The Long Song

Set in 19th-century Jamaica during the final years of slavery and the turbulent period following emancipation, the novel is narrated by July, an elderly formerly enslaved woman who writes her life story at the urging of her son, Thomas Kinsman. Thomas, a prosperous printer in Kingston, explains in a foreword dated 1898 that he persuaded his mother to commit her tale to paper as a chapbook. Throughout the narrative, July addresses the reader directly, quarrels with Thomas over his editorial demands, and insists on telling the story her own way.

July's story begins with her conception on the sugar plantation called Amity, where the white overseer Tam Dewar forces himself on Kitty, a towering enslaved field worker. July is born in Kitty's dwelling hut after eight hours of labor, attended by Rose, a diminutive enslaved woman known for her midwifery. Dewar intrudes during the birth, stuffs rags into Kitty's mouth, and warns that the baby will be worth a great deal of money. Kitty names her daughter July even though the child is born in December.

July is an incessantly screaming infant soothed only by Kitty's lullaby. Meanwhile, Caroline Mortimer, a 23-year-old English widow, arrives at Amity to live with her brother John Howarth, the plantation's owner. Caroline is overwhelmed by the tropical heat and unfamiliar food. John's wife, Agnes, born on the island to a Scottish family, instructs Caroline to be firm with the enslaved people, but Caroline's English maid proves sickly, and Molly, an enslaved woman assigned as a substitute, is inept. Caroline is left isolated and bored.

During a tour of the estate, John displays Kitty's muscular legs for Caroline's inspection, treating her as livestock. The young July, perhaps nine years old, charms Caroline by offering her wildflowers. Caroline declares the child "adorable," and John casually gives July to his sister as a companion, dismissing Kitty's desperate protests. At night, Kitty secretly creeps to the great house window to glimpse her daughter, but Rose persuades her to stop.

Years pass. Agnes dies after giving birth; her infant son lives only two days, and John sinks into grief. July, now 16, serves as Caroline's lady's maid under the name Marguerite, quick-witted and expert at managing Caroline's dependence. July's early years in the great house were marked by grief after Kitty was sold away and by needleprick punishments for poor sewing.

At Christmas 1831, Caroline hosts an elaborate dinner party. Militia men burst in announcing that enslaved people are burning plantations across western Jamaica in what becomes known as the Baptist War, a large-scale rebellion. All white men depart for militia duty.

Nimrod, a freeman who purchased his liberty through years of pilferage from the plantation, arrives and warns that Caroline must flee. Godfrey, the aging headman, demands payment to drive Caroline to town and departs with her. July never sees Godfrey again.

Left alone in the great house, July explores freely. Nimrod finds her, and they end up together in the master's bed. John Howarth returns and shoots himself. When Caroline and Dewar arrive, Dewar coaches Caroline to claim Nimrod murdered John, protecting her inheritance. As Dewar prepares to execute Nimrod, July charges the overseer, causing his shot to miss. She drags Nimrod to the village, where Rose takes them in.

The militia attacks the village, burning huts and slashing at fleeing people. At the mill yard, Dewar shoots Nimrod in the head and seizes July. Kitty arrives and attacks Dewar with devastating force, commanding July to run. Dewar is found with a shattered skull, broken bones, and crushed ribs; he dies two days later. Kitty is tried and hanged in the market square. July watches from a hidden corner as her mother struggles on the rope before going still.

At Thomas's insistence, July reveals that she gave birth to Nimrod's son, a very dark-skinned boy she found repulsive, and left him at the door of the Baptist minister James Kinsman. The Kinsmans raised the child as Thomas. July refuses to dwell on the bleak years following the rebellion: her confinement in stocks, the deaths of fellow enslaved people, and the fearful shell she became. On the night of emancipation in 1838, July sits with Caroline. When July quietly observes that she is now free, Caroline pleadingly asks, "But you would not leave me, would you, Marguerite?"

Robert Goodwin, a 26-year-old clergyman's son from England, arrives the next morning as the new overseer, declaring slavery a dreadful evil. Caroline is captivated by his idealism. A mutual attraction develops between July and Robert after she discovers his terror of cockroaches and calmly stamps one to death in his house. Over weeks he leaves pressed flowers at her door and finally confesses his love.

Robert devises a scheme: He marries Caroline to gain authority over the plantation while keeping July as his true love in a room beneath the house. On his wedding night, he goes first to July, telling her she is his "real wife." Caroline grows frustrated as Robert rarely visits her bed and insists she call July by her real name. July gives birth to Emily, a fair-skinned, grey-eyed girl fathered by Robert. Caroline refuses to acknowledge the child.

Conflict erupts between Robert and the freed workers, who thrive on their provision grounds, the small plots of land where they grow food and raise livestock. They resist his demand for six days of labor, offering only four. Robert retaliates by increasing rents and organizing white men to burn the workers' crops and evict them. Every worker abandons Amity for rough backlands beyond the plantation's borders. Robert falls into a mental health crisis, slashing cane alone in the fields. When July tries to stop him, he grabs her throat and raises a machete; Caroline seizes the blade, and Robert collapses. He spends weeks in bed, and a doctor prescribes a long visit to England.

Before departing, Robert forbids July any goodbye. July hands baby Emily to Molly for a feeding without noticing Molly is wearing a hat. Molly boards the ship with the Goodwins, taking Emily. When July learns the ship has sailed, she drops to the ground, comprehending that her daughter has been stolen.

Decades later, July writes a fabricated happy ending. Thomas rejects it, demanding the truth. The real ending follows: An elderly, emaciated July stands in a courtroom charged with stealing a hen. Thomas, now a prosperous printer, recognizes her from an essay by Jane Kinsman, a member of the family that raised him, and arranges her release. He takes July home and tells her he believes he is her son. Overwhelmed, July vomits the milk she has been given. Thomas's own story is woven into the final chapter: his childhood in England, his apprenticeship to the printer Linus Gray near Fleet Street in London, and his return to Jamaica to establish a thriving print works. July lives with Thomas and his family but resists telling the full story of her decades on the backlands. In an afterword, Thomas asks any reader with information about Emily's whereabouts to write to him, cautioning that "the finding of negro blood within a family is not always met with rejoicing."