The Book of Night Women was a book that came highly recommended by the active members of our Let’s Read book club for the two years that it had been going. In fact this book was one that featured on the suggested books list from very close to the beginning.

The story, particularly touched me as it highlighted the fact that despite the vast Atlantic Ocean that separates Africa from the Caribbean our traditions had been preserved and adapted. I had heard about creatures such as the Sasabunsam growing up in an Asante household. However, the book brought to life what it actually was. The prose was beautifully written, and the imagery took me to Jamaica – a place I hope to visit one day.

Furthermore, it was interesting to read about the experience of slavery from a Caribbean perspective, as many of the stories I have read have centred on the American experience. That experience had often been acquiesced as the history of Black people worldwide when in fact the legacy of the Caribbean, including the more permanent mark of colonialism on the islands.

Would I recommend this book? Most definitely.