by Marlon James
First published 2026
Eight strangers gather in Kingston, Jamaica in 1988 to rehearse a play. They share one dangerous truth in a hostile world: all of them are gay. Their rehearsals become a refuge until one night when attackers find them. The men are beaten savagely. One dies. The survivors face a brutal choice as their bodies heal and the full weight of their society's hatred becomes clear. Some try to pretend the attack never happened. Others plan revenge. Some vanish entirely. Each man must decide what compromises he will make to survive in a country that refuses to accept who he is. Their individual responses to trauma reveal the impossible calculations queer men make daily in 1980s Jamaica, where visibility can mean death but invisibility means a kind of living death.
Genres: historical-fiction, abuse, 20th-century, lgbt, gay, activism
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, visibility
Setting: Jamaica, Kingston
Period: 1988
640 pages · Hardcover · Riverhead Books
Content warnings: abuse, homophobia, violence