A review by whothehelliskaitlin
Small Island by Andrea Levy

5.0

I loved everything about this book. It brings such a looked-over perspective from WWII to the forefront and makes for an interesting and moving read. Most war books focus on the fighting, but the glimpses into how it affected the daily lives of civilians and especially how it affected the lives of people not part of the West made it unique. This book does the work of bringing attention to how nuanced the relations during the war were and that it was not simply the "Good" versus the "Bad". It also calls attention to British "amnesia" and ignorance and shows how harmful it is. And not only is the book thought compelling and informative but it does all this while being a genuinely engaging read.

Every character in the book is extremely thought out and complex and you get to see how they all grow and change throughout the book. While reading it I felt my feelings for the characters changing and shifting the more I read about them. They all felt like real people which is important when writing about complicated issues and they all evoked strong emotions in me ranging from hatred to laughter. I also really loved how the plot of the book was laid out, switching from the past to the present so that the reader slowly gets all the pieces to the big picture. Levy really created a wonderful, wonderful novel that more people should know about!