On this page you can find:

Visit Andrea Levy’s website for her bibliography, reviews of her work and a selection of interviews and articles.

Other novels exploring the Caribbean experience of migrating to Britain include:

Jean Rhys (1934) Voyage in the Dark (currently available as a Penguin Modern Classic). A semi-autobiographical novel about a white West Indian chorus girl struggling to survive in Britain. Read also Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), the story of the first Mrs Rochester, a character from Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, who grew up in Jamaica and was cruelly exploited by her British husband. See the W W Norton reading guide to the book.

George Lamming (1954) The Emigrants (currently out of print). Semi-autographical novel about West Indian expatriates. Read an interview with Lamming on the website of The Caribbean Writer.

Sam Selvon (1956) Lonely Londoners (currently available as a Penguin Modern Classic). A lively novel of immigrants in 1950s London where friendships flourish among the harsh realities of British life. See the Peepal Tree Press website for a profile of the author.

Caryl Phillips (1985) Final Passage (published by Faber and Faber). The story of a young mother and her selfish, unsupportive husband as they travel from the Caribbean to England in the 1950s. See the British Council website for a profile of Phillips.

V S Naipaul (1987) The Enigma of Arrival (currently available from Picador). The story of a young Indian from Trinidad who arrives in post-imperial England and becomes a writer. See the British Council website for a profile of Naipaul.

Also of interest may be the novels of Colin McInnes from the 1950s. Absolute Beginners climaxes with the Notting Hill race riot. City of Spades tells the story of Johnny Fortune from Lagos and looks at the common difficulties faced by African and West Indian immigrant societies as well as the differences between them.

Onyekachi Wambu’s on-line article ‘Black British Literature since Windrush’ can be read on the BBC History website.

Read Caribbean Beat’s tribute to Caribbean Voices the BBC radio programme that helped launch the careers of many Caribbean authors, both those who came to Britain and those who remained at home.

Websites for initiatives promoting reading and writing include the following:

Headline Reading Circle is a website for reading groups set up by Headline, the publisher of Andrea Levy’s novels.

The Reader is an outreach unit attached to the School of English at the University of Liverpool. The Reader organises literary events mainly focused upon the communities of Liverpool and Wirral and runs a large, literature based social inclusion project, Get Into Reading. The Reader is a partner of the Liverpool Reads project.

Readers and Writers provides information on recommended reading, book groups in Glasgow and how to join them, book-related events, book awards and prizes, literature development initiatives and reader development programmes for young people.

Time To Read is a partnership of librarians, literature development workers and other organisations engaged in reader development activity in public library authorities in the North West Region.

Windows Project has been making poetry fun since 1976. It provides support and advice for poetry writing by and with all ages and abilities.

Writing on the Wall is a programme of events culminating in an annual festival involving schools, young people, local communities and broader audiences, which celebrates writing, diversity, tolerance, story telling and humour through controversy, inquiry and debate.

Beyond the Book is a website dedicated to mass reading events in the UK, USA and Canada.

You can find out more about previous reading projects by following the links below:

Great Reading Adventure: The Day of the Triffids 2004
Archived Website

Liverpool Reads: Holes 2004-2005
Website

Great Reading Adventure: The Siege 2005
Archived Website

Great Reading Adventure:
Around the World in Eighty Days 2006
Archived Website

Liverpool Reads: Millions 2005-2006
Website