num_pages: 138
description: Written in taut, poetic language, THE LONGEST MEMORY is set on a Virginian plantation in the 19th century, and tells the tragic story of a rebellious, fiercely intelligent young slave who breaks all the in learning to read and write, in falling in love with a white girl, the daughter of his owner, and, finally, in trying to escape and join her in the free North. For his attempt to flee, he is whipped to death in front of his family, and this brutal event is the pivot around which the story evolves.
language: English
title: LONGEST MEMORY
titlecomplete: LONGEST MEMORY
genres: Fiction, Historical, Teaching, School, Literature, Read For School, Classics, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, African American
ratings_count: 1666
awards: awardedAt: 757411200000
name: Whitbread Award
category: First Novel, awardedAt: 757411200000
name: David Higham Prize
category: Fiction
publisher: Random House UK