Publisher's Synopsis
Jackie Kay's "The Lamplighter" takes us on a journey through the dark heart of slavery. It is both a radio and stage play and a multi-layered epic poem. This edition includes a CD of the much acclaimed BBC radio play. Four women and one man tell the story of the fort, the slave ship, the middle passage, the life on the plantations, the growth of the British city and the industrial revolution. "The Lamplighter" focuses on parts of history other books rarely touch upon, revealing the devastating human cost of slavery for individual people. Constance has had to witness the sale of her own child; Mary has been beaten to an inch of her life; Black Harriot has had to become a high class whore; and, the Lamplighter was sold twice into slavery from the ports in Bristol. All four very different voices tell their story, along with Macbean, the zeitgeist.
