BBC1 to adapt prize-winning novel (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

BBC1 to adapt prize-winning novel

6:20am Friday 24th October 2008 in

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Andrea Levy's award-winning novel Small Island is to be adapted to make a two-part BBC drama.

The show, spanning the heat and hustle of life in 1940s Jamaica and the devastation of London in the Blitz, will boast a "stellar cast" for BBC1 next autumn.

Its stars include Naomie Harris, of Pirates Of The Caribbean and 28 Days Later and David Oyelowo, who was in The Last King Of Scotland.

They will play a Jamaican couple named Gilbert and Hortense who start a new life in England.

When she joins her husband, Hortense is shocked to discover that London is not the place she imagined.

A BBC spokesman said: "We are thrilled about bringing this epic yet personal romance story to BBC1.

"It is hugely exciting to be able to put such an esteemed modern classic on BBC One where it will complement our classic adaptations."

The novel was the winner of the Whitbread Book of the Year and Commonwealth Writers' Prize awards in 2005.

In addition it was awarded the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2004, and Orange "Best of the Best" prize in 2005.

John Alexander, whose previous credits include Life On Mars, will direct the production.