• The Book of Night Women

  • By: Marlon James
  • Narrated by: Robin Miles
  • Length: 15 hrs and 45 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (3,142 ratings)

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The Book of Night Women  By  cover art

The Book of Night Women

By: Marlon James
Narrated by: Robin Miles
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Publisher's summary

The Book of Night Women is a sweeping, startling novel, a true tour de force of both voice and storytelling. It is the story of Lilith, born into slavery on a Jamaican sugar plantation at the end of the 18th century. Even at her birth, the slave women around her recognize a dark power that they - and she - will come to both revere and fear. The Night Women, as they call themselves, have long been plotting a slave revolt, and as Lilith comes of age and reveals the extent of her power, they see her as the key to their plans.

But when she begins to understand her own feelings and desires and identity, Lilith starts to push at the edges of what is imaginable for the life of a slave woman in Jamaica, and risks becoming the conspiracy's weak link. Lilith's story overflows with high drama and heartbreak, and life on the plantation is rife with dangerous secrets, unspoken jealousies, inhuman violence, and very human emotion - between slave and master, between slave and overseer, and among the slaves themselves. Lilith finds herself at the heart of it all. And all of it told in one of the boldest literary voices to grace the page recently - and the secret of that voice is one of the book's most intriguing mysteries.

©2009 Marlon James (P)2009 Penguin

Critic reviews

"Both beautifully written and devastating... Writing in the spirit of Toni Morrison and Alice Walker but in a style all his own, James has conducted an experiment in how to write the unspeakable - even the unthinkable. And the results of that experiment are an undeniable success.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“The narrative voice is so assured and the descriptions so detailed and believable that one can’t help being engaged. This is a book to love.... The Book of Night Women is hard to pick up, even harder to put down...and it deserves to be read." (Chicago Tribune)

"The Book of Night Women is a searing read, full of blood, tears, and the stench of misery. It’s barbaric and ancient, but also familiar in the ways that people, consumed by their differences and divisions, easily overlook all that binds them - the desire for independence, the right to a civilized life, and the need to give and receive love.” (The Boston Globe)

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What listeners say about The Book of Night Women

Average customer ratings
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Great audiobook

Amazing story. The narrator is excellent -so excellent I've looked her up online to see what else she's narrated. Superb job

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Incredible narration

The narration brings the book to life. Excellent writing and outstanding performance. If you are from the West Indies, hearing the patois (English dialect) in this book is a wonderfully immersive experience. If you are not familiar with patois, it is still easy to follow and will transport you to another world.

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Beautiful Storytelling!

I'd like to go on record by saying that this is over of the best books I've ever had the pleasure of reading!

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Damn!

An incredible story, filled with pain and laughter and love when you least expect it, told so beautifully by Robin Miles.

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Perfection

Excellent story telling, wonderful narration, and characters that you can really connect to. At its core The Book of Night Women is a coming of age tale, but set during slavery.

The story can be difficult to read at times due to its setting, but so incredibly worth it.

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Jamaican Plantation Life...unfiltered

loved it! truly exceptional writing style and character development. one of my favorite books.

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Can't beat this story

We read this story for my book group and reading his A Brief History of Seven Killings: A Novel. I was kind of not looking forward to this read because the A Brief History... was a little hard to get into. But Oh Boy was I wrong. This book is so readable and the writing marvelous. Because I am a slow reader and it was coming close to the time for my book group, I also downloaded the audible which was not a mistake. Hearing his words were a really benefit.

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Gripping

Began slowly, but I became engrossed. Performance was spot on. Robin Miles is very talented. Highly recomend

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unnerving story.

i know slavery is horrible. but I was uncomfortable the entire book. the "n" word was overvused.

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The struggle is real.

You can call her what they call her but, I gonna call her LILLITH. This story is a song of struggle a song of passion, pain and herstory.

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