I’m singing the praises of Andrea Levy’s newest novel, The Long Song, set in the 1830s on a sugar cane plantation in Jamaica. From the first provocative sentence, “The book you are holding within your hand was born of a craving,” this exquisitely written book chronicles the life of Miss July, a plantation slave and the narrator of her own story. In classic unreliable narrator style, Miss July teases the reader by jumping back and forth in time between her growing up years to her adulthood to present time where she lives as an old woman with her son, a book printer. Though she is driven to tell her story, it is her son who insists that she divulge the full truth—the sometimes awful events of her life—by writing them down with the promise that he will have her book printed.

Miss July enters this world the child of a field slave, but thanks to the whim of Caroline Mortimer, sister of Amity plantation owner Mr. John Howarth, the young girl is plucked from the fields to serve as a house slave and lady’s maid. Willful and mischievous, Miss July becomes indispensable to Mrs. Mortimer, a recently transplanted English widow. Miss July is taught to read and write so she can help with the management of the plantation when its operation falls to Caroline after her brother’s brutal death. Together, Miss July and Caroline live through the closing days of slavery in Jamaica prompted by the Baptist Wars—when slaves on the island withdrew their labor for 10 very violent days—to a period of near abolition and finally, to a state of freedom.

In reading this story, we are witness to the heavy psychological effect of slavery on both the slave and the owner. Levy is careful to keep a sense of humor, and a non-moralistic tone.The Long Song is beautifully written and packed with intricate plot lines. You won’t forget Miss July, and if you’re like me, you’ll have picked up some intriguing information about Jamaica’s history.~Wendee