I feel a sense of inadequacy when it comes to reviewing this as it’s just such an intense, violent, visceral, but also hypnotic and compelling book.
Lilith is a slave on a Jamaican plantation in the late 18th century and she must confront the evils of the system, and find herself, or rather, hold onto herself, as she grows up in the insanely violent and savage world of the plantation system. The level of evil that is on display is almost incomprehensible, yet the violence doesn’t feel gratuitous, but instructive.
Despite the horrors, the book manages to offer a tender and nuanced portrait of Lilith and her fellow women. Her complicated relationships with mother figures Circe and Homer is juxtaposed with her fascination with her white “family” and the men who own and run the plantations. Miss Isobel is particularly fascinating as a portrait of white women’s shifting position and privilege, as is Mr Quinn, who as an Irishman, inhabits a liminal space in the colony’s social hierarchy. Homer is a wonderfully sketched complex woman.
Framed around a revolt led by the Night Women, the book sheds a harsh light on some painful truths about the “system” without flattening individual people, which is an impressive feat. There’s a love/growing up narrative that’s definitely touching, yet also harrowing.
These pictures were taken at a National Trust garden – the property was “lost” by the family when slavery was outlawed (which in itself was a slow and imperfect process). It felt very poignant to be reading the book there.
Absolute must-read novel on slavery that centres women. It’s amazing how much life and humour James manages to squeeze in between the horror. You really get a sense for how people would talk, how they’d try to process the trauma, and survive through it, or how they’d just be there one day, gone the next.
One word: horror.
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