Small Island (novel)
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''Small Island'' is a 2004 prize-winning novel by British author
Andrea Levy Andrea Levy (7 March 1956 – 14 February 2019) was an English author best known for the novels '' Small Island'' (2004) and ''The Long Song'' (2010). She was born in London to Jamaican parents, and her work explores topics related to British ...
, her fourth novel.


Characters

The novel is based on four main characters—Hortense, Queenie, Gilbert and Bernard—and the story is told from each of their points of view. Mainly set in 1948, the plot focuses on the diaspora of
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
n immigrants, who, escaping economic hardship on their own "small island", move to England, the Mother Country, for which the men have fought during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. While the novel focuses on the narratives of Gilbert and Hortense as they adjust to life in England, after a reception that is not quite the warm embrace that they had hoped for, the interracial relationship between Queenie and Michael is central to the plot and the connections that are established between all of the characters. As the story is narrated from various viewpoints, it is achronological, skipping around to discuss each character's life before the outbreak of WWII.


Character summaries

*''Queenie Bligh'': The level-headed character in the book. She is fair, open-minded and has a very big and kind heart. After her husband, Bernard, left for the war she opened her house for servicemen, which is when she met Gilbert. She is symbolic of England: Queenie comes with reference to the royal family (she was also christened
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
- after
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
) and Bligh comes from
Blighty "Blighty" is a British English slang term for Great Britain, or often specifically England.
, a slightly dated word for England. *''Hortense'': A very well-mannered woman who looks down her nose at other people. She comes from Jamaica and has moved to England with hopes of becoming a teacher, but she has a certain naiveté about what to expect when she arrives. Having been brought up in British colonial Jamaica, she has been taught very many exaggerated facts about the niceties of English living. It becomes quite ironic as she turns out to be more polite and well spoken than anyone she meets, despite being a little snobbish. *''Michael Roberts'': A Jamaican Air Force serviceman who grows up alongside Hortense. Michael is a charming and charismatic man, and his mischievous nature causes him problems with his religious father and the community in which he lives. When he leaves for the Air Force he stays at Queenie's boarding house in England and begins a relationship with her, resulting in Queenie's pregnancy. Queenie and Michael's relationship is brief and he is never aware of the baby, and neither Queenie or Hortense ever find out that they both know Michael. *''Gilbert Joseph'': A lovable and funny character who is always trying his hardest to please everyone. Very clumsy but honest, he is one of the more likable characters. He is quite laid back, but extremely intimidated by Hortense, his wife. *''Bernard Bligh'': An extremely reserved character who interacts very poorly with almost everyone, until the RAF which forces interaction upon him. He is however, and albeit awkwardly, in love with his wife Queenie, though their sexual life is, largely due to him, not good, a fact which has ramifications later. He has a deep-seated streak of racism and while Queenie appears to be free of this in some ways, both have complicated interactions with race, culminating in the book's climax.


Critical reception and other recognition

It was published by
Headline Review Headline Publishing Group is a British publishing brand and former company. It was founded in 1986 by Tim Hely Hutchinson. In 1993, Headline bought Hodder & Stoughton and the company became Hodder Headline Ltd. In 1999, Hodder Headline was acqui ...
to critical success. On 5 November 2019 ''
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
'' included ''Small Island'' on its list of the 100 most influential novels. It was described in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' by Mike Phillips as Levy's "big book". Levy said in 2004: "When I started ''Small Island'' I didn’t intend to write about the war. I wanted to start in 1948 with two women, one white, one black, in a house in
Earls Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...
, but when I asked myself, 'Who are these people and how did they get here?' I realised that 1948 was so very close to the war that nothing made sense without it. If every writer in Britain were to write about the war years there would still be stories to be told, and none of us would have come close to what really happened. It was such an amazing schism in the middle of a century. And Caribbean people got left out of the telling of that story, so I am attempting to put them back into it. But I am not telling it from only a Jamaican point of view. I want to tell stories from the black and white experience. It is a shared history." Salandy-Brown, Marina
"ANDREA LEVY: 'THIS WAS NOT A SMALL STORY'"
''
Caribbean Beat ''Caribbean Beat'', founded in 1992, is a bimonthly magazine, published in Port of Spain, Trinidad, covering the arts, culture and society of the Caribbean, with a focus on the region's English-speaking territories. It is distributed in-flight by C ...
'', Issue 70 (November/December 2004).
In 2009, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' selected ''Small Island'' as one of the defining books of the decade. It won three awards: the
Whitbread Book of the Year The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...
, the Orange Prize, and the
Commonwealth Writers' Prize Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...
. In 2022, ''Small Island'' was included on the "
Big Jubilee Read The Big Jubilee Read is a 2022 campaign to promote reading for pleasure and to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II. A list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors, 10 from each decade of Elizabeth II's reign, was selected by a panel of ...
" list of 70 books by
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
authors, selected to celebrate the
Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II The Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II was the international celebration in 2022 marking the 70th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952, the first British monarch to ever celebrate one. In the United Kingdom, the ...
.


Adaptations

The novel was adapted for television in two parts by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
in 2009. A stage adaptation by
Helen Edmundson Helen Edmundson (born 1964) is a British playwright, screenwriter and producer. She has won awards and critical acclaim both for her original writing and for her adaptations of various literary classics for the stage and screen. Early life Edm ...
opened at the National Theatre in April 2019"Small Island"
Olivier Theatre, National Theatre. and the production was discussed with members of the cast on
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
's ''
Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by A ...
'' in May 2019.


References

{{Reflist, 30em, refs= {{cite news , url = https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-50302788 , title = 100 'most inspiring' novels revealed by BBC Arts , work =
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
, date = 2019-11-05 , archiveurl = , archivedate = , accessdate = 2019-11-10 , url-status = live , quote = The reveal kickstarts the BBC's year-long celebration of literature.


External links


Andrea Levy discusses ''Small Island''
on the BBC's
World Book Club ''World Book Club'' is a radio programme on the BBC World Service. Each edition of the programme, which is broadcast on the first Saturday of the month with repeats into the following Monday, features a famous author discussing one of his or her ...
, 2012 (podcast).
Small Island character profile
on the BBC One Website 2004 British novels English novels Novels set in Jamaica Fiction set in 1948 Women's Prize for Fiction-winning works Fiction about emigration Novels set in England Headline Publishing Group books