The story follows the life of July, the daughter of a slave and overseer who is used and abused, as I imagine all slaves were, by her owners. (Even writing that word disgusts me). However July is a wily woman who uses her station to her own advantage more often than not. She is certainly able to twist several of her white owners round her little finger without too much trouble. The opening episode of last night’s three-part adaptation, to be screened over consecutive nights, manages the same feat, thanks to a finely whetted script from Sarah Williams (who also adapted Levy’s Small Island for television in 2009) and some outstanding work from a first-class cast. Central to this is rising star Tamara Lawrance, who captures all of July’s ebullience and intelligence, fiercely restrained in the capricious, violent mistress’s presence but forever straining at its bounds. Over the years she learns to handle Caroline (a pitch-perfect performance from Hayley Atwell, who takes her right up to the line of real monstrousness without crossing into caricature), make a good life within its awful and motherless constraints – and then, gleefully at first, embraces the upending of that life when the Christmas Rebellion begins. In my opinion, Andrea Levy is quite a talented writer. My first experience was "Small Island", which I awarded 5 stars. There has to be something outstanding for me to give such an accolade, sadly, "The Long Song" delivered a story that was quite average in my opinion, although I think it could have been better, had she done some things differently. Frankly, I doubt in fifty books from now, I will remember little about this story.

The Long Song by Andrea Levy | Waterstones

The book you are now holding within your hand was born of a craving. My mama had a story—a story that lay so fat within her breast that she felt impelled, by some force which was mightier than her own will, to relay this tale to me, her son. Her intention was that, once knowing the tale, I would then, at some other date, convey its narrative to my own daughters. And so it would go on. The fable would never be lost and, in its several recitals, might gain a majesty to rival the legends told whilst pointing at the portraits or busts in any fancy great house upon this island of Jamaica.

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Nos encontramos ante una historia sencilla, en la que las cosas que pasan, aunque puedan destrozar el corazón del lector, tampoco le sorprende por lo esperables que resultan. Muchas veces de una forma muy cruel. Es un libro de ritmo apacible la mayor parte del tiempo, que sin embargo tiene una fuerza que hace que todo fluya perfectamente. Personalmente, tengo que reconocer que después de las primeras partes, hubo un cuarto de obra o así en que me aburrí un poco leyendo, pero rápidamente eso pasó, y la narración logró atraparme hasta el final de la misma. Andrea Levy tiene una pluma sencilla, directa y sobria, no extendiéndose en demasía en los sucesos, en las descripciones o en los detalles. Pero funciona por la inteligencia con la que maneja todos los elementos a su disposición, y por su enorme capacidad evocadora, tanto para las descripciones paisajísticas, como para introducirse ya no solo en su narradora y protagonista, también en la mente y alma de los personajes que lo que la acompañan a lo largo de las más de trescientas páginas de las que consta el libro. The Jamaican setting gives a rather different feel to the American novels about slavery. In Jamaica the white population was very small and relative newcomers. This led to relationships on the plantations shifting in different ways; with both sides having the ability to harm each other.

Long Song: What to Know Before You Watch - PBS The Long Song: What to Know Before You Watch - PBS

But she does permit herself to describe the symbolic funeral that marked the end of slavery on 31 July 1838, only then to admit that she was not actually present. She was still cooped up with her white mistress, Caroline Mortimer, owner of the sugar plantation. Jan 21 news There is a three-part PBS Masterpiece adaptation premiering tonight and going on through 14 Feb. I wonder if I should read Small Island now (*spoiler* I did; I didn't like it either). I would hate to take another tepid bath in the Jamaican waters. I don't recommend this one with any vigor. Sure, if you can get it free, don't hesitate to accept it and read it. BUY it?! Oh hell no. Too many exciting books out there. I didn't connect with it, and I've read it twice now, so I think it's fair to say I've given the book a chance to make its mark on me. Andrea Levy herself takes most of the parts involved and she was most definitely a very talented narrator as well as story teller.

However much we are entertained by July, we never lose sight of her courage, her tenacity, her life-affirming spirit, and through them we see the qualities that all those who survived and eventually thrived in that harsh period must have had in abundance. Levy never fails to get her message through clearly. That she can do so without a hint of didactism or of overwrought sentimentality says much about her ability as a writer of our times and of our sometimes inglorious past. July is a mulatto, the daughter of Scottish overseer Tam Dewar, who raped Kitty, her slave mother. July enjoys giving us alternative accounts of her arrival in the world and Levy revels in storytelling itself, its sheer pliability. The memoir comes to its climax during the 10-day Baptist war in 1831 and the slave uprisings that followed. She makes you understand how chaotic and punitive this moment in history was, as well as liberating. Levy has researched the novel meticulously, but July has no desire to weigh herself down with any historical burden. Instead, she cheekily recommends that we do some homework ourselves but warns against a publication called Conflict and change. A view from the great house of slaves, slavery and the British Empire, observing: "… if you do read it and find your head nodding in agreement at this man's bluster, then away with you – for I no longer wish you as my reader."