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The Long Song

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The Long Song
AuthorAndrea Levy
LanguageEnglish
GenreHistorical fiction
Set inJamaica
PublishedFebruary 2010
PublisherHeadline Review
Publication placeUK
Pages416
AwardsNotable Book of the Year;
Walter Scott Prize
ISBN9780755359400
Preceded bySmall Island 
For the plot device from Doctor Who, see The Rings of Akhaten.

The Long Song is a historical novel by Andrea Levy published in 2010 that was the recipient of the Walter Scott Prize. It was Levy's fifth and final novel, following the 2004 publication of Small Island. In December 2018, a three-part television adaptation of the same name was broadcast on BBC One; The Long Song was aired on PBS in February 2021.

Plot summary

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The Long Song is written as a memoir by an elderly Jamaican woman living in early 19th-century Jamaica during the final years of slavery and the transition to freedom that took place thereafter. It tells the tale of a young slave girl, July, who lives at Amity, a prosperous sugarcane plantation. She lives through the 1831-1832 Baptist War, and then the beginning of freedom with the abolishment of slavery in 1833. Her mother, Kitty; the slaves working the plantation land; and the owner of the plantation, the white heiress Caroline Mortimer, also feature prominently. [1]

Themes

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Themes of the book include: How it feels being an immigrant Jamaican, racism, black versus white, landlord versus tenant, slavery and its abolition, slave uprisings, rape, the Baptist War, the role of the clergy, and love triangles.

Reception

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Kate Kellaway in The Observer,[2] Tayari Jones in the Washington Post,[3] Fernanda Eberstadt in The New York Times,[4] and Amanda Craig in The Telegraph[5] were among those who gave the novel positive reviews.

Awards

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The Long Song was a finalist for the 2010 Man Booker Prize.[6] It was the recipient of the 2011 Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction,[7][8][9] with the judging panel saying that "Andrea Levy brings to this story such personal understanding and imaginative depth that her characters leap from the page, with all the resilience, humour and complexity of real people. There are no clichés or stereotypes here. The Long Song is quite simply a celebration of the triumphant human spirit in times of great adversity."[10] The New York Times Book Review named it a Notable Book of the Year.[11]

Television adaptation

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A three-part television adaptation of The Long Song, starring Tamara Lawrance, Jack Lowden, Hayley Atwell, and Lenny Henry was filmed in the Dominican Republic, and aired on BBC One in December 2018.[12][13][14][15][16] A TV tie-in edition of the novel was released by Headline Publishing in 2018.[17]

References

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  1. ^ "The Long Song by Andrea Levy". Good Reads. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  2. ^ Kellaway, Kate (7 February 2010). "The Long Song by Andrea Levy". The Observer. London. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  3. ^ Jones, Tayari. "Book review: 'The Long Song,' by Andrea Levy". Washington Post. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  4. ^ Eberstadt, Fernanda. "When Jamaica Lost Its Chains". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  5. ^ Craig, Amanda. "The Long Song by Andrea Levy: review". The Telegraph. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  6. ^ "The Man Booker prize 2010 shortlist". The Guardian. 7 September 2010. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  7. ^ "Overview". Barnes and Noble. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  8. ^ "Andrea Levy wins Walter Scott Prize for The Long Song", BBC News, 18 June 2011.
  9. ^ Flood, Alison (20 June 2011), "Andrea Levy wins Walter Scott prize", The Guardian.
  10. ^ "Past Winners: 2010 to 20152, The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction.
  11. ^ "100 Notable Books of 2010". The New York Times. 24 November 2010. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  12. ^ "BBC One announces cast for adaptation of Andrea Levy’s The Long Song". BBC. 13 July 2018.
  13. ^ White, Peter. "Hayley Atwell & Tamara Lawrance To Star In David Heyman’s BBC Drama The Long Song". Deadline Hollywood. 12 July 2018.
  14. ^ Munn, Patrick. "Tamara Lawrance & Hayley Atwell Set As Leads In BBC One’s Andrea Levy Adaptation The Long Song". TVWise. 13 July 2018.
  15. ^ "Tamara Lawrance, Haley Atwell, & More to Star in BBC One's The Long Song". Broadway World. 13 July 2018.
  16. ^ Dowell, Ben. "Hayley Atwell, Lenny Henry and Tamara Lawrance cast in new BBC period drama The Long Song". Radio Times. 13 July 2018.
  17. ^ Cowdrey, Katherine (27 September 2018), "BBC adaptation of Levy novel sparks Headline editions", The Bookseller.

Further reading

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