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redrocketpanda 's review for:
Small Island
by Andrea Levy
This book was incredible and I feel absolutely cheated by not having had the opportunity to read it before now, despite having done 5-6 years of English Literature and 3-4 years of a history degree. Time and time again we are encouraged to pay attention to the same books in British education, To Kill a Mockingbird, Pride and Prejudice, Of Mice and Men to name a few. Yet at no point was Small Island on any educational reading list, and I think that's a damn shame.
As a society, we need to pay more attention to important history's of people of colour in Britain. Small Island is such an important book for challenging whitewashed historical narratives, particularly around the time of the Second World War when Small Island is set. We place so much emphasis on the importance of this period in our nations history, yet actively ignore the existence of people of colour in Britain and their participation in the Second World War.
Small Island is a step towards learning more about those lives, experiences and histories, and I would really encourage others to read it. It's superbly written - rich with description, well-developed and interesting characters, and really captures what life was like for people around the time of WW2. I really enjoyed how Levy split the story across 4 different characters - Hortense and Gilbert Joseph who arrive in Britain during the Windrush era from Jamaica, and Queenie and Bernard Bligh who are white British - as it gives us different perspectives, explores interracial relationships, and offers an approach to the topic with great depth and breadth.
This was a fantastic book to read for Black History Month in the UK (October) and I would love to see more people reading and talking about this! It's quite a long book and took me a while to get through, but it was so worth it.
Check out my blog for more reviews!
As a society, we need to pay more attention to important history's of people of colour in Britain. Small Island is such an important book for challenging whitewashed historical narratives, particularly around the time of the Second World War when Small Island is set. We place so much emphasis on the importance of this period in our nations history, yet actively ignore the existence of people of colour in Britain and their participation in the Second World War.
Small Island is a step towards learning more about those lives, experiences and histories, and I would really encourage others to read it. It's superbly written - rich with description, well-developed and interesting characters, and really captures what life was like for people around the time of WW2. I really enjoyed how Levy split the story across 4 different characters - Hortense and Gilbert Joseph who arrive in Britain during the Windrush era from Jamaica, and Queenie and Bernard Bligh who are white British - as it gives us different perspectives, explores interracial relationships, and offers an approach to the topic with great depth and breadth.
This was a fantastic book to read for Black History Month in the UK (October) and I would love to see more people reading and talking about this! It's quite a long book and took me a while to get through, but it was so worth it.
Check out my blog for more reviews!