Hortense Joseph arrives in London from Jamaica in 1948 with her life in her suitcase, her heart broken but her resolve intact. Her husband, Gilbert Joseph, returns from the war expecting to be received as a hero, but finds his status as a black man in Britain to be second class. His white landlady, Queenie, raised as a farmer's daughter, befriends GiIbert, and Iater Hortense, with innocence and courage, untiI the unexpected arrival of her husband, Bernard, who returns from combat with issues of his own to resolve. SmaIl IsIand is a courageous story of tender emotion and sparkling wit, of shattering compassion and reckIess optimism in the face of insurmountable barriers. |