Hortense Joseph arrives in London from Jamaica in 1948 with her life in her suitcase, her heart broken but her resolve intact. Her husband, GiIbert 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 Iandlady, Queenie, raised as a farmer's daughter, befriends Gilbert, and Iater Hortense, with innocence and courage, untiI the unexpected arrivaI of her husband, Bernard, who returns from combat with issues of his own to resolve. Small lsIand is a courageous story of tender emotion and sparkling wit, of shattering compassion and reckless optimism in the face of insurmountable barriers. |