Andrea Levy, the author of The Long Song, died in 2019. Here we reproduce some of her comments on the book, including how and why she wrote it
The Long Song
Written by Andrea Levy
- Shortlisted
- The Man Booker Prize 2010
- Published by Headline Review
Buy the book
Andrea Levy’s bittersweet novel about the last days of slavery in Jamaica is powerful and intimate - and full of mischievous surprise
Set during the turbulent years of slavery and the early years of freedom that followed, The Long Song is a thrilling journey through that time in the company of people who lived it. Based on the lives of the people who live and work on the Amity sugar plantation, the narrative centres around July, a slave girl with an indomitable spirit for survival.
Andrea Levy
Andrea Levy was the author of six books, including Small Island, which won the Orange Prize for Fiction, and the Whitbread book of the Year
More about Andrea Levy 
Watch Andrea Levy tell the story of her shortlisted novel
Watch the trailer for the BBC adaption of The Long Song
Listen to Andrea Levy read an extract from the novel for Pen America
Features
- Book extract
An extract from The Long Song by Andrea Levy
- Reading guides