Scan barcode
A review by thestarkening
The Book of Night Women by Marlon James
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.