The Book of Night Women

The Book of Night Women

by Marlon James (Author)

Synopsis

From a young writer who radiates charisma and talent comes a sweeping, stylish historical novel of Jamaican slavery written in the spirit of Toni Morrison and Alice Walker but in a style all his own. Described by the New York Times as 'both beautifully written and devastating', The Book of Night Women is a startling, hard-edged dissection of slavery - a true tour de force of both voice and storytelling. At the heart of the novel is the extraordinary character of Lilith, a spirited slave girl struggling to transcend the violence into which she is born, her story narrated in one of the boldest literary voices to grace the page. Overflowing with high drama and heartbreak, at its centre is the conspiracy of the Night Women, a clandestine council of fierce slave women plotting an island-wide revolt. Rebellions simmer, incidents of sadism and madness run rampant, and the tangled web of power relationships dramatically unravels amid dangerous secrets, unspoken jealousies, inhuman violence, and very human emotion.

$26.11

Quantity

1 in stock

More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 432
Edition: UK First Edition.
Publisher: Oneworld Publications
Published: 03 Aug 2009

ISBN 10: 1851687084
ISBN 13: 9781851687084

Media Reviews
aMarlon James has written an exquisite, haunting and beautiful novel, impossible to resist. Like the best of literature, The Book of Night Women deserves to be passed down hand to hand, generation to generation.a aDinaw Mengestu, author of The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears a The Book of Night Women is a slave narrative, a story of rebellion, and a testament to the human heart in conflict with itself. It is a book of rip and rhythm. Of violence and tenderness. Of the healing glance in all the hatred. It reads like Faulkner in another skin. It is a brave book. And like the best, and most dangerous, of stories, it seems as if it was just waiting to be told.a aColum McCann, author of Zoli and Dancer aWith The Book of Night Women, Marlon James proves himself to be Jamaicaas answer to Junot DA-az, Edwidge Danticat, and Zadie Smith. James imbues his lively, energetic prose and unforgettable characters with a precocious wisdom about love, race, and history that none of us has ever seen before, but that feels alive, even definitive, as soon weave read it.a aColin Channer, author of The Girl with the Golden Shoes aPile them up, a Marlon James character says repeatedly, and Marlon does just that. Pile them up: language, imagery, technique, imagination. All fresh, all exciting.a aChris Abani, author of The Virgin of Flames and GraceLand aMarlon Jamesas writing brings to mind early Toni Morrison, Jessica Hagedorn, and Gabriel GarcA-a MArquez.a aKaylie Jones, author of A Soldieras Daughter Never Cries
Author Bio
Marlon James was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1970. He graduated from the University of the West Indies with a degree in literature, and currently teaches creative writing at Macalester College in Minnesota and is working on his next novel.