Hortense Roberts

Hortense Roberts is one of the central protagonists in Small Island. Born in Jamaica, Hortense is an attractive woman with a “complexion as light as [her father’s]; the colour of warm honey” (32). Much of the novel revolves around her navigation of a new life in London. She is proud, defiant, and often somewhat imperious. Gilbert, after several days in England with Hortense, refers to her as “haughty” (269). Despite her refined and fairly aloof exterior, Hortense is ultimately warm, caring, and inviting; Gilbert describes her smile “an astonishing vision” (381).

Hortense is the daughter of Lovell Roberts—a “man of class…a legend” (31)—and a woman named Alberta. She is born out of wedlock and raised by her father’s cousins, the Roberts. As she grows older, she develops romantic feelings for the Roberts’ son, Michael. She “could not [herself] from weeping” (49) when Michael joins the RAF in...