A Brief History of Seven Killings

You think your life is complicated. Alliances in this mammoth, magnificent novel turn on a dime (or a brick), but several deep connections are life-altering.

For one: the Jamaican dealer Weeper defies category; he’s both violent and tender, both gay and appalled by his homosexuality. When he falls for another man post-prison, he has both to confront and to conceal his panoply of contradictions—which becomes excruciating and finally impossible when boss (and friend) Josey Wales flies in to inspect the Bushwick operation.

I love the intrigue, disclosure, and virtuosity. Nothing simple, nothing easy, nothing dull.

This book opened up a whole new universe for me, not just because its dazzling portrayal of Jamaican street life is so far removed from my own world but because the writing is so free and expressive. Its eye-opening use of Jamaican street slang and lack of traditional grammar makes this a thrilling read and taught me that even hard-to-decipher prose can be powerful and expressive as long as the voice is authentic.

This prize-winning novel does for Jamaica from the 1960s through the 1990s what Dickens did for Victorian London, exploring the structure of society, from political elites to slum residents, through dozens of vividly drawn characters: politicians and music promoters, gangsters and CIA agents. Centering on a real 1976 attempt to murder the reggae star Bob Marley, A Brief History depicts both the richness and resilience of Jamaican culture and the nation’s struggles to gain its independence and to create peace and prosperity for its people.