Author(s): Marlon James

Historical Fiction

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.

About the author:
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.