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The Long Song

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize

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The Long Song

By: Andrea Levy
Narrated by: Adrian Lester, Andrea Levy
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Summary

 Soon to be a major BBC drama starring Tamara Lawrance, Hayley Atwell and Lenny Henry, and shortlisted for the Man Booker prize, The Long Song is a hauntingly beautiful, heartbreaking and unputdownable novel, for those who loved Homegoing, The Underground Railroad, or the film 12 Years a Slave.

'A marvel of luminous storytelling' Financial Times

You do not know me yet. My son Thomas, who is publishing this book, tells me, it is customary at this place in a novel to give the reader a little taste of the story that is held within these pages. As your storyteller, I am to convey that this tale is set in Jamaica during the last turbulent years of slavery and the early years of freedom that followed.

July is a slave girl who lives upon a sugar plantation named Amity and it is her life that is the subject of this tale. She was there when the Baptist War raged in 1831, and she was present when slavery was declared no more. My son says I must convey how the story tells also of July's mama Kitty, of the negroes that worked the plantation land, of Caroline Mortimer the white woman who owned the plantation and many more persons besides - far too many for me to list here. But what befalls them all is carefully chronicled upon these pages for you to peruse.

Perhaps, my son suggests, I might write that it is a thrilling journey through that time in the company of people who lived it. All this he wishes me to pen so the reader can decide if this is a novel they might care to consider. Cha, I tell my son, what fuss-fuss. Come, let them just read it for themselves.

(P)2011 Headline Publishing Group Ltd©2010 Andrea Levy Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction World Literature Caribbean
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The narrator made the story come alive. The book follows a slave women so what happens to her can be hard to listen to. I have a new-found understanding of the atrocities done onto people of colour. But the story is also filled with humour and the character development was great

Incredible narration

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I loved the book and the reading of this book.... the narrators brought everything to life. I’ve listened to several audio books and was on the cusp of giving up on fictional audio books after several dry and lifeless narrations. But this was an entertaining listen and great story with strong characters and a great fictional recount of interesting historical events.

Exceptional listen

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i am reading every book I can of Andrea Levys .. the long song, like small island is another outstanding read - i feel privileged to be given a glimpse into the lives of her forebears.. thankyou Andrea Levy 👏

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