This is an amazing book, both beautifully written and horribly uncomfortable. It roused all sorts of emotion in me: At the start of the book, I found I could muster little sympathy for any of the four main characters; they all came across as fairly unpleasant. But by the end of the book, my heart broke for all of them, even Bernhard (who I found hard like at all, even given his difficult upbringing and wartime experiences). The way the book is written--from alternating points of view, and jumping around in place and time--allowed me to get to know and understand all the characters, their past, their present, their motivations. I was confronted with the sheer horror of war, and felt overwhelmingly grateful for the comfortable and safe lives that I and my family live. And perhaps the most difficult aspect of this book for me was the awful, awful racism that white, British people (and white American GIs) showed to the black immigrants and soldiers. It boggles my mind that people could be so cruel and unloving, especially when confronting a common enemy.

This is a superb book that will haunt me for a long time. I would love to read it again some day, and will certainly look out for more writing from Andrea Levy. ( )

This Orange Prize winner was a winner for me. There were several stories going on, primarily about the Londoners living through the bombardment of WWII and Jamaican immigrants in London after the war. These stories were personalized by the narratives of Hortense and Gilbert, the Jamaicans, and Londoners Queenie and Bernard.

With the ongoing themes of prejudice, troubled marriages, and all the stuff of life that makes us human, Levy tells a convincing tale of life and love set against the backdrop of war. ( )

Andrea Levy's novel, set alternately in Jamaica, Great Britain, Burma and India during the years before and three years after WWII, tells a riveting story of love, racism, cruelty, immigration, determination and the lasting effects of war. Told by four storytellers, Levy allows the reader to peel back the story's many layers over time and distance.

Gilbert Joseph is anxious to get away from a life with no future in Jamaica. He joins the RAF and goes to England where he is first exposed to blatant racism, as well as the wonders of the modern world. While there, he meets and becomes friends with Queenie Bligh, an English woman, married to a man who doesn't know she exists.

Queenie tells the story from her point of view beginning when she was a child growing up on a farm in Great Britain. When Gilbert comes back to England after the war, she rents a room to him in her house, which helps her to survive since her husband, Bernard, has not returned from his posting in the East.

Hortense Roberts, the third storyteller, is a very proud Jamaican school teacher, who is also anxious to leave the poor island and go to the Mother Country, where she feels opportunities abound. She offers to give Gilbert the money to return to England, after he returns from RAF duty, as long as he marries her and then sends for her after he earns some money in England.

The fourth storyteller is Bernard Bligh, Queenie's husband, who returns from duty in Burma and India as an airman, a changed man.

Levy is masterful at weaving the story through time, location and the four voices. Her description of London during the blitz is stunningly realistic and places the reader on the streets of the city. Bernard's experiences in Burma and India leave you breathless.

But the real stars here are the characters that Levy develops with exacting adroitness. Her use of lyrical language ("I had dreams of attending a university, studying law and acquiring a degree. But my station was lowly-my ideas soared so high above it I could see them lamenting and waving good-bye."-Gilbert Joseph, page 121), Jamaican dialect and attention to detail left me longing for more. 2004 Orange Prize Winner. Absolutely wonderful read. ( )

I found this story of Jamaican immigrants trying to make a life in post-war England very moving. The contrast they find between the 'mother England' they were taught about as children and the reality is stark and touchingly portrayed. well-written, with engaging characters. ( )

Small Island tells the tale of two couples, one English, one Jamaican, whose lives interweave in surprising ways during and in the years following WWII. Queenie and Bernard Bligh are Londoners; Queenie is left behind when Bernard leaves to fight in India. Gilbert and Hortense Joseph are Jamaican. Gilbert comes to England to fight with the RAF, and in Gilbert prim and proper Hortense sees a ticket to the life in England of which she's dreamed. Fate first brings the two couples together, but this chance meeting cements their lives forever. Levy's novel switches among its four main characters in a series of chapters that span three continents. We hear from Queenie, Bernard, Gilbert, and Hortense. All of the characters ffind themselves dealing with the effects of war: Bernard and Gilbert as soldiers, Queenie in the midst of the London bombings and possible widowhood when Bernard disappears. For Hortense wartime cements her desire to create an English life and identity. But war also brings significant lessons on racism, empire, and what it means to live on a "small island," whether British or Jamaican. Levy does a good job portraying the horrors and deprivations of war. She moves easily among four very different characters, in different places. This is an accomplished saga of two families and their wartime experiences. ( )