A Brief History of Seven Killings: WINNER of the Man Booker Prize 2015 by Marlon James

A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James is a novel that opens in Jamaica in 1976, with an attack on Bob Marley’s home in which seven gunmen open fire and he survives. It is the winner of the Man Booker Prize 2015.

Key details

• Author: Marlon James
• Winner of the Man Booker Prize 2015
• Set in Jamaica in 1976 and spans three decades
• Crosses continents

Synopsis

Beginning with the near-mythic event of seven gunmen storming Bob Marley’s house, the story follows the aftermath of an attack in which the perpetrators are never caught. The narrative ranges across three decades and moves between continents.

It chronicles the lives of a wide cast of characters, including slum kids, drug lords, journalists, prostitutes, gunmen and the CIA, presented through an ambitious and inventive approach to storytelling.