Categories: book-review
Tags: book review
Date: 21 February 2007 20:04:18
This is the title of a book I've just finished, by Andrea Levy (and which, co-incidentally, is being given out for free this month at Glasgow libraries and some bookshops as part of a book festival whose name I've forgotten to try to encourage Glaswegians to get reading more). It's well worth a read if reading's your thing - it tells the story of a Jamaican guy who volunteers for the RAF during World War 2, and his experiences of post-War Britain when he returns on the Windrush a few years later. It's told from four different perspectives - Gilbert (the airman), his new wife Hortense, his (white) landlady Queenie and her husband Bernard - and explores both their wartime and post-war experiences. The blurb talks about it exploring themes of prejudice, empire, war and love, and it does all of this without being worthy or preachy. I especially liked how, by using the technique of four different peoples' perspectives, Levy was able to really explore peoples' motivations and reasons and experiences, which made even some of the less likeable characters more human, more understandable. I also liked how some of the narrative gives an entirely new perspective on the celebrated "Blitz spirit" in London. It's the best book I've read for ages - well worth getting a hold of it.