Andrea Levy Storyteller

‘From the moment I started to write, I knew I had a story to tell.’ Says Andrea Levy, a participant in this year’s Aye Write and whose latest book Small Island was recently announced the Whitbread Book of the Year.  It weaves between two couples, one white and one black in post-war London, and graphically describes the disappointment of Caribbeans, brought up British who came to settle in the ‘mother country’ only to discover hostility.  But it does not portray the British as either particularly unkind or inhumane and what could have been a bitter angry book is gentle and humorous.

            Having earned such acclaim in the UK, it could be assumed that pan-European publication would readily follow, but as Levy explains,

            ‘Some people still find it difficult to allow black people to have a universality about their story. So with Gilbert and Hortense, it is always about two black people, not just two people trying to make their way in the world.  That is the way it is.  Now, one of the good things with Small Island in this country is that some people are now able to look at them as just being two people, but Europe has a little bit more of a problem doing that.’

            Publishing is a profit-motivated industry and for the time being it would appear that when European publishers come across a story with black characters written by a black author, that is all they see.  They don’t see the depth of the story, its background or history.  And Levy likes books that can be enjoyed on several levels, offering a good story as well as making a statement and informing the reader.  She mentions a favourite book and previous Whitbread winner, English Passengers by Matthew Kneale.

            ‘It is a book that is quietly in the same territory as I am working in, about colonialism in Van Diemans Land and its Aborigine population.  It is a great story, but because the writer is a white man, nobody suggests that it is about race, they simply wonder at the brutality and what was done to a people.  It is recognised as a ripping yarn through which you learn some colonial history.’  Levy is passionate about history and particularly that of the British Empire and what has brought so many different people to migrate to these shores.

            ‘A lot of people truly aren’t interested in what it is like to grow up in Britain as one of a minority, but the success of Small Island has brought it to their attention.’  She feels there is much more to learn about the relationship between Britain and its former colonies.  Its relationship with the Caribbean is particularly interesting as unlike Africa or India, it was settled.  People were brought to the West Indies from other parts of the globe usually against their will and it is only in the last fifty or sixty years that some of them have decided to move on.

            Levy recognises that even twenty years ago, her books would not have created much interest and that the only comparable literature then available was written by African Americans.  There was a much longer history in the US of white and black people living in the same towns and cities whereas British black citizens historically lived overseas in its colonies.

            ‘We know much more about the world now and see it on our TV screens daily.  There are more and more people like me whose origins are as a result of the British Empire and I think it is interesting.  But when I write something everyone says “Oh this is about race and you are obviously very angry.”  But my books are not just about race, I write about people and history.’

            Born in North London to Jamaican parents, Levy is the youngest of 4 children and was brought up on a council estate in the 1960’s.  Her father came to Britain on the Windrush in 1948 and worked for the Post Office. Her mother, a trained teacher in Jamaica, trained again in England and obtained an Open University degree.  Levy’s parents had a strong work ethic and thought praise was not good for the soul.  Only at her girl’s grammar school did Levy get open encouragement.

            ‘We were terribly poor at first, with just my Dad working.  But I had friends who lived in worse conditions and I thought we were doing quite well.  In fact, I didn’t know what middle class really was until I went to college.’  But she did know what it was like to grow up in a society where she was judged by the colour of her skin rather than the content of her character.  Her novels explore the identity of being black and British, effectively having a foot in more than one camp which is a modern phenomenon.

            ‘I began tentatively writing about my own childhood and life, things I understood.  As I learnt more about writing, I became more ambitious although I am still learning my craft.  With Small Island, I realised I needed to write about 1948.  I was terrified of the prospect because it was the first time that I needed to write about a time in which I didn’t actually live.  I had to feel my way into it through extensive research and I was very scared but absolutely loved it.’  Levy says that Caribbeans who migrated to the UK in the late 40’s and early 50’s came with high expectations and were shocked at the rejection they received. 

            ‘It wasn’t just the warmth of the sun that they missed, but also the warmth of other people.  I think it was very painful and they were often depressed.  They didn’t only suffer from antagonism but also had to adjust their expectations and understanding of class.  I always got the impression my parents were trying to protect me, they did not want me to expect to get too much from life and then get cut down by it.’

            Despite having been in print for more than ten years, Levy still finds her success a novelty.  Her modesty is disarming and she has no illusion about the luck involved in winning a big literary prize.

            ‘Having been a judge myself, I know it is always a lucky dip.  It just depends on the judges, and the book that wins will be the one that they can all kind of agree on.  Another book may have created such strong emotion that someone will be really against it and someone else really for it.’  Nevertheless, she is the first to win the Orange and Whitbread in the same year and has also now achieved her ambition to have her photo taken for the National Portrait Gallery.  So, what next?  Levy smiles.

            ‘Small Island is just the beginning.  I really am still learning my craft and there are so many more tales to tell about Britain and its Empire.’

© Judith Cameron