Ah. At long last we have the new novel by Orange Award-winning author Andrea Levy (Small Island). This is the story of Miss July, the child of a field slave in Jamaica and her mistress, Mrs. Mortimer, a newly arrived pompous English widow. Together they survive the chaotic end to slavery, but indeed Miss July remains to near the end a victim of racism.

I savoured Levy’s ability to observe and record the language and movement of her characters. Her ability, for example, to record an array of interpretations of English is masterful, and at times very humorous. The Long Song is a tribute to the resilience of those under the rule of the barbarous and unethical shallow English migrants.

At times The Long Song is a shocking record of Jamaican and English history, but it is in the end a story of a strong woman and of the respect she deserves. This is a brilliant addition to an already impressive collection of work. This is a book for past fans of Levy’s work but also for anyone that enjoys Atwood, Morrison and Lessing.