ROM the moment I started to write, I knew I had a story to tell, " says Andrea Levy, one of the most illustrious participants in Glasgow's forthcoming Aye Write!

festival, whose latest novel, Small Island, was recently announced the Whitbread Book of the Year. It weaves between two couples, one white and one black in post-war London, and graphically describes the disappointment of Caribbeans, brought up British who came to settle in the "mother country" only to discover hostility. But it doesn't portray the British as either unkind or inhumane, and what could have been a bitter, angry book is gentle and humorous.

Having earned such acclaim in the UK, it could be assumed that panEuropean publication would readily follow but, as Levy explains: "Some people still find it difficult to allow black people to have a universality about their story. So, with Gilbert and Hortense, it is always about two black people, not just two people trying to make their way in the world. That is the way it is. One of the good things with Small Island in this country is that some people are now able to look at them as just being two people, but Europe has a little bit more of a problem doing that."

Publishing is a profit-motivated industry and, for the time being, it would appear that when European publishers come across a story with black characters written by a black author, that's all they see. They don't see the depth of the story, its background or history. Levy likes books that can be enjoyed on several levels, offering a good story as well as making a statement and informing the reader. She mentions a favourite and previous Whitbread winner, English Passengers by Matthew Kneale.

"It is a book that is quietly in the same territory as I am working in, about colonialism in Van Diemen's Land and its aborigine population. It is a great story but because the writer is a white man, nobody suggests that it is about race, they simply wonder at the brutality and what was done to a people. It is recognised as a ripping yarn through which you learn some colonial history."

Levy is passionate about history, particularly that of the British Empire and what brought so many different people to these shores.

"A lot of people truly aren't interested in what it is like to grow up in Britain as one of a minority, but the success of Small Island has brought it to their attention, " she says. She feels there is more to learn about the relationship between Britain and its former colonies. Its relationship with the Caribbean is interesting because, unlike Africa or India, it was settled.

People were brought to the West Indies from other parts of the globe, usually against theirwill, and it is only in the last 50 or 60 years that some of them have decided to move on.

Levy recognises that, even 20 years ago, her books would not have created much interest and that the only comparable literature then available was written by African Americans.

There was a much longer history in the US of white and black people living in the same towns and cities, whereas British black citizens historically lived overseas in its colonies.

"We know much more about the world now and see it on our TV screens daily. There are more and more people like me whose origins are as a result of the British Empire.

But when I write something, everyone says: 'Oh, this is about race and you are obviously very angry.' But my books are not just about race. I write about people and history."

Born in North London to Jamaican parents, Levy is the youngest of four children and was brought up on a council estate in the sixties. Her father came to Britain on the Windrush in 1948 and worked for the Post Office. Her mother, a trained teacher in Jamaica, trained again in England and obtained an Open University degree. Levy's parents had a strong work ethic and thought praise was not good for the soul. Only at her girls' grammar school did Levy get open encouragement.

"We were terribly poor at first, with just my dad working. But I had friends who lived in worse conditions and I thought we were doing quite well. In fact, I didn't knowwhat middle class really was until I went to college." But she did know what it was like to grow up in a society where she was judged by the colour of her skin rather than the content of her character. Her novels explore the identity of being black and British, which is a modern phenomenon.

"I began tentatively writing about my own childhood and life, things I understood. As I learnt more about writing, I became more ambitious, although I am still learning my craft.

With Small Island, I realised I needed to write about 1948. I was terrified of the prospect because it was the first time that I needed to write about a time in which I didn't actually live. I had to feel my way into it through extensive research and I was very scared." Levy says that Caribbeans who migrated to the UK in the late forties and early fifties came with high expectations and were shocked at the rejection they received.

"It was painful, and they were often depressed. They didn't only suffer from antagonism, but had to adjust their expectations and understanding of class. I always had the impression my parents were trying to protect me.

They did not want me to expect too much from life and then get cut down by it." Despite having been in print for more than 10 years, Levy still finds her success a novelty and she has no illusion about the luck involved in winning a big literary prize.

"Having been a judge myself, I know it is a lucky dip. It depends on the judges, and the book that wins will be the one that they can all agree on. Another book may have created such strong emotion that someone will be really against it and someone else really for it." Nevertheless, she is the first to win the Orange and Whitbread in the same year and has also now achieved her ambition to have her photo taken for the National Portrait Gallery. So, what next? Levy smiles: "Small Island is just the beginning. There are so many more tales to tell about Britain and its Empire."

Small Island, Review, pounds-7.99.

Andrea Levy is appearing at the Aye Right! festival in Glasgow on Monday at 7pm. Ticket hotline 0845 330 3501.