The Book of Night Women
From a young writer who radiates charisma and talent comes a sweeping, stylish historical novel of Jamaican slavery that can be compared only to Toni Morrison's Beloved.The Book of Night Women is a sweeping, startling novel—a true tour de force of both voice and storytelling—that tells the story of a young slave woman on a sugar plantation in Jamaica at the turn of the nineteenth century, revealing a world and a culture that is both familiar and entirely new. Lilith is born into slavery, and even at her birth, the slave women around her recognize a dark power that they—and she— will come to both revere and fear. The Night Women, as they call themselves, have long been conspiring to stage a slave revolt, and as Lilith comes of age they see her as the key to and—as she reveals the extent of her power and begins to understand her own desires and feelings—potentially the weak link in their plans.Lilith's story overflows with high drama and heartbreak, and life on the plantation is rife with dangerous secrets, unspoken jealousies, inhuman violence, and very human emotion— between slave and master, between slave and overseer, and among the slaves themselves. Lilith finds herself at the h
Where The Book of Night Women keeps showing up
One of our editors' lists features this novel.
What you might want to know about The Book of Night Women
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
On a Jamaican sugar plantation at the turn of the nineteenth century, an enslaved girl named Lilith is born with green eyes and a wildness her elders try to hide. A circle of older women is preparing a slave revolt.
Yes. The Book of Night Women won the 2010 Dayton Literary Peace Prize. Marlon James later won the 2015 Booker Prize for A Brief History of Seven Killings.
Yes. The Book of Night Women uses Jamaican patois and depicts slavery in unflinching detail. The voice takes adjustment, and the content is heavy. Most readers find it deeply rewarding while emotionally demanding.
The Book of Night Women was written by Marlon James, published in 2009 by Penguin Group USA, Inc..
The Book of Night Women is 432 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Book of Night Women takes most readers 6 to 9 hours to finish.
The Book of Night Women is a standalone novel by Marlon James, not part of a series.
The Book of Night Women is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
