Marlon JamesThe Book of Night Women

Every fictional story has its own possibility in reality. The hope of a happy ending lost in the reality of conditioning a human being into something else. The dissonance that still vibrates in one people harms another. The layers of brutality punched down on one another because the violence above was too intense to resist. This book did a good work a layering the various elements of brutality, cruelty and broken hearts earning for their correct place in life. There is a Homer, a Lilith, Circe, a Isobel, a Robert, and a Wilkins in my ancestory. One side striving for freedom the other side needing that to never be. That’s a hard thing to reconcile.

I started this book a year or so ago. It took me long to finish because I am a black woman and it was difficult to read at times. The violence that was inflicted on the slaves by their masters and even each other was unfathomable. I powered through slowly and it was worth it. This book is powerful and I would recommend anyone with am interest to read it. Thank you Marlon. I needed to read your book.

It took me a couple restarts of the first few pages to get hooked into this book (possibly because I'm chronically tired lol), but once I got into it, by chapter 2, I was done for. I even stayed up all night against my better judgement to finish the last half. I tried putting it down to sleep, but then kept thinking bout it, had to pick it up, to "read a little more" until the book was done, it was daylight outside and I was now on call. Still worth the on call fatigue.On finishing, I had to reread some sections, because of how blown away I was by every thing that happened and every conflicting thing I felt for the characters, who I thought the were and who they turned out to be, the very imperfect lives I got so wrapped up in. By the end I had soooooo many questions, so many thoughts, so many reflections. I wanted to continue the conversation the book started, I felt bereft and empty... so I did something I never do and have restated the book within 2 days of finishing it.I rarely reread books and when i do, i wait a year or more, but after gorging myself on different reviews and rereading sections, I found myself rereading the book within days of finishing it. The story and characters are that haunting, that real. I think the first time around, I was so engrossed in the plot itself, I didn't take time to see all the other hidden layers (which 2 or 3 pages into my reread, I'm already uncovering). So that's a first.I really wanted to like lilith. On a rational sphere, I understood her hardships and her environment and felt my heart weep for that. But I really could not connect to her the way I usually do. The ability of the author to make me greatly dislike the main character but still want to engage with her and end up loving the book regardless speaks volumes to me.Even in the beginning, it was evident she was headstrong and highspirited, and the author did an amazing job of showing both side of any one quality... ie it helped her (empowered her even) in the case of the Johnny jumper but became tiresome and pathetic in the case of her pursuit of the massa. Actually, this was something he did for most characters, show both sides of the swords of their characteristics, leaving me cheering them on in one breath but then despising or becoming frustrated with them for essentially the same thing in another setting. How fickle we are.He left no weakness unexposed, the dialogue, the description, the conditions of life were brutal, violent, abusive, and even the "best" characters were dirtied by it.The exploration of slavery, and the relationships that came out of it were similarly treated. There was really no "good" relationship, all of them were blatantly tainted with distrust, betrayal, abuse, power struggles and hurt, and yet, that made the establishment of any relationship even more sacred and vulnerable. It's almost like humans had the need to connect to each other on some level and still found a way to overcome all that in order to do so.I am utterly impressed that this was written from a male author - so many points to explore on that.I have so many questions - what is liliths name / what do they call her, the significance of the circle, what happened to homer, are we really all just stuck in a circle in a sense, I mean who is really from their societal brainwashing and bonds. This has me reflecting on slavery, colonialism, post colonialism , garrison politics, dichotomy of third world vs first world and how the master-servant/slave narrative hasn't fundamentally changed, in the global sphere (hello 3rd world tourism - sex, rent a dreads, drugs, crimes, medical procedures and experiments for a fraction of the cost and none of the guilt or values that wud be applied to the same thing in a 1st world setting). Thinking of the devaluation of black/Brown bodies and minds even within the 1st world. But also even in the personal sphere, how much of love is possession, power, control vs compromise, settling, loneliness. These themes and their ability to transcend from liliths story to our everyday life contributes to making this a powerful book.Def recommend. Def re reading.

I usually have a hard time finishing slave narratives. This one was very explicit and difficult to read but the story was completely captivating. I had to keep reading to see what the outcome would be. It’s hard to say that I enjoyed the story, but I felt it was a story that needed to be told. The writing style was from the slaves prospective which made it a little challenging; but also made it feel more authentic. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author.

The characters were drawn amazingly well. Their motivations, their desires, and actions made them come alive. And the story was exciting. The story was so well done I imagine it is going to rival the Nat Turner rebellion movie that's due out soon. It took some time to get used to reading the dialect of the narrators. But once I got past that, there was hardly a moment where I couldn't wait to read the next page. That's the mark of a great book or at least great entertainment.A day or so after I'd finished, though I wondered though, how a black woman writer would have written this differently. I was certain a black woman wouldn't have been so graphic with the language in the mouths of the women. Would this be more or less accurate? I don't know. But I think that piece would have been different.The thing that would have been most different would have been some of the thoughts IF NOT the ultimate behaviors of the main black female character. The main character might have arrived at the same point, but her path would have been a little bit more nuanced.During the first third of the book, the main character is naive in a way that seems quite black female stereotypical. Then again, the character is very young during the first part of the book. So maybe she isn't. But the thing that bothered me was that there were brief but critical moments toward the end of the novel where I felt confused about the character's motives BECAUSE the same issue rises again.The main character is slapped by someone she's trying to trust, by one of the only people that's ever treated her with care. It seems like eighty percent of getting to know the main character is getting to hear her thoughts in the form of wishes, dreams, and hatreds. But when she is slapped, there is a virtual silence in her head. There are critical moments when this comparatively minor attack (and others more severe) should have come back to her mind and influenced her decision making and her actions, but it didn't. Her counter-part in those scenes? The man? I don't think he could have been drawn more perfectly.There were things that main character didn't that didn't like, things I did that I did understand, and things I wish I didn't understand. There were also things I learned, about groups like the maroons, that I didn't know before. These two things plus the entertainment factor, make this a great book all by itself. But those moments when the main black female character DOES think about severe abuses happening to others but barely stops to think about the mild* abuse she herself is receiving from a man just because that man makes her feel good is something only a man could write. At the very least, there should have been a mature woman's conclusion about what she'd experienced.Once I finished the book, I felt like maybe some 2016 stereotypes of black women and women in general had pushed themselves into the story. Then again, I wonder if it is more accurate to say the author made some of characters, including the main character, out to be child like in their thinking just because they were living in times not as sophisticated(?) as now. Some people really do almost see the people of history as children that didn't know any better when it comes to racism and sexism. Maybe her simplicity of mind, even at the end was what he was trying to convey and I simply didn't like it because it doesn't ring true to me.

I have to admit I haven't finished this book. Why? Because of the raw, respectless descriptions of f.i. a woman being beaten up or being raped. No thank you! Too disrespectful.Such a pity because I think the story should be good. Therefore no more than 3 stars.

Whether you are black or white, you need a very strong constitution to be able to read books about all the depraved atrocities carried out by the white man during slavery, for you to then not become overwhelmed by the sheer depravity, violence and wickedness of the white man. And yes, there were many colluding blacks, and a multitude of white women, who just looked the other way! The most galling part of all of this, is that you have legions of Blacks, person of colour, and African Americans, African British, African Canadians, and African Caribbeans etc, who are happiest ... NOT to remember their history. Shame that.

I was torn between 4 and 5 stars for this but ultimately it is better than most of not all months 4 stars I have given, so I have gone for 5. This is the second Marlon James book I have read and like the a brief history of seven killings, James brings an air of mystique to this tale of slavery in 18th century Jamaica. James is able to seamlessly bring together history, folklore, love, hate, anger, revenge, grief and human suffering and his writing is of the highest pregnancy the depth of character and superb character Development really drives this book and takes kingdom good to excellent. His main character Lileth is superbly drawn; I believed in her at all times and felt exactly what she was going through. For me personally I would like the folklore element to have developed but it's a very small gripe in a near perfect read.

I grew up in the Caribbean and thought I had a good take on history. After reading this book I decided to check on certain aspects of what was mentioned. Low and behold I learned some true history of slavery in the west indies. Great read I was hooked from beginning to end.

This book is one of the most engrossing books I have ever read, and this horrifying period in history was dealt with masterfully by Mr James. Some parts were terribly graphic in their brutality, however, all these things did happen during slavery. The book drew me in from the beginning and didn't let me go. I would go so far as to say that this book is epic. I thoroughly recommend