A Brief History Of Seven Killings – An epic re-telling of the attempted assassination of reggae Legend Bob Marley has won The Man Booker Prize!

Written by Marlon James, he has become the first Jamaican to win the prize ever. The story grips its reader with the tale of the attempted murder of the superstar reggae singer Bob Marley in 1976 and Jamaica’s drug trade rise.

A Brief History Of Seven Killings was picked winner by judges after “more than one but less than two hours of deliberation,” according to Michael Wood, chairman of the judging panel.

Set in the heart of Jamaica, Kingston, on 3 December 1976, just weeks before the general election and two days before Bob Marley was to play the Smile Jamaica concert to ease political tensions, seven men from West Kingston stormed his house with machine guns. Marley survived and went on to perform at the free concert. But the next day he left the country and didn’t return for two years.

A Brief History Of Seven Killings is compacted with a thrilling 75 characters, with FBI and CIA agents, beauty queens, killers, Keith Richards’ drug dealer and even ghosts! Full loaded with the culture of Jamaican, the book captures the true essence of Jamaican patois although some bad language.

When asked what he thought about Marlon James book, Mr Wood stated, “I think there is a kind of excitement right from the beginning. I think (James) has thought ‘I am not trying to rub people’s noses in difficult terms, I am trying to get them to think about things that are out there’.”

Marlon James was born in Kingston, he graduated from the University of the West Indies with a degree in literature. He currently teaches a creative writing course in Minnesota and is working on his next novel. This magnificent book is a great read and a well deserved winner!

ARTICLE BY PRINCESS PYHIA – JOURNALIST FOR REGGAE BRITANNIA. @REGGAEBRIT @PRINCESSPYHIA

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