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 also 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 person besides – far too many to list here. But what befalls them all is carefully chronicled upon these pages.
This month’s book The Long Song by Andrea Levy has started our year off in great style with a stimulating discussion, on the book itself and the many issues found within.
We could all be forgiven for our first reaction, ‘another story of slavery’. We have read plenty covering this topic over the years, but as all good book clubs do, we uncovered more than the usual heartbreak and injustice … humour being a major contributor to our club’s enjoyment.
This is not to say we felt the author took her theme lightly. It is more the narrative approach, that of July, in her impatient, slightly defiant senior’s voice that had us chuckling through this biographical memoir that her son has persuaded her to write. The tricks and antics of her forbearers revealed comic insubordination and rebelliousness that is rare in a slavery novel.
However, we did have some conflicting opinions. Nancy read on only through a feeling of guilt, … she felt she should feel empathy and remorse, yet the book left her with no such feelings, and she found the narrative tiresome. Tera could remember little about the story, yet she did remember enjoying the subtle humour, and Anne again was left with nothing more than a few notes that she jotted down simply to keep track of who was who, and what was what.
But overall the comments were positive. It was thought to be a well researched and beautifully told novel. Clever and possibly written for the screen. Viti and a few others would have liked a little more historical background of the place and time, but we all agreed the purpose of the story was more in the form of a personal account of native Jamaicans and plantation slavery.
Regardless which view point you took, we ended up discussing social and economic wealth and distribution, historical and contemporary injustices and what they all mean today. Not bad for the start of a new year.
Were we suitably impressed? Levy’s previous books have all been noted down for further reading. Always a good indication with our group!
