# The Long Song

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Long_Song
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Long_Song.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Song
> Source revision: 1345039976
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

For the plot device from Doctor Who, see [The Rings of Akhaten](/source/The_Rings_of_Akhaten).

***The Long Song*** is a historical novel by [Andrea Levy](/source/Andrea_Levy) published in 2010. It was the recipient of the [Walter Scott Prize](/source/Walter_Scott_Prize). It was Levy's fifth and final novel, following the 2004 publication of *[Small Island](/source/Small_Island_(novel))*. In December 2018, a three-part [television adaptation of the same name](/source/The_Long_Song_(TV_series)) was broadcast on [BBC One](/source/BBC_One); *The Long Song* was aired on [PBS](/source/PBS) in February 2021.

## Plot summary

*The Long Song* is written as a memoir by an elderly Jamaican woman living in early 19th-century [Jamaica](/source/Jamaica) during the final years of slavery and the transition to freedom that took place thereafter. It tells the tale of a young slave girl, July, who lives at Amity, a prosperous [sugarcane](/source/Sugarcane) [plantation](/source/Sugar_plantations_in_the_Caribbean). She lives through the 1831-1832 [Baptist War](/source/Baptist_War), and then the beginning of freedom with the abolishment of slavery in 1833. Her mother, Kitty; the slaves working the plantation land; and the owner of the [plantation](/source/Sugar_plantations_in_the_Caribbean), the white heiress Caroline Mortimer, also feature prominently. [1]

## Themes

Themes of the book include: How it feels being an enslaved Afro descendant in Jamaica, [racism](/source/Racism), black versus white, landlord versus tenant, [slavery](/source/Slavery) and its abolition, [slave uprisings](/source/Slave_uprisings), [rape](/source/Rape), the Baptist War, the role of the [clergy](/source/Clergy), and love triangles.

## Reception

[Kate Kellaway](/source/Kate_Kellaway) in *[The Observer](/source/The_Observer)*,[2] [Tayari Jones](/source/Tayari_Jones) in the *[Washington Post](/source/Washington_Post)*,[3] [Fernanda Eberstadt](/source/Fernanda_Eberstadt) in *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*,[4] and [Amanda Craig](/source/Amanda_Craig) in *[The Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph)*[5] were among those who gave the novel positive reviews.

### Influence

*The Long Song* was a major inspiration for Kuchenga Shenjé's *[The Library Thief](/source/The_Library_Thief).* Shenjé also cited Levy as an influence for her own writing career.[6]

## Awards

*The Long Song* was a finalist for the 2010 [Man Booker Prize](/source/Man_Booker_Prize).[7] It was the recipient of the 2011 [Walter Scott Prize](/source/Walter_Scott_Prize) for historical fiction,[8][9][10] with the judging panel saying that "Andrea Levy brings to this story such personal understanding and imaginative depth that her characters leap from the page, with all the resilience, humour and complexity of real people. There are no clichés or stereotypes here. The Long Song is quite simply a celebration of the triumphant human spirit in times of great adversity."[11] *[The New York Times Book Review](/source/The_New_York_Times_Book_Review)* named it a [Notable Book of the Year](/source/Notable_Book_of_the_Year).[12]

## Television adaptation

[A three-part television adaptation](/source/The_Long_Song_(TV_series)) of *The Long Song*, starring [Tamara Lawrance](/source/Tamara_Lawrance), [Jack Lowden](/source/Jack_Lowden), [Hayley Atwell](/source/Hayley_Atwell), and [Lenny Henry](/source/Lenny_Henry) was filmed in the [Dominican Republic](/source/Dominican_Republic), and aired on [BBC One](/source/BBC_One) in December 2018.[13][14][15][16][17] A TV tie-in edition of the novel was released by [Headline Publishing](/source/Headline_Publishing) in 2018.[18]

## References

1. ["The Long Song by Andrea Levy"](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7500150-the-long-song). Good Reads. Retrieved 12 March 2015.

1. Kellaway, Kate (7 February 2010). ["The Long Song by Andrea Levy"](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/feb/07/the-long-song-andrea-levy). *The Observer*. Retrieved 12 March 2015.

1. Jones, Tayari. ["Book review: 'The Long Song,' by Andrea Levy"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/07/AR2010050704891.html). *Washington Post*. Retrieved 12 March 2015.

1. Eberstadt, Fernanda. ["When Jamaica Lost Its Chains"](https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/books/review/Eberstadt-t.html). *The New York Times*. Retrieved 12 March 2015.

1. Craig, Amanda. ["The Long Song by Andrea Levy: review"](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/7156998/The-Long-Song-by-Andrea-Levy-review.html). *The Telegraph*. Retrieved 12 March 2015.

1. Cook, Myfanwy (May 2024). ["New Voices: Claire Coughlan, Eve J. Chung, Kuchenga Shenjé & Susan Weissbach"](https://historicalnovelsociety.org/new-voices-claire-coughlan-eve-j-chung-kuchenga-shenje-susan-weissbach/). *[Historical Novel Society](/source/Historical_Novel_Society)*. Retrieved 2026-03-23.

1. ["The Man Booker prize 2010 shortlist"](https://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2010/sep/07/man-booker-prize-shortlist-2010). *The Guardian*. 7 September 2010. [ISSN 0261-3077](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0261-3077). Retrieved 7 July 2020.

1. ["Overview"](http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/long-song-andrea-levy/1100357547?ean=9780312571146#product-commentaries-1). Barnes and Noble. Retrieved 12 March 2015.

1. ["Andrea Levy wins Walter Scott Prize for The Long Song"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-13823909), BBC News, 18 June 2011.

1. Flood, Alison (20 June 2011), ["Andrea Levy wins Walter Scott prize"](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jun/20/andrea-levy-wins-walter-scott-prize), *The Guardian*.

1. ["Past Winners: 2010 to 20152](http://www.walterscottprize.co.uk/past-winners-2010-to-2015/), The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction.

1. ["100 Notable Books of 2010"](https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/books/review/100-notable-books-2010.html). *The New York Times*. 24 November 2010. [ISSN 0362-4331](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 7 July 2020.

1. ["BBC One announces cast for adaptation of Andrea Levy’s *The Long Song*"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2018/bbc-one-the-long-song-casting). [BBC](/source/BBC). 13 July 2018.

1. White, Peter. ["Hayley Atwell & Tamara Lawrance To Star In David Heyman’s BBC Drama *The Long Song*"](https://deadline.com/2018/07/hayley-atwell-tamara-lawrance-to-star-in-david-heymans-bbc-drama-the-long-song-1202425800/). *[Deadline Hollywood](/source/Deadline_Hollywood)*. 12 July 2018.

1. Munn, Patrick. ["Tamara Lawrance & Hayley Atwell Set As Leads In BBC One’s Andrea Levy Adaptation *The Long Song*"](https://www.tvwise.co.uk/2018/07/tamara-lawrance-hayley-atwell-set-as-leads-in-bbc-ones-andrea-levy-adaptation-the-long-song/). *TVWise*. 13 July 2018.

1. ["Tamara Lawrance, Haley Atwell, & More to Star in BBC One's *The Long Song*"](https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/Tamara-Lawrance-Haley-Atwell-More-to-Star-in-BBC-Ones-THE-LONG-SONG-20180713). *Broadway World*. 13 July 2018.

1. Dowell, Ben. ["Hayley Atwell, Lenny Henry and Tamara Lawrance cast in new BBC period drama *The Long Song*"](https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2018-07-13/the-long-song-bbc-drama-tv-series-cast-hayley-atwell-lenny-henry-tamara-lawrance/). *[Radio Times](/source/Radio_Times)*. 13 July 2018.

1. Cowdrey, Katherine (27 September 2018), ["BBC adaptation of Levy novel sparks Headline editions"](https://www.thebookseller.com/news/bbc-one-drama-andrea-levys-long-song-854596), *[The Bookseller](/source/The_Bookseller)*.

## Further reading

- Ursin, Reanna (October 2010). ["*Telling Her Story*"](http://smallaxe.net/sxsalon/reviews/telling-her-story), *[sx salon](/source/Small_Axe_Project)*. Retrieved 12 April 2017.

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Long Song](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Song) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Song?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.