by Andrea Levy / In the inexplicable absence of a definitive and revelatory history of Jamaica's nearly 300 years of slavery, Levy gamely steps into the void with the lively and engaging novel of Miss July, a slave born on the ironically named Amity sugar plantation. The mulatto child of a black slave and her white overseer, July's destiny was that of a canefield laborer until Caroline Mortimer took over the plantation upon the death of her brother. Renamed the more genteel Marguerite, July is promoted to the manor house, which brings her into contact with the new overseer, Robert Goodwin. More liberal than his lusty predecessors, Robert not only fails to abuse July, he also falls in love with her. Yet when the institution of slavery is abolished by royal decree, Goodwin's attempts to gainfully employ his former slaves end tragically for all concerned. Charming, alarming, Levy's vibrant historical novel shimmers with all the artifice and chicanery slave owners felt compelled to exert. --Booklist
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