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The Long Song
The Long Song: A Novel | Andrea Levy
THE AUTHOR OF SMALL ISLAND TELLS THE STORY OF THE LAST TURBULENT YEARS OF SLAVERY AND THE EARLY YEARS OF FREEDOM IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY JAMAICA Small Island introduced Andrea Levy to America and was acclaimed as "a triumph" (San Francisco Chronicle). It won both the Orange Prize and the Whitbread Book of the Year Award, and has sold over a million copies worldwide. With The Long Song, Levy once again reinvents the historical novel. Told in the irresistibly willful and intimate voice of Miss July, with some editorial assistance from her son, Thomas, The Long Song is at once defiant, funny, and shocking. The child of a field slave on the Amity sugar plantation, July lives with her mother until Mrs. Caroline Mortimer, a recently transplanted English widow, decides to move her into the great house and rename her "Marguerite." Resourceful and mischievous, July soon becomes indispensable to her mistress. Together they live through the bloody Baptist war, followed by the violent and chaotic end of slavery. Taught to read and write so that she can help her mistress run the business, July remains bound to the plantation despite her "freedom." It is the arrival of a young English overseer, Robert Goodwin, that will dramatically change life in the great house for both July and her mistress. Prompted and provoked by her son's persistent questioning, July's resilience and heartbreak are gradually revealed in this extraordinarily powerful story of slavery, revolution, freedom, and love.
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Nebklvr
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Pickpick

#Caribathon This was an intense, immersive story. The writing, the story, the characters....all were fantastic. An atmosphere of oppressive heat and claustrophobia. I especially appreciated the Author sharing her sources on Jamaican history.

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Birdsong28
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I am using the tagged book for May's prompt for this challenge.

@SitsWithaBook

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Birdsong28
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I am using the tagged book for this prompt for my #52booksin52weekschallenge as it has sugar cane plants on the cover.

@Schnoebs

Schnoebs 😍😍 I‘m pretty behind on posting. Hopefully I‘ll get mine up soon! 5y
31 likes1 comment
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Birdsong28
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I am using the tagged book for this prompt for my #popsugarchallenge as it has sugar cane plants on the cover.

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Birdsong28
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Pickpick

Good. Even though at times it was difficult to read as sometimes the paragraphs didn't feel connected to the story. Also it was supposed to be that the storyteller was writing her memories of her time as a slave but my confusion was due to her when talking about these times using her own name so it was in the third person. Overall the story did give a insight to a horrible period of history.

Trigger warning due to the language used sometimes.

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Birdsong28
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Currently reading the tagged book for a challenge and I have read other Andrea Levy books and absolutely loved them especially Small Island but something about this is just 'off' . She is using the main character as the narrator as the main character is recounting her life.

rretzler If I had given up on a couple of books after the first hundred or so pages, they would not have become the favorites that they are today! Some books aren‘t worth it until the end, but of course, there are some that are just blah! If I‘m not liking something, I usually just put it aside and read it over time - sometimes it can take years, but I almost always finish and rarely do I find that it wasn‘t worth it for some reason or other! 😁 5y
Birdsong28 @rretzler I would normally leave it myself and come back to it as I have done that with other books and have got into them but I am reading it for a monthly challenge i.e each month I read something that fits the criteria so I have to keep going with it as I don't have anything else that fits the bill. 📚📖 5y
Avanders L.o.l. This is so me 😂😂 5y
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rretzler Good luck with it. Maybe it will pick up for you soon. Here‘s hoping! 🤞🏻 5y
Ms_T Stay strong, you‘ve got this! 🙌🏻 5y
Birdsong28 @ms_t Thanks 😘📚📖 5y
ReadingSusan There are too many books in the world to read one you aren‘t enjoying. This is my current philosophy! (edited) 5y
cherinium This is my current situation. 5y
Birdsong28 @cherinium We will get through this together!!! 😘😂📚📖 5y
Birdsong28 @ReadingSusan I know but I haven't got anything else that will work for my challenge. I will get through it. 📚📖 5y
Pricel101 @cherinium @Avanders 😂lol me too! some books aren‘t worth finishing but I enjoyed this one 5y
42 likes11 comments
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kellock
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I loved this book. The TV show is doing good so far.

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Birdsong28
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Mitch
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Oh, I love winter programming! #booktoscreen

rockpools Ooh! 6y
62 likes1 comment
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Onioons
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Loved the narration of July, the young slave girl during the last turbulent years of slavery and the early years of freedom that followed 🎼 #emojinov

chapter_fifty2017 Totally agree this was an amazing narration , I loved it even though i read quite a while ago, It still resonates with me 😍 7y
RealLifeReading I loved her Small Island but somehow haven't read her others! Must get to this one 7y
40 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Purpleness
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Finally had some time to join #litsypartyofone this evening!

58 likes1 stack add
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Purpleness
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Well, that's one way to wake someone up.

Ms_T 😮 7y
37 likes1 comment
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Donna_sBookMinute
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Yesterday, I picked these up from the Book Sale Room at the library. I was thrilled to find "On Beauty" because I'm assembling my Zadie Smith collection. But I'll read "Swingtime" before I get to that one. Since my current read is set in Jamaica, I'll probably continue in that vein with "The Long Song." Plus I'm hoping its characters make a more favorable impression on me than the crude characters in "The Book of Night Women."

JSW Nice haul!! 8y
LeahBergen Great haul! Have you read Small Island by Andrea Levy? I loved it. 8y
Donna_sBookMinute Thanks @JSW and @LeahBergen -- I was quite pleased to find these titles. Leah, I remember when "Small Island" was released. For some reason, I didn't read it. Thanks for the rec. 8y
47 likes3 comments
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Bibliogeekery
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Bookshelf tourism. If you leave me alone in your house I photograph all your books!

Bibliogeekery @Eamann - ha! 👍 8y
TeR Cute❤️ 8y
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ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled Come over! Come over! I'll make you a dessert while you hunt through the shelves! 😜 8y
BookishFeminist Second @ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled.com! Lol one of these days your friend will make it to Litsy & see these pics then go "that looks familiar! Oh wait." ? 8y
Bibliogeekery @ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled.com @BookishFeminist - if I had a teleporter I'd be there in a hot minute! 8y
Bibliogeekery @BookishFeminist - ha! I did get her permission to photograph and post her stuff. She was confused about Litsy but she got really interested when I described it as like Instagram but all books - so she might show up here someday 😀 8y
39 likes2 stack adds7 comments