Andrea Levy, The Long Song

Michael Perfect (Liverpool John Moores)

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 Feb 2010

Places

United Kingdom (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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The Long Song

is the fifth and final novel by British author Andrea Levy. While Levy’s previous four novels had focused, respectively, on the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1940s, and had been set predominantly (although not exclusively) in Britain,

The Long Song

is set in the nineteenth century on a sugarcane plantation in colonial Jamaica. The product of Levy’s increasing interest in the historical relationship between Britain and the Caribbean, the novel was meticulously researched. It won the 2011 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, and was shortlisted for the 2010 Man Booker Prize. It is widely studied both in the UK and internationally and, like all of Levy’s work, is the focus of a significant and growing body of academic scholarship.

The opening line of The Long Song informs

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2150 words

Citation: Perfect, Michael. "The Long Song". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 February 2020 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=29663, accessed 25 April 2024.]

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