«Breaking News» 'Small Island' author Andrea Levy dies of cancer aged 62

Prize-winning British author Andrea Levy, whose books included Windrush novel Small Island and The Long Song, has died from cancer aged 62.

One of the first black British authors to achieve both critical and commercial success, Levy was best known for her novel 'Small Island,' which tells the story of two couples, one English and one Jamaican, whose lives intertwine in London after World War II.

The saga of war and racism won several major literary prizes: the Orange Prize for women's fiction, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and the Whitbread Book of the Year award. 

Georgina Moore from Levy's publisher Tinder Press said the author died yesterday after having been 'ill for some time.'  

Small Island author Andrea Levy (pictured in 2005) has died of cancer, aged 62

Levy did not begin writing until she was in her mid-30s after completing a creative writing course. Her first books 'Every Light in the House Burnin,'' 'Never Far From Nowhere' and 'Fruit of the Lemon' - drew on her background as the child of Jamaican immigrants growing up in London.

Levy's own parents had came to the UK from Jamaica on the Empire Windrush in 1948, eight years before she was born in London. 

Though critically praised, her early books failed to win a mass audience. That changed with her fourth novel 'Small Island,' which made Levy one of Britain's hottest writers. 

Her most recent novel, 'The Long Song,' tells the story of a house slave in 19th-century Jamaica and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. She also published 'Six Stories and an Essay,' in 2014, a series of short stories and a piece about her Caribbean heritage.

Levy's long-time editor and publisher of Small Island Jane Morpeth, said: 'Her legacy is unique, and her voice will be heard for generations to come. I miss her.' 

Small Island won the Whitbread prize and the Orange Prize For Fiction as well as the Commonwealth Writers' prize.

Levy, who grew up in  a working-class north London neighbourhood, started writing fiction in her 30s when she enrolled in a creative writing course in London.

Telling the story of Jamaicans and Londoners involved in the Second World War, the 2004 novel was adapted into a BBC drama starring Naomie Harris and Ruth Wilson.

The much-loved work is also being adapted for the stage by the National Theatre.

The author was said to be 'very involved' in the production, to debut this spring.  

Levy was also known for The Long Song, set in early 19th century-Jamaica during the last years of slavery and the period immediately after emancipation.

The award-winning 2010 novel recently aired as a three-part BBC drama.

The Long Song was her last novel and was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize.  

'When I started out, I was seen as a sort of marginal voice - the attitude was that only black people would read the books,' Levy told The Associated Press in 2005. 'It was very hard, because I was writing something a little bit different, in that I was just writing about family, small stories. At that time, the prevailing trend was more sort of guns and drugs and stuff, and so they didn't quite know what to do with me. They didn't think there'd be a market for it.'

But 'Small Island' became a classic word-of-mouth success, helped by warm reviews on Internet discussion groups.

It focused on people like her parents - the post-war 'Windrush generation,' named for SS Empire Windrush, a former troop ship that sailed from Jamaica to England in 1948 carrying hundreds of West Indian migrants.

The immigrants, many of whom fought against the Nazis in World War II, often found themselves to be unwelcome in Britain. Two characters from the book, Gilbert and Hortense, are shocked by the racism they encounter, and by the realization that the 'Mother Country' is a shabby dark nation recovering from war.

'I don't really believe in baddies and goodies,' Levy said. 'I don't believe in good and evil. I think we all have the capacity for both, every one of us, depending on circumstances. I like to bring that out in characters.'

Link hienalouca.com

https://hienalouca.com/2019/02/15/small-island-author-andrea-levy-dies-of-cancer-aged-62/
Main photo article Prize-winning British author Andrea Levy, whose books included Windrush novel Small Island and The Long Song, has died from cancer aged 62.
One of the first black British authors to achieve both critical and commercial success, Levy was best known for her novel ‘Small Island,’ which...

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