The Book of Night Women [Hardcover]

Marlon James (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 19, 2009

Read Marlon James's posts on the Penguin blog.

The Book of Night Women is a sweeping, startling novel, a true tour de force of both voice and storytelling. It is the story of Lilith, born into slavery on a Jamaican sugar plantation at the end of the eighteenth century. 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 plotting a slave revolt, and as Lilith comes of age and reveals the extent of her power, they see her as the key to their plans. But when she begins to understand her own feelings and desires and identity, Lilith starts to push at the edges of what is imaginable for the life of a slave woman in Jamaica, and risks becoming the conspiracy’s weak link.

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 heart of it all. And all of it told in one of the boldest literary voices to grace the page recently—and the secret of that voice is one of the book’s most intriguing mysteries.

Editorial Reviews

From Bookmarks Magazine

By exploring the ferociously cruel and dehumanizing practices of slavery in Jamaica, James adds a new chapter to the history of human bondage in the Americas -- "a story we may dare to think we already know" (New York Times Book Review). Powerful and eloquent, The Book of Night Women is narrated in a lilting Jamaican patois that at once underscores and eerily conflicts with the disturbing images of violence and degradation that James conjures. Though the novel is filled with familiar figures -- dissolute masters, jealous mistresses, house and field slaves -- James never lets them devolve into cliches or ciphers; instead, he creates convincingly human characters. A stunning testament to the dynamics of ultimate power and powerlessness, Night Women will keep readers up at night.
Copyright 2009 Bookmarks Publishing LLC

Review

“Marlon 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.”—Dinaw Mengestu, author of The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears

“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.”—Colum McCann, author of Zoli and Dancer

“With The Book of Night Women, Marlon James proves himself to be Jamaica’s answer to Junot Díaz, 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 we’ve read it.”—Colin Channer, author of The Girl with the Golden Shoes

“Pile them up, a Marlon James character says repeatedly, and Marlon does just that. Pile them up: language, imagery, technique, imagination. All fresh, all exciting.”—Chris Abani, author of The Virgin of Flames and GraceLand

“Marlon James’s writing brings to mind early Toni Morrison, Jessica Hagedorn, and Gabriel García Márquez.”—Kaylie Jones, author of A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 417 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Books; First Edition edition (February 19, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594488576
• ISBN-13: 978-1594488573
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #656,619 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #49 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Caribbean

More About the Author

When not solving the problem of world hunger or seducing the planet's most beautiful women I'm in a dark, remote corner somewhere with book, reading or writing the damn thing. My poet friend says she has a greater need to write than to live and I think I understand. Sure it's pretentious but I think a writer does write in order to search for meaning or at least to make some sense out of life. I know I do. I believe that people are essentially good but evil is always within us. I believe in God but lock my doors. I believe in freedom but put responsibility first. I have one dog, no guns, too many books and not nearly enough friends to share good wine with.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Freedom Cometh With The Night, February 24, 2009

By 

Phyllis Rhodes (Orlando, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Book of Night Women (Hardcover)

Marlon James's latest novel, The Book of Night Women, opens with an immediate ominous vibe as a much-too-young 13 year-old child dies giving birth to a green-eyed daughter (Lilith) in a dirty, old shack. Merge this unfortunate beginning with the hard living and harder dying on a late 18th century Jamaican sugar cane plantation populated with slaves named after characters portrayed in Greek tragedies and James delivers an intense novel steeped in history, mystery, with a touch of mysticism.

At its core, this is a historical novel narrated by the slave, Lilith, and an unknown voice (which is revealed at the end) in heavy Jamaican patois and broken English. Orphaned at birth, she is raised by the barren and cruel concubine-of-sorts, Circe, and the insane, but caring, Tantalus. Puberty brings unwanted attention and in a brutal act of self-defense, the pretty Lilith is ostracized and placed in Homer's care at the "big house." Drama and more trouble ensue as Lilith vies for the master's attention and affection foregoing Homer's warnings and advice. Homer and Lilith's dialogue and experiences reveal the inter-/intra-relationships and the complex hierarchical strata and blended culture among slaves (house, field, Johnny-jumper), whites (British, French, Irish, Creole, owners, and overseers), Maroons, and Africans (Ashanti, Igbo, etc.). Homer, understanding the power of superstition, practices myal and inflicts an obeah-inspired method of control and revenge across the plantation.

The Night Women are a group led by Homer, a natural leader and planner, who has been plotting revenge and a multi-plantation rebellion with other like-minded women on neighboring estates. Befriending and adding Lilith to the group causes consternation amongst the other women, including two who share her haunting green-eyes indicating a sisterly bond spawned by the same paternity. The plot thickens and twists as Lilith makes difficult choices (and have some made for her) as she grows into womanhood, negotiates the plantation politics, and evaluates her allegiance to friends, her heart, and her master.

Be warned, the novel is written in native patois which might be a bit hard to follow initially until the reader finds cadence in the pages. The language and imagery at times are a bit vulgar and are painfully and tearfully graphic. Nonetheless, James has penned a novel that is sure to place on my "favorites" list for 2009 releases. This novel offers page-turning intrigue, unpredictable plot turns, and colorful characters with authentic voices to produce an award-worthy novel.

Reviewed by Phyllis
February 23, 2009
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HAUNTING..., February 6, 2010

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SoulSistah#1 "lovesupreme" (Where I'm at!) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Book of Night Women (Paperback)

I've waited two weeks after reading this book before I decided to write a review. I waited so long partly because I needed time to process what I had read and partly because the characters kept haunting me. The imagery of this book is so expertly written that at times I found myself mentally gasping for air. I could literally smell the "mint and lemongrass" of Homer and I could feel the physical and mental pain associated with purposely stifling rage and fury as a means of survival. I felt anger and symphathy for lilith simultaneously and I winced in empathethic pain as the characters were beaten, whipped, tortured and brutalized. The chapter describing the construction of the gibbet, the housing and subsequent hoisting of the men and women into the trees is what prompted the title of this review (I hope this sentence piques your interest into purchasing the book to find out what a gibbet is and why it was pivotal to my description).

Despite the soul and gut wrenching imagery, this book is rhythmic in narration. The wording and melodic patois of the characters as well as the narrator provide a needed balance between the descriptive brutality. Additionally, the juxtaposition of a "love story', or what feels like 'love' to one of the central characters is sure to incite an internal debate among the reader. After completing this book, I found myself studying the face of the author on the back flap. For a minute I taught he might be an extra terrestrial or wrote this book supernaturally because the writing was otherwordly beautiful, perfectly beautiful.

If you are looking for a book that will satisfy every literary emotion you can conjure then this book is definitely for you. I may be going out on a limb when I declare that novice writers should use this book as a handguide to great literature, but in my not so humble opinion this is true. Once you read this book your opinion of great literature will never be the same.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing and Intense, April 21, 2009

By 

Raizel the Raisin (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Book of Night Women (Hardcover)

I had a hard time putting this book down. Mr. James has written a heartbreakingly realistic portrait of slave life and the degredation and sexual abuse that was so much part of it. I haven't read something so intense and disturbing in a long time. I am almost embarassed to be part of a human race that could treat other humans this way.