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bookswithbethany's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
girlglitch's review against another edition
5.0
The Lamplighter is one of those plays that doesn't need performing to have an impact: just reading through the script allows Kay's words to sing from the page, demanding to be heard. It has an inescapable rhythm that pulls you through, however painful you might find it.
The polyphonic narrative is intense but never disorienting. Kay picks out some vivid, personal scenes amongst the flood of words. I was particularly impressed with the way the characters' words are interwoven with history, in a way that is easy to follow even as we jump about in time and place. It's a poignant reminder of how British cities are bound up with the history of slavery.
The Lamplighter is an immensely powerful piece of writing, at once guttural and poetic.
*Thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review*
The polyphonic narrative is intense but never disorienting. Kay picks out some vivid, personal scenes amongst the flood of words. I was particularly impressed with the way the characters' words are interwoven with history, in a way that is easy to follow even as we jump about in time and place. It's a poignant reminder of how British cities are bound up with the history of slavery.
The Lamplighter is an immensely powerful piece of writing, at once guttural and poetic.
*Thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review*
sam_ellis26's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
veecaswell's review against another edition
5.0
Jackie Kay's "The Lamplighter" takes us on a journey through the dark heart of slavery. It is both a radio and stage play and a multi-layered epic poem.
Reading this I came to the same conclusion as the author, we don't talk about this in British History enough. Told beautifully and poetically, this play is an emotional story told by four women who were held in slavery and what happened to them when they were held. Sold and used like they weren't even people, this play highlights the plight of many through the stories of a few.
The repetition, the harking back to moments in the story and the ending of this story stays with you long after you have read it. These women send a message through the story of the strength and the power these women have to do what they must do to survive and what they would do to make sure they live. The story of Anniwaa threads throughout the play and makes for a stunning conclusion, as we see her story unfold throughout.
British history in school for me was world war one, world war two, actually that's about it, but we never talk about our history of colonialism and how we became the superpower that aligned itself in Europe in the first place. This play for me would be a good place to begin when it comes that history.
millemoses's review
dark
informative
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
imogenrobinson__'s review
4.0
Taught me so much about what slaves went through. Was horrifying to learn about how, two days before a slave ship docked, you could smell the vomit, faeces and corpses, and about how sharks followed the ships because so many slaves were jettisoned overboard, both dead and alive when the 'masters' wanted to claim insurance on them. I was disgusted by how, when working the sugar cane fields, a slave licked a sugar cane and was whipped and gagged with horse manure in their mouth for five to six hours, and how the women slaves were taken whenever the masters so pleased. Absolutely awful, I cannot believe humans allowed this to happen for so long. I hope to find a performance of it online somewhere, because the voices Kay create in this poetry play were so powerful and plaintive.
littearacy's review against another edition
5.0
Read this book in a day. As always, Jackie Kay just has a way with words I'll forever admire. The play is captivating, moving and so true. The anger seeps through every line and nestles so firmly in the reader - good, we need to be angry still!
edeh's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0