Andrea Levy, Never Far from Nowhere

Pavlina Flajsarova (Palacky University Olomouc)

Ed. by Jenni Ramone, The Nottingham Trent University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of Glasgow), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1996

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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Andrea Levy’s second novel,

Never Far from Nowhere

(1996) retakes the main themes already present in her debut novel,

Every Light in the House Burnin’

(1994): racial prejudice, discrimination, the quest for identity, marginalization, and, last but not least, double consciousness. The setting of

Never Far from Nowhere

brings the reader to London, to a family of Jamaican immigrants in the 1960s. The story is narrated alternately by the sisters Vivien and Olive Charles, thus the author providing two different views on the dilemmas the individual members of the family have to face.

The Charles family exemplifies perfectly what W.E.B. DuBois called double consciousness. In his view, double consciousness “is a peculiar sensation, . . ., this sense of always looking at one’s self through

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4095 words

Citation: Flajsarova, Pavlina. "Never Far from Nowhere". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 January 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=26845, accessed 16 April 2024.]

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