The Book of Night Women

OK, close enough to the end of 2017 for me to determine my favourite reads. The Book of Night Women is my 2017 BEST FICTION.

This book gets a lot of literary praise - and it is hard to argue with that. It is exceptionally well crafted, with an intricately woven story, with very realistic events, and graphic violence. I really enjoyed the written dialect, which was consistent and easy to pick up on, but lent a truer voice to the narrator.

The brutal life of a slave, almost impossible to survive, is the focus of the novel, along with examining the interactions of slave with master, slave hierarchy and hierarchy within the white characters. Set on the Montpelier Estate in the late the century and early 19th century, the events follow a recent uprising on the nearby island of Saint Domingue, which had resulted in the slaves taking control of the island.

Maybe a few minor spoilers below...

The slave characters are almost all female, with the exception of a lunatic who remains chained up for the most part. It is the head house slave Homer who takes in Lilith, the damaged mulatto orphan girl, and brings her into a circle of women who are plotting an island wide slave uprising & rebellion. The author plays on what happens to a girl so brutally treated who is also treated with kindness. As the Lilith develops from a girl to a woman, she is tested by each relationship she establishes especially Homer and Robert Quinn, the Irish overseer who she eventually makes home with.

The depictions of violence were brutal and detailed, and although the book is fictional, it seems that they were probably very representative of what had taken place. If you are not a fan of horrific treatment, and plenty of swearing, this one may not be for you.

Five Stars.