But I found myself being drawn back to Marlon’s book, again and again. I placed it back on the counter and skimmed through the other offerings. I examined Marlon’s book a little, front and back, looked at the price tag and almost drop a ground. But it was well worth the two-plus hours. I had ignored it for months before deciding to watch it. And that was 12 Years a Slave directed by Steve McQueen. It took me almost three decades thereafter to watch another slave movie. And at some point–not sure when–I couldn’t stomach them anymore. I said, I don’t know if I can handle this.Īs a little girl, I had watched many American-made movies set in the time of slavery. I even said something to that effect to the fellow. I literally took a deep breath when I saw the book, not because I was in any way wowed by Marlon James or by the cover, but because, instinctively, I knew the book was going to be “heavy” reading. Then the fellow brought out The Book of Night Women by Marlon James. I didn’t fancy the quality of the artwork, and I didn’t bother to read the blurb or look at the price (I’m that picky indeed).
So most of what was brought before me was dismissed after one look at the cover.
Some were from the shelves and others seemed to come out of nowhere.īefore dipping into my modest money supply to purchase any book (because like many other writers, at home and abroad, I’m living out the cliche of the starving artist), I look at three things: the artwork on the cover, the blurb and then the price. No sooner had that request left my mouth, books were being brought and laid out on the counter before me–left, right and centre. But the real revelation of the book-the secret to the stirring imagery and insistent prose-is Marlon James himself, a young writer at once breathtakingly daring and wholly in command of his craft.Some weeks ago, I stopped in at my local bookstore and asked the fellow behind the counter for novels from Caribbean writers. But when she begins to understand her own feelings, desires, and identity, Lilith starts to push at the edges of what is imaginable for the life of a slave woman, and risks becoming the conspiracy's weak link. The Night Women, as they call themselves, have long been plotting a slave revolt, and as Lilith comes of age they see her as the key to their plans.
Even at her birth, the slave women around her recognize a dark power that they- and she-will come to both revere and fear. It is the story of Lilith, born into slavery on a Jamaican sugar plantation at the end of the eighteenth century. "An undeniable success.” - The New York Times Book ReviewĪ true triumph of voice and storytelling, The Book of Night Women rings with both profound authenticity and a distinctly contemporary energy. From the author of the National Book Award finalist Black Leopard, Red Wolf and the WINNER of the 2015 Man Booker Prize for A Brief History of Seven Killings
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