Previous
Celia Langley
Hortense’s father, Lovell Roberts, is a light-skinned and powerful government bureaucrat. Hortense is considered lucky because of her father’s high status, and her mother, Alberta, even gives her up to be raised by his family. However, Lovell never shows any interest in her and she never meets him, instead spending her childhood with his cold-hearted cousins, Philip and Martha Roberts. While Lovell gives his daughter the benefit of an education, he denies her the security of a loving family.
Lovell Roberts Quotes in Small Island
The Small Island quotes below are all either spoken by Lovell Roberts or refer to Lovell Roberts. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 3: Hortense Quotes
With such a countenance there was a chance of a golden life for I. What, after all, could Alberta give? Bare black feet skipping over stones. If I was given to my father’s cousins for upbringing, I could learn to read and write and perform all my times tables. And more. I could become a lady worthy of my father, wherever he might be.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Small Island LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Lovell Roberts Character Timeline in Small Island
The timeline below shows where the character Lovell Roberts appears in Small Island. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3: Hortense
In a flashback, Hortense describes her childhood. Her father, Lovell Roberts, is a “government man,” well-known and almost worshipped in her town, Savannah-La-Mar, long after...
(full context)
Philip Roberts is Lovell’s cousin, a wealthy man who controls all the district’s produce. Because of his wealth, he’s...
(full context)
Chapter 4: Hortense
...indifferent to her departure; they seem to have forgotten that her father is the famous Lovell Roberts. Only Miss Jewel puts on her best clothes to bid Hortense farewell, giving her...
(full context)
