Book Review: Small Island

This novel by Andrea Levy gives a view into the life of both British and Jamaican people living before, during, and after the second World War. The novel has several different narrators. Queenie Bligh; an English woman who believes her husband to be dead and therefore forced to take Jamaican lodgers to get by(much to the chagrin of her neighbours); her husband Bernard; a banker who finds himself in war torn India; Hortense, a Jamaican woman from a good home and dreams of better things and her husband Airman Gilbert Joseph who both find themselves treated as second class citizens when they travel to England in search of better things.

The novel follows these characters lives, with each chapter being from one of their perspectives. I found it a truly insightful look into the past of Britain and the nature of 'The Empire'. Personally, I found the book improved as it progressed as the events became more dramatic and gripping and the characters became more and more developed. I didn't like each character all of the time, but that only made it all the more real as I saw their faults as well as good qualities and how others view them. For example, I found Bernard's devotion to Queenie and his country very touching, yet his attitude towards Gilbert is far from civilised. I found that characters I felt indifferent towards or disliked I grew to like as the book progressed, the character of Hortense especially. In the beginning I found her pretentious and cruel, yet by the end, after seeing life through her eyes and seeing how she changed I grew to like her.

However, one character I more or less liked consistently was Gilbert. Not only was he was funny and good natured, but he was terrifically observant and in many ways tragic. He had dreams of becoming a lawyer, but was condemned to go through life as a driver, first for his mother's cake business, then in the RAF after being refused the position as a pilot, and finally as a post van driver after being rejected from law school. He gives the reader a magnificent view of life as a Jamaican in Britain and the injustice of their position in society. Gilbert and his fellow Jamaicans know everything there is to know about Britain; what products are made where; famous Britons; famous monuments. Yet when you ask the average man in England at the time 'Where is Jamaica?' He would reply 'Somewhere in Africa isn't it?'. And the more wealthy are no better; they rave about Jamaica's savage jungles and even more savage natives; and, of course, how lucky the natives were that the British were there to 'civilise' them. When we are reading Gilbert's narrative, we are given wonderful metaphors and insightful observations into the world around him, yet to many he is nothing more than a savage, and to the more 'open minded' he is a child to be taught the ways of the 'Mother Country'

I thought that this book was superbly written with vivid descriptions and wonderfully constructed characters. Not only that, but I thought it was an incredibly interesting subject as I knew little about race relations in my own country before and after World War II. I saw life in Jamaica and life in Britain, the plight of a black soldier and the plight of a white one. I saw the terror felt in battle and the terror felt during an air raid. It is clear that Levy has researched her subject well and has a wonderful grasp of what is at it's core. I think this book will appeal to all kinds of people, there is romance, action, sorrow and humour but most importantly it is a book that entertains you but finds you really interested in it's subject matter and very thoughtful about our past as a country.