The Book of Night Women by Marlon James

Gypsy's Review

rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

The Book of the Night Women is unlike any book I've ever read. Marlon James creates a seemingly tangible world with his use of dialect and the narrator's inside information. And what a cruel world it is. It makes me so sad to put myself in the place of any of the women in book, even the white women. While women appear to be the more cunning sex, their power is so limited that they are only allowed to move in a certain framework. The men are portrayed as easily manipulated, but with ultimate power, at least over the women.

James does an excellent job of exploring relationships including interracial, intra-racial, gender and class relationships. All of the slave relationships portrayed were rough. The slaves were very tough on one another and of course the masters and mistresses were hard on the slaves. The interaction between whites, while not examined in great detail, highlighted the class issues of the time.

Overall, I really liked the book, although, I found it difficult to read due to the strong dialect and harsh language. However, I think this adds to the authenticity of the the story. Marlon James did an excellent job and I will definitely read more of his work in the future.


View all my reviews.



View all my reviews.