Hortense yearns for a new life away from rural Jamaica. Gilbert dreams of becoming a lawyer. Queenie longs to escape her Lincolnshire roots. Three intimately connected stories, tracing the tangled history of Jamaica and Britain.

Andrea Levy's epic novel, adapted for the stage by Helen Edmundson, journeys from Jamaica to Britain in 1948 - the year that HMT Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury.

Small Island was first performed at the National Theatre, London, in 2019, in an acclaimed production directed by Rufus Norris. This revised edition of the play was published alongside the revival of the production in 2022.

About the Author

Multi-award-winning writer Helen Edmundson has adapted many novels for the stage, including Coram Boy for the National Theatre. Her original plays include Queen Anne and The Heresy of Love (both for the RSC), Mary Shelley, The Clearing and Mother Teresa is Dead.

Andrea Levy's novel Small Island won the Orange Prize for Fiction, as well as the Whitbread Novel and Book of the Year Awards. Her other novels include Every Light in the House Burnin', Never Far from Nowhere, Fruit of the Lemon and The Long Song.

Reviews

'Extraordinary. A spectacular adaptation of Andrea Levy's Windrush novel'

* Observer *

'Edmundson has a knack for skilfully distilling story... ferociously entertaining'

* Time Out *

'A landmark in the National Theatre's history: a tumultuous epic about first-generation Jamaican immigrants... skilfully adapted... one of the most important plays of the year'

* Guardian *

'Inspiring adaptation... a gripping state-of-the-nation epic... the show acknowledges struggle and strife on all sides, flies the flag for compassion and achieves a hard-won (and still to be fought for) inclusivity'

* Telegraph *

'A passionate engagement with the past that's sure to resonate with audiences at a time when the very idea of Britain is under such fierce scrutiny'

* Evening Standard *

'Utterly sensational - an engrossing, all-embracing piece of theatre... a staggering achievement'

* WhatsOnStage *

'Beautifully translated to stage by adaptor Helen Edmundson, using thrilling theatrical solutions to honour Levy's epic - and still urgent - tale... a stirring spectacle that never loses sight of the people at its heart'

* Broadway World *

'What a huge-hearted achievement this is, a sweeping, captivating dramatisation... thrilling in its scope and exquisite in its detail... Helen Edmundson's adaptation feels at once effortlessly epic and delicately intimate'

* iNews *



Book Information
ISBN 9781839040764
Author Andrea Levy
Format Paperback
Page Count 136
Imprint Nick Hern Books
Publisher Nick Hern Books