Reading 1001 discussion

Some elements of this novel are of the "best-seller" type of story, or made-for-the BBC (which did make a Masterpiece Classic movie of it). It did win the Orange Prize for Fiction & Commonwealth Writers Prize, which tells you it was taken seriously by literary types. The strongest recommendation for reading it is its examination of racism and anti-immigrant bigotry, although this is set in the 1940s. While the setting is primarily England, U. S. soldiers also take some lashing for their racism which is depicted as worse than that of the Brits.
The other quality I most appreciated in the novel was the shifting focus on the backstories of the different main characters which showed how each of them had both shortcomings and desirable or humane traits.

read July 2021

I did enjoy this, but it took some time for me to warm up to it. I found the first fifth (or so) not particularly compelling but then we start (in earnest) on Gilbert’s story and Levy pulls everything together. Levy’s characters were interesting and believable. Levy also handles the racism that the characters face deftly – you are angry it happened but not so completely repulsed you have to stop reading. I did feel worried about Hortenese’s naivety, and am glad she had Gilbert to help her navigate the reality of England (in 1948) for a Black person. 4*

This was one of the books on the list that I most wanted to read and when I first started reading I was a little bit put off by Hortense as she started off as so annoying a character. But gradually as we hear from the other characters and the storylines start converging this story becomes truly interesting and sad. The characters, even Hortense, become more developed.

Sheds a light on the beginnings of how Britain became a multi-cultural society and how the migrations of citizens from the Empire impacted both sides; themselves and the citizens of what had been a predominantly white society.

Yeah I loved this one and gave it 5 stars, for many of the reasons already described here: fleshed out very human characters, nuanced and evocative depiction of racism in the UK, well handled shifting perspectives.

I loved the exploration of internalized racism through Hortense's character: her thinking that as a light skinned and educated woman who has bought into British colonial ideals they will love and embrace her compared to other 'less civilized' Jamaicans. Even though she starts off really haughty, you can't help but feel empathy for her when she arrives in England to find out how naïve her previous perspective was. I did also love how Hortense and Gilbert marry largely out of convenience at first but really do come to love and respect each other.

I thought Bernard's racist beliefs were also explored in a really interesting and nuanced way. He doesn't want black lodgers in his home, but was willing to raise Queenie's mixed child. It is full of contradiction and exception- just a many real people's prejudices are.

Just the plot itself was really enrapturing as well. The way Michael serves as this phantom thread through Queenie and Hortense's stories was really cool and sort of serves the point to say we really don't know other people's stories, and they are often filled with things in common we don't anticipate.