The Long Song - Andrea Levy

The Long Song - Andrea Levy (2010)

July is bought up on a plantation in Jamaica at the time of the abolition of slavery. This book tells the story of her life, her mother and her children in a time that seems almost unreal to us. When children and adults are bought and sold like cattle, where children are taken from their parents and made to work with no education and nobody is paid for their work.

I enjoyed the sing song voice of the protagonist and the way that it switched between her own telling of her story and her sons views. I found that I was engaged in the story and wanting to know what happened next, rushing to bed on these coolish nights was made more pleasant by having a good book to read.

I also appreciated its editing, by not being a 600 page monster of a book, it felt just the right length to tell the story. A very solid 4/5 for this gem.