Brilliant story teller - Rated 
Levy takes us back to the Caribbean and Europe of the 30s and 40s in a wholly believable way, through the calmer pre-war years, the horrors and privations of the war, the deflation and dashed hopes that descended after the war, as returning soldiers began to wonder what it had all been for.
It's a book that deals with Britain's casually racist past born of the imagined superiority of colonialism, and ponders whether it was really so much better than the Americans' established and open apartheid. But most of all, this is a book about people. It's about making the best of things and getting through. It's a book about dignity, loyalty and hope.
Interweaving first person narratives, switching back and forth across time, place and perspective with great skill, Levy creates wholly believable characters, and despite their obvious flaws lets us see the world through their eyes. Levy's greatest skill is as a story teller, everything about her writing serving the story, rather than for literary effect or to draw attention to itself.
A good read - Rated 
This is the first book I have read by this author after someone left it in our staff room. Although I have always steered clear of any books to do with the war, I was intrigued by the subject matter. I had never really considered the prejudice that lives within our country every day. I found the characters (although slightly stereotypical) quite interesting and I enjoyed the way the book jumped between years. I liked the understanding that the book gave you of what all the characters were doing at the same time. Although this book carries a serious message, it was also quite amusing. I will read more books by the author now.
Lots of voices, one wonderful tale - Rated 
Despite its slowish start this clever and intricate novel builds and builds as it goes along. It draws you in and becomes quite a page-turner, but in a very unusual way. There's no dramatic plot, no adventurous escapades or titillation, but what keeps you turning the pages, hour after hour, is a genuine interest in what's going to happen to the characters next.
Written from the points of view of four of the protagonists, the story has been described as feeling like a `switchback ride' and this seems a good description to me. You come hurtling towards an event from the point of view of one person and then suddenly, you're inhabiting another body and seeing the same event from a totally different perspective. What makes this so fulfilling is the way that you get to see people as fully-rounded figures - not caricatures. Gilbert is lazy and weak when Hortense is speaking, but honourable and brave when telling his own story. Queenie looks elegant and altruistic through her own eyes, but rather grubby and vulgar when others view her. In fact, if there's a flaw in the telling of this story it is only that, of all the characters, Queenie changes the most from one point of view to another and is hard to `pin down' in the imagination.
For me, the whole tale really springs into life when, unexpectedly, a fourth voice joins Queenie, Hortense and Gilbert about two thirds of the way through and, skipping like a pebble on a lake, the story skims from Jamaica to London to wartime India - effortlessly and without jarring or becoming fragmented and annoying.
Above all, an intriguing look at a little-spoken-of period of British history and an engaging and well-told tale. I'll be looking out for more from this writer, who reminds of me of Kate Atkinson at her finely-woven best - Human Croquet for example, or Behind the Scenes.
LOVE IT! - Rated
While I had never looked at Britain in such a way, the interrelation between people, focussing on classes and races, I found it very interesting and fair. There was no criticism of what is, just a desciption of what happens or has happened. I also liked the way the characters' lives were interwoven. Revealing a chunk at a time. Knowing were they are and where they came from.
Excellent read.
Over egging the pudding - Rated 
While Andrea Levy attempts to show the endemic racism in British society, her characters are just too stereotypical. All the white characters are portrayed as dirty, mean-spirited, ignorant,sexually frustrated and bigoted whereas the black charcters are all polite, happy, well educated and handsome. Some shades of grey in the personel would have given this book more force and avoided the simplistic viewpoint which spoils an otherwise well observed novel
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