Small Island (NHB Modern Plays)

By Andrea Levy

Hortense yearns for a new life away from rural Jamaica, Gilbert dreams of becoming a lawyer, and Queenie longs to escape her Lincolnshire roots. In these three intimately connected stories, hope and humanity meet stubborn reality, tracing the tangled history of Jamaica and Britain.

Andrea Levy's epic novel Small Island, adapted for the stage by Helen Edmundson, journeys from Jamaica to Britain in 1948 – the year the HMT Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury. It premiered at the National Theatre, London, in April 2019, directed by Rufus Norris.

'Honest, skilful, thoughtful and important. This is Andrea Levy's big book' Guardian on Andrea Levy's Small Island

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nick Hern Books
• Release date: Apr 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9781788501750

Andrea Levy

Born in London, England to Jamaican parents, Andrea Levy (1956-2019) was the author of Small Island, winner of the Whitbread Award (now Costa Award), the Orange Prize for Fiction (now Women’s Prize for Fiction), and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. The BBC Masterpiece Classic television adaptation of her novel won an International Emmy for best TV movie/miniseries. Andrea’s other books include the Man Booker Prize finalist The Long Song, also adapted by the BBC for television, and Fruit of the Lemon, among others.

Reviews for Small Island (NHB Modern Plays)

[thornton37814 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Set in the years past World War II, a Jamaican immigrant faces racism in Great Britain. While it's not an easy read, it's an important one because it shows racism occurred in many places around the globe--not just in America.

[nancyjak · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found this at a used book store and I'm glad I did. Fascinating look at England during the war and the conflict between immigrants and the british. Both humorous and sad.

[curious_squid · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Had a hard time finishing this book because the racism got me so upset, but a really interesting read.

[acia-11 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

From a different perspective,I related to Joseph and Hortense's experiences of being an outsider. The passage when Hortense goes to the Education authority looking for a position as a teacher so poignantly described. The world has changed since 1948 but we still have a long way to go towards making the human experience less painful. A great read throughout.

[technodiabla · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a fantastic read! Told interchangeably through the eyes of 4 characters (2 white British, 2 black Jamaicans) a tale of war, immigration, disappointment, racism, and love unfold. The characters voices are enjoyable and distinct-- the Jamaican dialect takes a bit getting used to. It's a longish book but very readable and the plot moves along. The ending was very very satisfying! I think his book would have broad apply and I highly recommend it.

[smits_52 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After WWII the story of returning soldiers. Jamaican serviceman Gilbert and local Bernard connected through Queenie. It is the story of Hamaicans wanting to make a new life in Britain but s as Leo for locals who have to adjust to these newcomers. An immigration story that still goes on today. this novel is well written and interesting.

[japaul22 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This fantastic book was winner of the Orange Prize in 2004. It is the story of two newly married Jamaican immigrants in England just after WWII and the white woman they rent a room from. I don't really want to describe the plot or characters much because Levy does it so beautifully. I will say that the portrayal of the immigrant experience, and the black immigrant experience at that, is done really well. I loved how she wrote their words in clear English as they were thinking them and made it clear how different it sounded by making others not understand. Also the characters are connected in ways they don't realize and I loved that Levy revealed this to the reader, but not to the characters. Levy also explores the war experience through both the black and white characters and especially how they are treated after service.This book is an enjoyable read that has some important themes to share. I highly recommend it.

[evatkaplan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

(LEVY is daughter of Jamaican Mother & ex Chasidish Father--she has this "chip on her shoulder" against Jews)excellent writing, an immigrant story through 4 voices. Coming from Jamaica to England in 1948 after fighting against the Germans in the RAF or finishing school as a teacher, then coming to the "Mother Country" as an immigrant. very good book

[styraciflua · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I had never heard of this British author, but I took the book from the library and enjoyed reading it. It takes place right after WWII in London, when some Jamaicans who served in the British Air Force are coming to live in Britain, the Mother Country. The writing is delicious, the issues of race and colonialism are skewered nicely, and it ends with at least two surprise twists.

[sachesney · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed reading this. Some sections are very funny, some are tender, other parts are just really sad. A thoughtful story that really made me think about the years after the war in England and the struggles and racism facing new arrivals from Jamaica.

[oldblack-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Didn't find this at all engaging. Perhaps too remote from my experience, but I think the characters seemed two-dimensional and their inner thoughts too hidden from me.

[gaye1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Just a wonderful, wonderful novel - read it.

[thesmellofbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Excellent.

[iudita_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I suspect this is a book that is better to listen to than to read yourself. The audio production of this book was so well done. The narrators were excellent and the British and Jamaican accents added such flavour to the story that it was quite entertaining to listen to. The story line is rather flat but the writing is quite nice and the audio production made the writing a lovely feature of the book.

[amariedorsey_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Okay, it's an award-winner; expect it to be good. Very good. So good that I now want to research Jamaican RAFmen of WWII. And the "browning" of England. That's a clear indicator that this a good read: I don't want to let go of the story, the characters, the themes and subjects explored by Andrea Levy. Has she got anything else out there?

[reader68_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Excellent novel focuing on the pre,during, and post World War II experiences of Jaimacan immigrants to Britain, and white communities they interacted with.

[raidergirl3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a winning book for the Orange Prize in 2004 and I can see why - readable, historical, big themes, great characters with plenty of flaws but realistic.Why the title, Small Island? Because I don't think it gives me the right memory of the book. There are four main characters who interact in 1948. We meet them in their individual pasts, and then all together in a rooming house in London in 1948. The back and forth in time works well, as knowing where they end up makes seeing how they started worthwhile. Two of our characters, Hortense and Gilbert are from Jamaica, a very small island. Gilbert served in the RAF in England during the war, and then emigrates, with Hortense, his wife, following him to London and the rooming house. The rooming house is run by Queenie, and is the house her husband Bernard grew up in. Bernard is British, with a capital B, but as he travels the world, maybe he discovers that England is a small island as well, not as important as he once thought. Queenie is the star of the book, a small island unto herself in post-war England, with progressive (ie non-racist) views of the immigrants.That's it for 'small island', the best I can do. It stilll doesn't feel like the right title, even after I've managed to connect it to each character, and maybe an overall theme. I think if it was called 'Queenie', it would be more memorable about the character, the Britishness of the book, and the nickname that I could probably hear in a Jamaican accent.I loved how Hortense was more British than anyone in the story, and yet was looked upon as a barbarian immigrant by the locals. Bernard was an idiot, who had the least growth, unless growth is considered waking up to his world around him and participating in his own life. Nah, still a stiff-upper lip, totally clueless in his unaccountable superiority, naive idiot. Queenie and Gilbert were the most realistic about life, and were charming, wonderful characters dealing with a terrible hand that life dealt them, and yet improving their situations somewhat.All the good things I've heard about Small Island were true - a wonderful book (with a lousy title).

[gogglemiss · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This story was cleverly written from four different view points, but I did find it depressing, which I found rather wearing at times. I loved reading Gilbert's chapters, because, despite all the horrors of war, and the racism that he had encountered, he had never lost his sense of humour, and the kindness in him. 

[alisonb60 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Well written for sure but I found the story a little palling. It is a wonder any people from Jamaica stayed in the UK!

[lit_chick_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"There are some words once spoken split the world in two. Before you say them and after.” (497)So it is that the experience of WWII has split the world for the characters in Andrea Levy’s Small Island. Gilbert and Hortense Joseph, and Bernard and Queenie Bligh, alternately narrate the story by chapter. For them, there is only “Before” (the war) and 1948.Jamaican Gilbert Joseph is an honest and ambitious young man who volunteers with the RAF during WWII to fight for his “Mother Country.” England, he knows, has opportunities to offer that his small island cannot; and in 1948, he dreams to emigrate. Hortense Roberts, a haughty, young school teacher also dreams of a better life in England. Gilbert becomes her ticket off of her native island, and they enter into a marriage of convenience. In England, Queenie Bligh, an compassionate and liberal-minded woman whose husband, Bernard, has not yet returned from war, agrees to board the Josephs. But the reality of their new life is far removed from their dream. Their one-room accommodation is a hovel; and England, far from a land of opportunity, is a nation struggling to recover from the ravages of war. But most humiliating for Gilbert and Hortense is the hateful prejudice which blindsides them, and the incomprehensible reality that they are not welcome in their esteemed “Mother Country.” When Bernard Bligh, a timid, bigoted bank clerk, returns home from the war, what had been an untenable situation becomes unlivable. “And at that moment I longed to be once more in Jamaica. I yearned for home as a drunk man for whiskey. For only there could I be sure that someone looking on my face for the first time would regard it without reaction. No gapes, no gawps, no cussing, no looking quickly away as if seeing something unsavoury. Just a meeting as unremarkable as passing your mummy in the kitchen. What a thing was this to wish for. That a person regarding me should think nothing. What a forlorn desire to seek indifference.” (315)Small Island is beautifully written and hauntingly real. Levy develops a cast of unforgettable characters who navigate empire, prejudice, war, and love in an unforgettable story. A must read!

[bookconcierge · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Set against the backdrop of World War 2 and its immediate aftermath, this is a story with universal appeal. Two couples – the Jamaicans Hortense and Gilbert Joseph and the British Queenie and Bernard Bligh – find their way in circumstances neither ever considered. They share a desire to better themselves, but fail to recognize their common goals and instead focus on their differences. Queenie grabbed at a chance to leave her life on a farm and hastily married a boring banker, but her husband never returned from the war and now she is alone and friendless in a house that she cannot maintain. Hortense, schooled in proper manners and with expectations of refined living, is shocked at the sordidness of the post-war London home in which she and Gilbert are lodgers, and at the hostility that many Britons display to these immigrants. The sudden return of Bernard Bligh will spark the turn of events leading to the climax.

Levy has written a gem of a novel that explores every human emotion, but ends with a feeling of hope. The dialogue is wonderful, including just enough colloquial expression to really bring the characters to life. I felt for these wounded people and celebrated their triumphs, however small. The four central characters take turns narrating, giving us insight into their expectations, strengths and failings. Levy also has the action alternate between Jamaica and England; the novel also goes back and forth in time, building suspense and leading to an ending that is as inevitable as it is unexpected.

[thorold_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Small island is a rather conventional sort of historical novel, with a straightforward linear narrative in which the four main characters take turns to tell the story. Gilbert is a young Jamaican man who has served in the RAF during the war and returns to settle in England in 1948; Bernard is an English RAF veteran of about the same age; Hortense and Queenie are their respective wives. The central idea of the book is the startling difference between colonial and metropolitan views of Englishness: the Jamaicans have grown up in a cultural tradition and an education system designed to make them proud of their status as citizens of the Empire and subjects of the King, and to look to Britain as the source of history, literature and everything else that matters in their lives. They are shocked and puzzled when they come to England and find that most people have no notion that the West Indies even exist, and cannot imagine that there might be black people who think of themselves as British, and even less that those black people might have skills and training that equip them to do anything more than the humblest of jobs. Levy develops that idea nicely enough, and she puts in a lot of very nice, mostly accurate or at least plausible, period detail. What there is is definitely very good, but from the clutch of big awards this book has won I was rather expecting to get something that goes a little deeper than giving the generation of fifty years ago a mild rap on the knuckles for being credulous optimists/small-minded bigots.

[limelite_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This well-imagined, complexly constructed, and precisely detailed novel of two couples, one white and native English, the other black and native Jamaican is a vehicle for several themes. The overarching theme is the inhumanity of racial bigotry that has its roots in baseless fear of the other and is fertilized by stubborn ignorance. The action of the novel is primarily scenic illustrations of innumerable racist incidents suffered by black colonial and African American soldiers during WWII and the post-war instances suffered by a young married couple who emigrate from Jamaica seeking economic opportunities in the Mother Country.With the exception of their white landlady, the Mother Country rejects her Jamaican children, disregards their abilities, and would rather they returned to their "own" small island, to preserve racial segregation.Another theme is the universality of ambition for an improved economic station in life that drives young couples to make immediate sacrifices and take great risks to achieve a greater success than they have known. Of course, even if the young white person is less intellectually qualified or skilled, forging ahead is easier for them in a white society. Opportunity that may be difficult to achieve for a black person in a larger white small island, but there is no opportunity at fulfillment of potential at all on the native smaller island.The third theme is that to find one's way in life, it's easier if you have a partner. That in this novel, neither couple is suitably matched in their partners, the couple that manages to reach an accommodation that promotes cooperation will be successful. That key to success naturally belongs to the more open-minded pair.Small Island is in no way a "small novel." It may be intimate domestic fiction but it plays out on the large stage dressed in great and important themes. It's easy to appreciate the judges' decisions to award both the Orange and Whitbread Prizes.

[ameise1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a great story even though the most time I got very angry and therefore had to put it away often. The story is told from the view of four persons; two Jamaicans and two Britons. It jumps between WWII and 1948. Due to being part of the British Empire the Jamaicans were fighting side by side with British people and were honoured and respected. After the war the Jamaican combatants thought that England would welcome them with open arms and tried there luck and future in England. There they had to learn on the hard way that they aren't not only unwelcomed but also treated worse than a dog.This pure racism made me very angry. Andrea Levy has put a lot of love into the characters. She shows a great understandig and respect for the feeling of both sides.

[sometimeunderwater · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Fun, but a little light. Bernard is the most nuanced, but least likeable, character. The ending was the most interesting bit (with the baby) but it came somewhat out of nowhere. "Would make a great three-part BBC drama", I thought. Then I found out: it was. Just call me Nostradamus.

[smiler69 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Set in London just after the end of WWII and told via multiple narrators, the novel explores issues of race, sex and social class by focusing on two couples. Hortense and Gilbert Joseph, both blacks originally from Jamaica and newly landed in the UK have a marriage of convenience, with Hortense having funded their relocation to the country they both dearly want to call home. Hortense is an incredible snob who considers herself thoroughly English and is sure that she will land a teaching job in the UK at one of the best schools. Gilbert on the other hand has had plenty of experience to show him that coloured people are far from welcome on that Island and are likely to be met with hatred and unbelievable hostility. They move into a rooming house kept by Queenie Bligh, whose husband Bernard has disappeared while away on duty in India. Queenie, originally a butcher's daughter living in the country, escaped to London and the promise of a good life because of her good looks and refined tastes, and an aunt willing to take her under her wing. But her marriage to Bernard has turned out to be far from satisfactory and her dalliances with a black Jamaican RAF man will impact all their lives. None of the characters was likeable, but their stories were interesting and their point of view made perfectly understandable when they were able to tell their own stories. A great novel which is also maddening to read for the racism that is described in its pages.

[cariola_6 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this book when it first came out and just reread it with my Seminar in Historical Fiction students. I'm really happy that I chose it to close out the course.Levy tells her tale through as somewhat complex structure. She uses four narrators: Queenie, a white working class British woman; Bernard, her ultraconservative husband; Gilbert, a Jamaican who served in the RAF during World War II; and Hortense, Gilbert's wife, a proud woman who believes her education will get her anywhere. Added to this, Levy gives us two timeframes, 1948 (present day) and "Before," which ranges from 1924 to 1948. In addition, the characters move among many locations, including London, Jamaica, Hertfordshire, India, France, and Brighton. If this sounds confusing, well, surprisingly, it isn't.All of these characters live on dreams--hopes to better their lives. In the prologue, a seven year-old Queenie visits the 1924 British Exhibition in Wembley and leaves convinced that she has been "in Africa." Queenie dreams of escaping her father's pig farm, of becoming a lady, of living a more comfortable life in London, of motherhood. But as it happens, the road to that dream takes her to marriage with a "solid" but dispassionate man--Bernard, a bank clerk. Hortense is convinced from an early age that she will go to England and live in a big house with doorbell that goes ding-a-ling--and that she will marry her handsome playboy cousin, Michael Roberts. All his life, Gilbert Joseph has been told that Jamaicans are British subjects, and he believes that if he can just get to England, opportunities will open wide. What better way than to fight for the Mother Country? And Bernard--poor Bernard. He doesn't really know how to dream, so his dream is the dream of the British Empire: British superiority, a stiff upper lip, living your life as others think you should. For him, the war is becomes a real game-changer.The characters' lives become complicated and intertwined when Gilbert and Hortense marry, emigrate to England with high expectations (Gilbert first, Hortense several months later) and rent a room in Queenie's house. In time, they learn a lot about the way of the world--particularly the English world--and even more about themselves.I don't want to give up any more particulars of plot, so let me just say that this is a lovely book, finely written and imagined, with more than one meaningful message for us all.

[ursula_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Small Island has an intriguing subject - Jamaica as a colony of the UK, World War II, and Jamaican immigration to the England after the war. The subject matter is what kept me going through the book, even though the characters didn't capture my imagination. The story is told from multiple viewpoints, and I think this might have been the weakness for me, although I can understand why the author chose to do it that way. We start off with Queenie, a white British woman whose significance we won't learn right away. Then to Hortense, a Jamaican woman who dreams of emigrating to the UK and becoming a teacher there. Next is Gilbert, a Jamaican man who has signed up for the RAF, fought in the war, and is now trying to make his way in England. Then back to Queenie, who we now know is the landlady where Gilbert is living in London. Individually, their stories are each worthy of attention, but I feel like I probably would have rather read a book that centered on the viewpoints of Hortense and Gilbert without Queenie's interference. And by the time Queenie's husband Bernard stepped up to tell his part of the story, I viewed him mostly as an annoying distraction. Again, though, his story is compelling on its own; I just didn't want to read it right then or in this particular book.The title refers to an attitude - small island people are the ones Jamaicans look down on as having a small view of the world, based on that world (their islands) only extending a few miles in either direction. The lessons and experiences in the book show that we're all pretty much small islanders, though, unable to see much farther than our own limited world of experience. While I liked the perspective on that idea, and the unique situations used to show it, I guess I'd have to sum the book up as an interesting story clumsily told.Recommended for: people who like the House of Mirrors, those interested in race relations Quote: "If the defeat of hatred is the purpose of war, then come, let us face it: I and all other coloured servicemen were fighting this war on another front."

[helenliz_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Firstly, I must say that I listened to this and the narrator was simply fabulous. She had all of the accent down really well, even the shades of difference between Aunt Dorothy & Queenie, or that between Hortense & Gilbert. Just really very very convincing and, I suspect, not an easy trick to pull off. This is set during WW2 and in the years immediately after, with the bulk of the story being set in 1948. The Empire Windrush arrives in London, bringing with it Gilbert, a Jamaican man who has served in the RAF and is now looking to make his future in England. He ends up lodging with Queenie Bly, who has a house in Earl's Court and a husband who hasn't yet made it back from the war. It is told in their voices, and those of their respective partners, Hortense & Bernard. Tlod with some elements of flash back, you find out that they have a complicated relationship and that life hasn't been plain sailing for any of them. At times this is brilliantly funny, at others it is really difficult to listen to. Partly that is the attitudes reflected in the book. I accept that they are highly likely to be representative of their time, but the scene in the cinema had my blood boiling. All I can say is that I think (and I hope) that as a nation we've moved on a lot since this book was set. but it isn't just the racism, there is the insufferable sexism that both Queenie & Hortense are subject to, but with much less outrage on anyone's part. As I said, I would hope that we can take comfort in the fact that we have moved on from this. I thought this was really very well written. The different voices telling their tales, at times the same incident from more that one perspective. And the back story fills in as the book progresses. This kept me listening, and waning to know what happened next, right to the end. And I'm still wondering where their lives lead from the last page - where are they all now?

[reallifereading · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Gorgeous book.