A BRIEF HISTORY OF SEVEN KILLINGS

The seven narrators of this Man Booker Prize-winning novel set the stage for a complicated, lengthy narrative that depicts Jamaica's changing cultural climate from the late 1970s to the 1990s. The vivid, sometimes gruesome, details recounted by various characters such as journalists, drug lords, and a Jamaican caregiver are believably narrated with American and Jamaican accents. Most of the narrators' patois is thick, raw, and rich with texture. One narrator portrays an American who imitates a Caribbean accent, which adds a humorously painful aspect to the story. Yet the undercurrent of unrest in the characters' personal lives is palpable in the performances. Overall, the ensemble of voices enhances an uncomfortable venture into a dangerous world. T.E.C. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2016]