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Kehinde Wiley recommended The Book of Night Women in Books (curated)

The Book of Night Women

Marlon James | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry

9.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Favorite

"More recently celebrated for his masterpiece A Brief History of Seven Killings, James has created in this lesser known book a deeply personal view of Jamaican slavery. Set from a decidedly female perspective, The Book of Night Women takes you into domestic spaces, seduces you into understanding the very real conflicts and emotions behind charged and savage sexual encounters between slaves and masters, and dissects the negotiations of power within those relationships."

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Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Storm Clouds Rolling In (Bregdan Chronicles #1) in Books

Nov 26, 2019

Describing this book makes it sound like it could be a tale of Southern romance set before the American Civil War; Carrie Cromwell is the teenage daughter of a plantation owner in Virginia and falls for the son of another plantation owner as the political and social storm of the events of the Civil War brew around them.

In reality however this is a far more complex work - yes the romance is there but it is very much overshadowed by the situation and events of the time. Firstly Carrie is not a Southern Belle happy to sit on the verandah and look after her hard working man - she wants to make something of herself and doesn't think that she will be happy running her father's plantation in later life. Secondly she has grave doubts about slavery, an institution that has become the basis of the plantation owner's very existence.

This novel then is far more an exploration of the confict the slave issue creates as well as the lack of opportunity for a bright woman to better herself in the nineteenth century.

The author does well with the slavery issue in presenting someone from the whole spectrum, from reactionary pro-slavery plantation owners to equally abhorrent abolitionlists who are in many ways just as bad. Carrie is very much undecided throughout the book and that is a good thing, we are essentially treated to a novel length essay on the causes of the civil war and the justifications for slavery that caused a lot of the friction, along with the North failing to take account of the depth of the pride of those in the South.

The characters are very well drawn, and although each more-or-less repesents one particular facet of the debate none are mere ciphers and indeed many of them evolve over time and change their outlook and opinions, not lease Carrie but also of note the slaves Rose and Moses, both young but who really grow during the course of the story. The author has necessarily put some perjorative terms for slaves in the mouths of some of her characters - for which she apologises in a brief forward - but this not only lends realism but underlines those characters attitudes towards the slaves.

The book does move at a relatively slow pace, and there are plenty of discussions around politics, society and slavery but it is quite immersive and acts to let each character become far more solid.

Overall a book I enjoyed and it provides a lot of insight into the state of America at the outbreak of war and why it happened