Jan 21 news There is a three-part PBS Masterpiece adaptation premiering tonight and going on through 14 Feb.

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Slavery is a grim subject indeed, but the wonder of Levy’s writing is that she can confront such things and somehow derive deeply life-affirming entertainment from them. July emerges as a defiant, charismatic, almost invincible woman who gives a unique voice to the voiceless, and for that she commands affection and admiration. Levy’s aim, she says, was to write a book that instilled pride in anyone with slave ancestors and The Long Song, though “its load may prove to be unsettling”, is surely that book.’ Ms. Levy's talent shined with regard to her descriptive language. I could picture everything she described and felt as though I was recalling my last visit on the property of Amity, the plantation, where July is born in Jamaica in the earlier 1800's. At first, we are unclear, who is narrating the story or even their name (which the author did very intentionally, although her purpose for doing so, wasn't achieved in full). Perspective in narration shifted frequently, which frankly I felt was not essential to the story being told. Primarily, so the reader could realize that July's experiences had caused trauma on the level of possibly disassociation, where the injured party disconnects with their emotional response because it is either unsafe (physically and/or emotionally) for the victim to process the trauma as it is happening. Levy may have achieved that with some readers, who have experienced dissociation or know someone who has. Her delivery may be to subtle for those unfamiliar or confusing to others. I think this would have been more powerful, had she been directing that information to someone other than whom she has chosen in the story, although her choice was logical. About: With a mission to inspire and educate by celebrating the music that many have now coined the “Great American Songbook”, The Great American Songbook Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is unique in its focus and ambitious in its efforts to become the authority in regards to the history, culture and continuing artistic legacy of America’s original popular song. Learn more.Household slaves were better off than the field workers, who are treated with contemptuous brutality. While Levy vividly conveys the horrors of slavery, she lightens the tone as her house slave characters act out complex rivalries and exploit their owners when they can. The Long Song” is a story about a woman named July, who writes a memoir about her life in Jamaica during its 19th century slave era. She is taken from her mother Kitty at the age of 9 by the request of the plantation owner’s sister Caroline Mortimer. July’s position at the main house on Amity Plantation as Caroline’s personal maid was full of hard work; her lessons learned during the early years were just as difficult, despite her escaping the laborious work and abuse associated with the sugar cane fields. En esta novela conoceremos los últimos años de la esclavitud como práctica legal en la isla de Jamaica (que en el siglo XIX era una colonia inglesa) y lo que aconteció posteriormente tras la emancipación de los esclavos por parte de la corona. Todo esto será narrado por July, quien escribirá su historia siendo ya una anciana a su hijo, un prospero editor. Nacida como esclava en la plantación de Concordia, July será abruptamente apartada del lado de su madre siendo una niña por los caprichos de Caroline Mortimer, una recien llegada a la isla, quien la convertirá en su doncella particular. La historia de July no será un camino de rosas, estará marcada por la lucha por la libertad de sus semejantes, el egoísmo de los blancos, el amor y la pérdida. mp_sf_list_0_description: Told through the eyes of July, a slave and spirited survivor, The Long Song is set in the 19^th century and explores the last days of slavery in British-ruled Jamaica. The story is about injustices humans inflict on each other and the unexpected ways in which people’s humanity can overcome harsh circumstances.

The Long Song: Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2010

As a child, Caroline Mortimer takes July away from the plantation fields and her mother, Kitty. She ‘adopts’ her, renaming her Marguerite, and using her as a housemaid. How does the relationship between July and Caroline evolve as the novel progresses? Is Kitty’s life now ‘better’ as a housemaid than as a slave working in the fields? Following on from Small Island; this is another historical novel and this time Levy looks at her Jamaican roots charting the last days of slavery on the island. It is narrated by July, a former slave, and starts about 1831 the time of what was known as the Baptist revolt and goes to the end of slavery in the late 1830s. July is telling her story in old age whilst she is living with her son Thomas. The novel is the story of her early life on a plantation called Amity. Although narrated by July, it is edited by Thomas and there is a periodic interplay between the two which sometimes gives the story a slightly odd feel. Slavery is a subject that has inspired some magnificent fiction (think of Toni Morrison's Beloved or Valerie Martin's Property), but I had some misgivings: might it not, in this case, make for over-serious writing, especially for a novelist as comically inclined as Levy? But she dares to write about her subject in an entertaining way without ever trivialising it and The Long Song reads with the sort of ebullient effortlessness that can only be won by hard work. This is a terrific book: beautifully written and imagined, and full of surprises… A brilliant historical novel.” Andrea Levy herself takes most of the parts involved and she was most definitely a very talented narrator as well as story teller.

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The book covers significant periods in history, including the 1831-1832 Baptist Wars and the 1838 abolition of slavery. Discuss the portrayal of resistance and rebellion in the novel across these periods and the impact on the characters and their quest for freedom. The Long Song was filmed in the Dominican Republic, a setting that offered grueling hot days, but also surprising beauty. “It looked like a film set,” Hayley Atwell said. “When we were at that plantation house and there would be a sunset, there was a moment when we just stopped filming for a second, and everyone went onto the veranda…just look at these purples and oranges. The plantation was on this kind of hilly land and it looked like a carpet of neon green. It didn’t look real at all. It was a very lush place.” I loved Levy’s narrative structure in this one, as she really makes you think about storytelling as an act and how much we can trust written accounts. It’s written as though July herself is writing a book of her life, and through sections ‘written’ by her son Thomas we can see how July might want to censor or alter her own narrative. Long song was awarded the Walter Scott prize for historical fiction. It was also shortlisted for the 2010 Man Booker prize.

The Long Song by Andrea Levy | Goodreads

The story unfolds at the Amity sugar plantation, where the strong-willed July is working as a lady’s maid for Caroline Mortimer. When Robert Goodwin, a new overseer at Amity arrives, both July and Caroline are intrigued by his revolutionary spirit and intent to improve the working conditions on the plantation. But the winds of change across the hot plantation fields end up not being without consequences. She thankfully agreed. Then forsook the pleasures of cooking her cornmeal porridge, fish tea, and roasted breadfruit, of repairing and sowing our garments and other tasks which, in truth, were quite useful about our busy household, to put all her effort into this noble venture, this lasting legacy of a printed book. Only she removed all the blinkers, and steps inside her characters and shows them warts and all, making this uncomfortable reading at times and yet more realistic than most. For even those well intended were a product of their time and of white privilege.

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mp_sf_list_1_description: Based on the award-winning novel by the late Andrea Levy (Small Island), the fictional story is inspired by Levy’s family history. Levy was born in England to Jamaican parents who arrived in Britain in 1948. “I’ve always used my books as a personal journey to understand my Caribbean heritage – and with that sooner or later you have to confront slavery,” Levy said. Violence and brutality run through the novel and Levy opens with a serious sexual assault, from which the novel’s narrator, July, is born. Discuss how gender plays a role in the novel and its wider historical events. Do you think women were more vulnerable than men? Tamara Lawrance, Haley Atwell, & More to Star in BBC One's The Long Song". Broadway World. 13 July 2018.