51 pages 1 hour read

Marlon James

The Book of Night Women

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2009

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Part 1, Chapters 8-14Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1: “Niggerkin”

Part 1, Chapter 8 Summary

A woman named Isobel arrives in Montpelier to help plan the New Year’s Ball, which is in 10 weeks. Wilson tries his best to dress presentably and ignores Lilith more than ever. During the full moon, Lilith runs into the field and Robert Quinn knocks her out. She wakes up in a nice office and Quinn tells her she’s lucky he is the white man who found her. He asks her what she was doing out in the fields and she says she was looking for Homer, but he doesn’t believe her. The next day she is so scared that she works extra hard and Homer and Gorgon act like they know somehow. Gorgon looks at her and says without speaking: “bufu bufu backra riding through the bush” (97).

Part 1, Chapter 9 Summary

Quinn goes to check on Tantalus because his foot is infected, and when he sees it has maggots on it, he throws up and never acts the same. The enslaved people say they’ve seen this before when white men realize they don’t have a taste for blood. Quinn begins to eat with