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sawcat's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Do not give up on this book until you reach Homer and give a portion with Homer a try. And if you are struggling with print, try the audio, Robin Miles is a gem of a narrator. This book is so well written and so loaded that I am still fully processing it after finishing it on the weekend. It is truly complex, and hardly any characters fit a neat category of truly good and truly bad. The novel focuses on the women of this community that is usually lead by men.
katherinechase's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Extremely difficult read, but absolutely needed. The trauma of generations takes form in this book. This is a real story of slavery, of the demonic evils perpetrated and perpetuated by slave owners. But it is also about the women who, fuelled by their trauma and knowledge that they aren’t what the slave owners say they are, stand up to the violence of whites.
duygusu's review against another edition
4.0
While we have read about or know about slavery, we can never ever understand the grotesque depravity that whites had against blacks. I felt shame, I felt my heart torn, I felt the light and strength of their soul shining through.. so disturbing yet so eloquent and beautifully written.
hectaizani's review against another edition
5.0
Marlon James dumped me off on an 18th-century sugar plantation and immersed me in Lilith's story. Lilith was born into slavery, to a teenaged mother raped by a white overseer, and the mother died giving birth. Lilith's story is difficult to assimilate, even though fictional, it is probably depicts actual conditions on a slave plantation. Slaves weren't people, merely possessions, or objects, to be used and abused at a whim. The descriptions were shocking and disgusting and violent and should be required reading instead of the white-washed versions that we receive in American history classes. James also made mention of the white caste system in which certain nationalities (in this case Irish) were considered barely human and little better than blacks and other people of color, another tidbit of history that doesn't get taught.
Among all the violence and degradation we also get a brilliantly told story of Lilith's coming of age as she grows from a teenager into a woman. James' characterizations were absolutely incredible with each character fully formed and relatable. That's not to say that they were likable because many (most) of them weren't but one could easily understand the motivations behind their actions even when those actions were reprehensible or disquieting.
The story is told completely in Jamaican patois which in the audio version is a completely immersive experience. The author doesn't shy away from language and the book is peppered with liberal use of the n-word, and constant references to pussy, cocky, and fucking.
This may be the best if not the most disturbing book that I've read all year. I know it will stay with me for a long time which is the highest praise I can give to an author. I will be adding other works by Marlon James to my TBR list.
Among all the violence and degradation we also get a brilliantly told story of Lilith's coming of age as she grows from a teenager into a woman. James' characterizations were absolutely incredible with each character fully formed and relatable. That's not to say that they were likable because many (most) of them weren't but one could easily understand the motivations behind their actions even when those actions were reprehensible or disquieting.
The story is told completely in Jamaican patois which in the audio version is a completely immersive experience. The author doesn't shy away from language and the book is peppered with liberal use of the n-word, and constant references to pussy, cocky, and fucking.
This may be the best if not the most disturbing book that I've read all year. I know it will stay with me for a long time which is the highest praise I can give to an author. I will be adding other works by Marlon James to my TBR list.
jessi_lou95's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Excrement, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Death, Colonisation, Gore, Sexual violence, Child death, Torture, Murder, Blood, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Sexual assault
laila4343's review against another edition
5.0
This book was amazing.
Utterly devastating, but amazing.
Now I need to read and own everything else Marlon James has written or will ever write.
Utterly devastating, but amazing.
Now I need to read and own everything else Marlon James has written or will ever write.
thestarkening's review
5.0
I want to start off by saying that I absolutely loved this book. (You can read my full review on blog at www.amstark.com!)
Reading The Book of Night Women was a departure for me, a step outside of my comfort zone, if you will, but not entirely. Most of my life I have been fascinated by the Civil Right’s movements, the concept of slavery, and the struggles of people different than myself. I’m a white woman. I have absolutely no idea what it is like to look at the color of my skin and wonder if I’ll be judged on sight for that. The only discrimination I have faced is that I’m a woman and therefore seen as the weaker sex. But that’s a topic for another time.
‘Every negro walk in a circle. Take that and make of it what you will.’
The Book of Night Women follows a girl named Lilith who was born into slavery on a Jamaican sugar cane plantation in the late 1700s. Lilith learns early that she’s different, chiefly because she has green eyes. That trait in a slave girl means that her father was likely a white man. Lilith also learns that she’s different because she feels in her soul a sort of darkness that she can’t quite explain. She just knows she feels it. The other black women on the plantation feel it in her, too. Through a series of experiences, some horrifying, some not, Lilith and the other women on the plantation come to understand how real and deep that darkness goes and how much of Lilith’s own strength it takes to combat that.
A girl becomes a woman, a forbidden love blossoms, a war is waged, and through it all, a perspective is gained.
This book was published in 2009 so I’m a little behind the curve in picking this up, but I am glad I did. Marlon James is a brilliant writer. He’s Jamaican which I think makes him a natural storyteller in its own, but he tells such a beautiful story. You feel for her. You ache for her. You get mad at her, and mad for her, and at other times, you feel just as confused as she is. But you understand her. That’s the most important part. And James doesn’t mince words either. He presents this human experience with all the language and imagery necessary to drive home to points of the time. This is the way it was. Period. It’s brutal, it’s upsetting, it’s compelling.
It's also worth every minute.
Reading The Book of Night Women was a departure for me, a step outside of my comfort zone, if you will, but not entirely. Most of my life I have been fascinated by the Civil Right’s movements, the concept of slavery, and the struggles of people different than myself. I’m a white woman. I have absolutely no idea what it is like to look at the color of my skin and wonder if I’ll be judged on sight for that. The only discrimination I have faced is that I’m a woman and therefore seen as the weaker sex. But that’s a topic for another time.
‘Every negro walk in a circle. Take that and make of it what you will.’
The Book of Night Women follows a girl named Lilith who was born into slavery on a Jamaican sugar cane plantation in the late 1700s. Lilith learns early that she’s different, chiefly because she has green eyes. That trait in a slave girl means that her father was likely a white man. Lilith also learns that she’s different because she feels in her soul a sort of darkness that she can’t quite explain. She just knows she feels it. The other black women on the plantation feel it in her, too. Through a series of experiences, some horrifying, some not, Lilith and the other women on the plantation come to understand how real and deep that darkness goes and how much of Lilith’s own strength it takes to combat that.
A girl becomes a woman, a forbidden love blossoms, a war is waged, and through it all, a perspective is gained.
This book was published in 2009 so I’m a little behind the curve in picking this up, but I am glad I did. Marlon James is a brilliant writer. He’s Jamaican which I think makes him a natural storyteller in its own, but he tells such a beautiful story. You feel for her. You ache for her. You get mad at her, and mad for her, and at other times, you feel just as confused as she is. But you understand her. That’s the most important part. And James doesn’t mince words either. He presents this human experience with all the language and imagery necessary to drive home to points of the time. This is the way it was. Period. It’s brutal, it’s upsetting, it’s compelling.
It's also worth every minute.