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Island novel crackles into life

Posted by CaribShout on December 6, 2009 at 4:49pm

Gilbert, Queenie, Bernard and Hortense are at the centre of Small Island War, prejudice, loss and identity. These are just some of sweeping themes in the novel Small Island, which is making the leap to the small screen. Andrea Levy's award-winning best-seller is set in Britain and the Caribbean around World War II, and dramatises how the lives of different people collide for the first time. Actor David Oyelowo plays Gilbert, a Jamaican who serves in Britain during the war and emigrates in peacetime, and is followed by his new bride Hortense. "Gilbert has time to soak in that his mother country isn't all is seems to be, and transforms into a realist who has to educate his wife," he explains. 'Blind hatred' While the pair struggle to come to terms with the drabness of post-war London, it becomes clear they face hostility from their new countrymen. Oyelowo, 33, is of Nigerian parentage and says he drew upon his father's recollections of moving to Britain in the 1960s, which were very different from his own.

David Oyelowo in espionage drama Spooks It helps put into some context how Britain came to be what it is today. Actor David Oyelowo, pictured in Spooks "Prejudice was very much present and was something my Dad encountered. With a bit of digging, I found he had experiences not dissimilar to Gilbert's. "That's not my own experience of being British, so I asked myself what that would be like as a human being rather than bring the weight of history to it," adds the former Spooks star. But he reveals that he suffered some taunts as a schoolboy - from Caribbean boys who decided he was doing too well in class. Oyelowo says that the experience of playing Gilbert - which he calls "a complete gift" - made him think about why his character faced such racial prejudice. "It wasn't this blind hatred of black people, it was just something new. Prejudice is born out of what you don't fully understand. "It wasn't made clear to Britons that these people were encouraged to come and help rebuild the country. It felt like an influx threatening their rights and jobs," explains the actor. He adds that Queenie, a white woman who encounters black people for the first time, shows how prejudice is eroded through personal encounters. The drama, which sees its disparate characters become closely enmeshed, has huge significance for Britons living on this modern multi-cultural island, says Oyelowo. Andrea Levy

Author Andrea Levy's Jamaican parents emigrated to the UK "It helps put into some context how Britain came to be what it is today. "These people from the Caribbean were encouraged to pledge allegiance to the country and feel ownership of it today. "We should make the best of it and learn lessons from the past," adds the star. As for bringing a highly acclaimed novel to the small screen, Oyelowo feels the transition has been a successful one. "The book is just brilliant and I wondered how they were going to capture it. But they really have. The backdrop is epic but the focus is human. "I laughed a lot at the novel. While it isn't a comedy, it's not all drudgery and being beaten down. "Hortense and Gilbert's expectations are battered, but they take the reins and begin to build lives for themselves in Britain," says Oyelowo. A final twist to the tale sees the couple "own a part of Britain", according to the actor, and brings together the strands of a small group of people once separated by an ocean. "It's an incredibly optimistic story," he insists.
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Tags: britain, caribbean, island, jamaica, small

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