Best Selling Books by Andrea Levy

Told in four distinct voices, the winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction 2004 is a courageous novel of tender emotion and sparkling wit, encapsulating the most American of experiences: the immigrant''s life.

From the award-winning author of Small Island, “a bittersweet exploration of an outsider’s experience of British culture” (Bookmarks). Faith Jackson knows little about her parents’ lives before they moved to England. Happy to be starting her first job in the costume department at BBC television, and to be sharing a house with friends, Faith is full of hope and expectation. But when her parents announce that they are moving “home” to Jamaica, Faith’s fragile sense of her identity is threatened. Angry and perplexed as to why her parents would move to a country they so rarely mention, Faith becomes increasingly aware of the covert and public racism of her daily life, at home and at work. At her parents’ suggestion, in the hope it will help her to understand where she comes from, Faith goes to Jamaica for the first time. There she meets her Aunt Coral, whose storytelling provides Faith with ancestors, whose lives reach from Cuba and Panama to Harlem and Scotland. Branch by branch, story by story, Faith scales the family tree, and discovers her own vibrant heritage, which is far richer and wilder than she could have imagined. “Levy has chosen her title shrewdly: like the lemon, her loaded satire is bright and alluring, but its bite is sharp.” —Booklist “Levy’s raw sense of realism and depth of feeling infuses every line.” —Elle “Bright and inventive . . . Levy’s command of voices, whether English or Jamaican, is fine, fresh and funny.” —The Observer

A tale inspired by the years before and after nineteenth-century Jamaica''s emancipation finds the willful slave Miss July moving into her mistress''s great house, where she becomes a valuable confidante, learns to read, and witnesses the Baptist War.

A passionate and perceptive story full of the pain and the humour of growing up, from Andrea Levy, author of the Orange Prize winning SMALL ISLAND and the Man Booker shortlisted THE LONG SONG. NEVER FAR FROM NOWHERE is the story of two sisters, Olive and Vivien, born in London to Jamaican parents and brought up on a council estate. They go to the same grammar school, but while Vivien''s life becomes a chaotic mix of friendships, youth clubs, skinhead violence, A-levels, discos and college, Olive, three years older and a skin shade darker, has a very different tale to tell...

Andrea Levy, author of the Man Booker shortlisted novel THE LONG SONG and the prize-winning, million-copy bestseller SMALL ISLAND, draws together a remarkable collection of short stories from across her writing career, which began twenty years ago with the publication of her first novel, the semi-autobiographical EVERY LIGHT IN THE HOUSE BURNIN''. ''None of my books is just about race,'' Levy has said.''They''re about people and history.'' Her novels have triumphantly given voice to the people and stories that might have slipped through the cracks in history. From Jamaican slave society in the nineteenth century, through post-war immigration into Britain, to the children of migrants growing up in ''60s London, her books are acclaimed for skilful storytelling and vivid characters. And her unique voice, unflinching but filled with humour, compassion and wisdom, has made her one of the most significant and exciting contemporary authors. This collection opens with an essay about how writing has helped Andrea Levy to explore and understand her heritage. She explains the context of each piece within the chronology of her career and finishes with a new story, written to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War in 1914. As with her novels, these stories are at once moving and honest, deft and humane, filled with insight, anger at injustice and her trademark lightness of touch.

Written to mark the centenary of the outbreak of WWI, this short story by multi-award-winning, million copy bestselling author Andrea Levy tells the tale of two Jamaican service men in that conflict.

The remarkable, emotional debut novel, both funny and moving, which was longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction, from the critically aclaimed Andrea Levy, author of the Orange Prize winning SMALL ISLAND and the Man Booker shortlisted THE LONG SONG. ''Better opportunity'' - that''s why Angela''s dad sailed to England from America in 1948 on the Empire Windrush. Six months later her mum joined him in his one room in Earl''s Court... ...Twenty years and four children later, Mr Jacob has become seriously ill and starts to move unsteadily through the care of the National Health Service. As Angela, his youngest, tries to help her mother through this ordeal, she finds herself reliving her childhood years, spent on a council estate in Highbury.

For the first time, a collection of Andrea Levy''s later works in ebook form, including the Orange Prize-winner SMALL ISLAND and Booker shortlisted THE LONG SONG. SMALL ISLAND is a novel that defined a generation; the story of two couples in post-war London, and their attempts to understand each other. It won the Orange Prize for Fiction and the Orange Prize ''Best of the Best'' as well as the Commonwealth Writers'' Prize and the Whitbread. Possibly the definitive fictional account of the experiences of the Empire Windrush generation, it was selected by the BBC as one of its ''100 Novels That Shaped Our World''. THE LONG SONG, Andrea''s final novel, was a Sunday Times bestseller and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. It is a hauntingly beautiful, heartbreaking and unputdownable novel of the last days of slavery in Jamaica, following the story of July, a slave on the sugar plantation of Amity. The collection is completed by Andrea''s last full work, SIX STORIES & AN ESSAY. A collection of stories from across her life, she explains the context of each piece within the chronology of her career and finishes with a new story, written to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War in 1914. As with her novels, these stories are at once moving and honest, deft and humane, filled with insight, anger at injustice and her trademark lightness of touch.

A collection that brings together Andrea Levy''s three early novels: EVERY LIGHT IN THE HOUSE BURNIN'', NEVER FAR FROM NOWHERE and FRUIT OF THE LEMON. While Andrea Levy is best known for two of her later works, SMALL ISLAND and THE LONG SONG, these novels have a power all of their own. Her emotional debut, EVERY LIGHT IN THE HOUSE BURNIN'', was longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction, and tells the story of Angela as she casts her mind back to a childhood spent on a council estate in Highbury, as she helps her mother care for an ailing father. NEVER FAR FROM NOWHERE is Andrea''s passionate and perceptive sophomore novel, full of the pain and humour of growing up. It is the story of two sisters, Olive and Vivien, born in London to Jamaican parents and brought up on a council estate. They go to the same grammar school, but while Vivien''s life becomes a chaotic mix of friendships, youth clubs, skinhead violence, A-levels, discos and college, Olive, three years older and a skin shade darker, has a very different tale to tell . . . The collection finishes on FRUIT OF THE LEMON, a masterful novel which centres on young, ambitious Faith Jackson. Furious and perplexed when her parents announce their intention to retire back home to Jamaica, Faith makes her own journey there, where she is immediately welcomed by her Aunt Coral, keeper of a rich cargo of family history. Through the weave of her aunt''s storytelling a cast of characters unfolds, in a novel that sweeps through continents.