseer, Robert Goodwin arrived full of christian ideas influenced by his father and had confidence that by treating the slaves well he would straighten up the plantation, but didn't count on the consequences of coming across July and her missus. Their lives will be forever changed. Throughout their personal story the agonyzing daily lives of the slaves in the plantation is well felt by the reader, since this first event to their eventual freedom.
The Long Song is mainly a love story with an historical background and an amazing recount of a woman's personal resilience. It is beautifully written, inspiring, entertaining. ...more

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