''The Longest Memory'' is a 1994 short novel (138 pages long) by British writer

Fred D'Aguiar Fred D'Aguiar (born 2 February 1960) is a British-Guyanese poet, novelist, and playwright. He is currently Professor of English at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Life Fred D'Aguiar was born in London, England, in 1960 t ...

. It was the Guyana-born poet's first novel, The story takes place on a

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

n plantation, in the period before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, between 1790 and 1810. The book is told through many different people and in different forms. It begins in the first person, with Whitechapel, the oldest and most respected slave on the plantation, recounting the sorrows of his life. From there on, each chapter is narrated by a different character, sometimes speaking through verse, via diary entry or in the second person. Most of the chapters are narrated by characters central to the story; however, chapter 11 is purely made up of fictitious editorials from the local newspaper known as ''The Virginian''.

Plot

A young slave, Chapel, falls in love with the daughter of the plantation owner. He attempts to run away and join his lover in the north. However his father, Whitechapel, betrays his whereabouts, fearing that his son will die if he is not captured and returned home to the plantation. Chapel is captured and brought back to the plantation where he is whipped by Sanders Junior, the overseer. Chapel catches a fever after the whipping and dies, due to his weak state. Everybody blames Whitechapel for Chapel's death. Mr. Whitechapel, the owner of the plantation, was away from the plantation that day, and was unaware of the occurrences taking place. He had given specific instructions to hold the slave until he returned, which order was not carried out by Sanders Jr. Mr Whitechapel is angered when he finds out that Sanders Jr. whipped his half-brother to death. Then the book goes back in time to the diary of Sanders Senior, the memories of Cook and Lydia. It is then finished with extracts from the Virginian local newspaper of the year 1810 having direct connections with the events of the story.

Reception

Praising the novel in her review in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'',

Ruth Padel Ruth Sophia Padel FRSL FZS is a British poet, novelist and non-fiction author, known for her poetic explorations of migration, both animal and human, and her involvement with classical music, wildlife conservation and Greece, ancient and modern. ...

wrote: "Lyric optimism from rottenness and violence: a brilliant - and beautiful - achievement." The review in '' Kirkus Reviews'' concluded: "A small book with the emotional impact of a wide-screen blockbuster, the reasoned progress of a play, and the painful beauty of poetry."''The Longest Memory'' review
''Kirkus'', 20 May 2010.

Awards

''The Longest Memory'' was the winner of the 1994 Whitbread First Novel Award and the

David Higham Prize for Fiction The David Higham Prize for Fiction was inaugurated in 1975 to mark the 80th birthday of David Higham, literary agent, and was awarded annually to a citizen of the Commonwealth, Republic of Ireland, Pakistan, or South Africa for a first novel or boo ...

References

External links

"The Longest Memory"
Example Essays.
"The Longest Memory" page
at Random House Books.
"The longest memory : a novel"
Summary/Reviews, Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Longest Memory, The 1994 British novels Novels set in Virginia Novels about American slavery Fiction set in the 1790s Fiction set in the 1800s 1994 debut novels Chatto & Windus books