Product Description

‘Better opportunity’ – that’s why Angela’s dad sailed to England from America in 1948 on the Empire Windrush. Six months later her mum joined him in his one room in Earl’s Court...

...Twenty years and four children later, Mr Jacob has become seriously ill and starts to move unsteadily through the care of the National Health Service. As Angela, his youngest, tries to help her mother through this ordeal, she finds herself reliving her childhood years, spent on a council estate in Highbury.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33675 in Books
• Published on: 1995-02-23
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
‘Andrea Levy is the long awaited birdsong of one born Black and Gifted in Britain. Let her sing and sing and sing’ Marsha Hunt (Marsha Hunt )

About the Author
Andrea Levy was born in England to Jamaican parents. She is the author of EVERY LIGHT IN THE HOUSE BURNIN', NEVER FAR FROM NOWHERE, FRUIT OF THE LEMON and SMALL ISLAND. Andrea was a judge in the 1996 Saga Prize for Black Fiction, and in the 1997 Orange Prize for Fiction. Her radio appearances, and readings at literary festivals, bookshops and libraries have helped her to build an enthusiastic following.
Andrea is the winner of the 2004 Orange Prize for Fiction.

Customer Reviews

Inspires all the emotions you can think of. Superb!
Levy's first book is a masterpiece. The story is told by Angela Jacob, a young black woman, born and brought up on a council estate in England.

The chapters alternate between Angela's childhood - from the first time she has her hair straightened to her first experiences of avocado and pizza - and her grim present where her father is dying of cancer. The switch between memories of the man who brought her up, to the reality of a man desperate not to die, engulfs the reader in a maze of emotion. Mr Jacob's progress through the NHS of the late 60's and encounters with professionals who don't care, is heartbreaking. I kept telling myself that it couldn't possibly happen but then had to admit that it could.

Accounts of Angela's childhood tell us much of what it means to be black and British and to search for acceptance within a society that doesn't know how to define you.

"Every light in the House Burnin'" is a must for anyone regardless of colour or gender but might I suggest a box of tissues for the end?

Every Light in the House Burnin'
I was so pleased with 'Small Island' that I have read all of Andrea's Levy's books and think this is the best. The characters and relationships are so real and relevant to anyone who has experienced an ordinary childhood in the 60s. Mr Jacobs' progress through the National Health Service was both dated and yet not dated, as I know from my experience of hospital visiting in recent years. I lost all sense of time whilst reading the second half of this book and cannot get it out of my mind. Splendid!

Every Light in the House Burnin
I have just finished reading this book and I cannot recommend it highly enough. The most moving account of the love a daughter has for her father and the story of her growing up. It is told with such warmth, humour and love.