
Small Island
The story of Small Island revolves around four characters, Hortense, Gilbert, Queenie and Bernard. They are two couples, one white Queenie and Bernard and one Black, Hortense and Gilbert. The novel is narrated in the perspective of these four characters. Plot is set in England of 1948. Gilbert is a soldier in Royal force from Jamaica. He is living in a small room in the house owned by Queenie. The story starts with queenie, her perceptions and thoughts about her own life. Her husband is sent overseas during the war and hasn't returned yet. Then the story shifts to Hortense, the lady always wanted to leave her 'small island' and reside in British isle as it was a 'large' one. She set out for England with plenty of expectations and wishes but is disappointed with her new groom and his state of living. Later the plot shifts from Gilbert to Bernard dealing with many issues of race and identity.
Buy this book at Amazon- Publisher
- Headline Publishing Group
- Year
- 2004
- ISBN-13
- 9780312424671
- Genre
- Fiction
- Topics
- Race and identityImmigrationPost-war BritainMarriageColonialism
Awards
- Women's Prize for FictionWonMajor(2004)
Other awarded books from Andrea Levy
If you liked Small Island, you could also like these

An Island
Karen Jennings
0 wins · 2 score

The Long Song
Andrea Levy
0 wins · 4 score

The White Woman on the Green Bicycle
Monique Roffey
0 wins · 4 score

The True History of Paradise
Margaret Cezair-Thompson
0 wins · 4 score

This Other Eden
Paul Harding
0 wins · 8 score

A Distant Shore
Caryl Phillips
0 wins · 2 score

By the Sea
Abdulrazak Gurnah
0 wins · 2 score

In a Free State
V. S. Naipaul
1 win · 12 score

Girl, Woman, Other
Bernardine Evaristo
1 win · 20 score

The White Family
Maggie Gee
0 wins · 8 score

The Unseen
Roy Jacobsen
0 wins · 8 score

Offshore
Penelope Fitzgerald
1 win · 12 score

The Colony
Audrey Magee
0 wins · 2 score

The Book of Colour
Julia Blackburn
0 wins · 4 score

Half a Life
VS Naipaul
0 wins · 2 score
Similar Topics

Americanah
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
1 win · 24 score
Race and identityImmigration
The Inheritance of Loss
Kiran Desai
2 wins · 28 score
Immigration
Hamnet
Maggie O'Farrell
2 wins · 24 score
Marriage
White Teeth
Zadie Smith
1 win · 20 score
Post-war Britain
Embassytown
China Miéville
1 win · 17 score
Colonialism
Lisey's Story
Stephen King
1 win · 13 score
Marriage
In America
Susan Sontag
1 win · 12 score
Immigration
Interior Chinatown
Charles Yu
1 win · 12 score
Race and identity
Man Gone Down ‡
Michael Thomas
1 win · 12 score
Race and identity
Staying On
Paul Scott
1 win · 12 score
Marriage
The Collected Stories
Katherine Anne Porter
1 win · 12 score
Marriage
The New Men and The Masters
C. P. Snow
1 win · 12 score
Post-war Britain
The Perseverance
Raymond Antrobus
1 win · 12 score
Race and identity
The Road Home
Rose Tremain
1 win · 12 score
Immigration
The Old Drift
Namwali Serpell
1 win · 10 score
Colonialism