Andrea Levy's The Long Song Discussion Questions for June's SBC meeting

Hi bookmates,

Here our questions for this Saturday's Book Chat discussion of Andrea Levy's The Long Song.
1. What did you think of the cover – did it make you think of Jamaica or sugar cane plantations?

2. At first July’s narration annoyed me, (the way she would say “dear Reader” and I had doubts about her tale), but once I read Thomas’s comment that she had multiple versions of how she was born I was able to let go of my disbelief and just flow with her narration. Did the author’s narrative structure work for you?
3. Did you enjoy the descriptive language of the novel? Or did you find yourself fighting the urge to skim paragraphs?
4. While reading I found myself thinking that if I lived in the time of slavery I would be more of a Nimrod rather than a Godfrey.
Discuss the effects of slavery on the following characters, Kitty, July, Godfrey and Nimrod.
5. How did slavery influence the way Caroline, Tom, Agnes, John and Robert behave towards others?
6. Did you think Caroline and July’s relationship rang true, especially after the introduction of Robert?
7. Who was your favourite character?
8. Which character did you empathise most with?
9. Discuss the role of the church in the novel.
10. Throughout the book Thomas and July’s have differences of opinion over the book. Who did you sympathise most with July or Thomas?
11. Do you think Thomas or July will ever find out what happened to Emily? What do you think happened to Emily?
12. When I first started the novel, and found out that Thomas was printing his mum’s memoir my initial reaction was “oh no this is another The Help” but it wasn’t The Long Song was a much darker tale. Do you agree or disagree? Did you find any similarities between the two novels?
13. How did you rate the novel from 1 to 5