I know quite a bit about the war years (~1915-50) in Britain, but I learned more reading this book that covers the experience of Jamaican British immigrants and soldiers during and after WWII. The most surprising historical information I got was how Britain coped with Yankee soldiers expecting Brits...
Small Island is a good, solid book in nearly every way, although for me it didn’t have that something extra that would take it up to 5 stars.The frame story is set in London, 1948: a black Jamaican couple, Hortense and Gilbert, move to England and rent a room from a white woman, Queenie, whose husba...
i'm ashamed to say that i abandoned this book because of another and i still can't understand why. it was truly interesting, i was reading it eagerly, then somehow i opened another book and haven't came back. such a fickle reader am i. i've extended the borrowing time once so going back to the libra...
This is a great book which tells the story of Jamaican immigrants to Britain after WW2. It takes a while to get into as the story is told from the point of view of different characters but once the book gets going the plot takes different turns and each of the main characters is developed excellent...
“Yes sir, British, and so is your mother?” he mumbled, in a hesitant way that made me wonder whether anything I was saying was going into his head or merely circling around it searching for somewhere solid to land." p 157
Not nearly as preachy as I feared - Levy is prepared to allow her black characters to be as flawed as her white ones - a pleasant surprise. Well written and funny, and kept me engrossed despite the slightly too-convenient plot twist.
The last 130 pages or so redeemed this book for me. At that point I was caught up with and concerned for the characters, whereas, for most of the book, I felt pretty alienated to be honest. But the end is very emotional and sad and hopeful, too. Still, there are some long slogs punctuating this stor...
I'm trying to figure out my reaction to this book, other than the fact that I loved it. I have a hard time putting into words my feelings about this book.Small Island is the story of four people in the aftermath of WW II. Levy is concerned with the experience of immigrants and racial issues in pos...
Rating: 2.5* of fiveThis woman and I are not a good fit. I read and loathed The Long Song, finding it tedious and contrived. I got this excrescence out of the library because I thought it unfair to judge an author by one book. Hell, I even gave EGGERS more than one book.Small Island is a mean-spirit...
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