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The Disappearers
Not yet published
Expected 1 Sep 26From Marlon James, author of the Booker Prize–winning A Brief History of Seven Killings: a propulsive novel about the murder of a gay man in 1980s Jamaica and its tragic consequences.
In 1988, eight men in Kingston, Jamaica, begin rehearsals for a play. The men are strangers to one another and each has a different reason for being involved. But they all share one inescapable All of them are gay―a "batty man" in Jamaican argot―and all of them must contend with the dangers that such a truth lays bare.
One night a mob savagely attacks them, killing one of the men. For the survivors, their recovery is as much emotional as it is As their bodies heal, each man grapples with the violence, the hatred and the rage that the attack made plain. Some try to ignore what the attack has unearthed, while others double down on retribution.
In The Disappearers, Marlon James has written a riveting and deeply human story of men forced to make compromises to survive what the society they live in demands. It is both a dramatic page-turner and an unflinching exploration of queer life in Jamaica during the 1980s and 1990s.
In 1988, eight men in Kingston, Jamaica, begin rehearsals for a play. The men are strangers to one another and each has a different reason for being involved. But they all share one inescapable All of them are gay―a "batty man" in Jamaican argot―and all of them must contend with the dangers that such a truth lays bare.
One night a mob savagely attacks them, killing one of the men. For the survivors, their recovery is as much emotional as it is As their bodies heal, each man grapples with the violence, the hatred and the rage that the attack made plain. Some try to ignore what the attack has unearthed, while others double down on retribution.
In The Disappearers, Marlon James has written a riveting and deeply human story of men forced to make compromises to survive what the society they live in demands. It is both a dramatic page-turner and an unflinching exploration of queer life in Jamaica during the 1980s and 1990s.
640 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication September 1, 2026
About the author
Marlon James
33 books4,967 followersMarlon James is a Jamaican-born writer. He has published three novels: John Crow's Devil (2005), The Book of Night Women (2009) and A Brief History of Seven Killings (2014), winner of the 2015 Man Booker Prize. Now living in Minneapolis, James teaches literature at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.
James was born in Kingston, Jamaica, to parents who were both in the Jamaican police: his mother (who gave him his first prose book, a collection of stories by O. Henry) became a detective and his father (from whom James took a love of Shakespeare and Coleridge) a lawyer. James is a 1991 graduate of the University of the West Indies, where he read Language and Literature. He received a master's degree in creative writing from Wilkes University (2006).
James has taught English and creative writing at Macalester College since 2007. His first novel, John Crow's Devil — which was rejected 70 times before being accepted for publication — tells the story of a biblical struggle in a remote Jamaican village in 1957. His second novel, The Book of Night Women, is about a slave woman's revolt in a Jamaican plantation in the early 19th century. His most recent novel, 2014's A Brief History of Seven Killings, explores several decades of Jamaican history and political instability through the perspectives of many narrators. It won the fiction category of the 2015 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature and the 2015 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, having been the first book by a Jamaican author ever to be shortlisted. He is the second Caribbean winner of the prize, following Trinidad-born V. S. Naipaul who won in 1971.
(from Wikipedia)
James was born in Kingston, Jamaica, to parents who were both in the Jamaican police: his mother (who gave him his first prose book, a collection of stories by O. Henry) became a detective and his father (from whom James took a love of Shakespeare and Coleridge) a lawyer. James is a 1991 graduate of the University of the West Indies, where he read Language and Literature. He received a master's degree in creative writing from Wilkes University (2006).
James has taught English and creative writing at Macalester College since 2007. His first novel, John Crow's Devil — which was rejected 70 times before being accepted for publication — tells the story of a biblical struggle in a remote Jamaican village in 1957. His second novel, The Book of Night Women, is about a slave woman's revolt in a Jamaican plantation in the early 19th century. His most recent novel, 2014's A Brief History of Seven Killings, explores several decades of Jamaican history and political instability through the perspectives of many narrators. It won the fiction category of the 2015 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature and the 2015 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, having been the first book by a Jamaican author ever to be shortlisted. He is the second Caribbean winner of the prize, following Trinidad-born V. S. Naipaul who won in 1971.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
. . . I can’t remember the last time a novel left me this speechless.
1988 Jamacia: 8 men meet in rehearsals for a play that promises to expose the “fragile myth of Jamaican sexuality and homophobia.” The very act of putting on this play is transgressive in a time and place where stoic masculinity is the only accepted norm, and being publicly identified as a “battyman” is akin to a death sentence.
We first enter this world through Eddy Porteous’s diary. He is 18 but tells everyone he is 17 to relive and reclaim his “fucked up” 17th year. Eddy’s voice really captures the dueling forces of his queer interior versus the outside world, which is telling him that to survive, he must be a ‘normal’ man. It’s a concept has been so ingrained into him that it even bleeds into his own diaristic world.
On the night of the targeted murderous attack by a mob—an attack that is not a tragedy, but an “atrocity”—I was taken aback by the switch in perspectives to the mobs. Entering the minds of these extremely hateful, bigoted men was hard to read (like, A Little Life-level hard to read at times), but such an effective way to tell this story of how a country’s scars effects everyone. It really took me aback, but WOW!
Following the attacks (not a spoiler, it’s on the book jacket!) the play disbands, some men vanishing into thin air, everyone focusing on just surviving in a world that would rather see them dead, where every single breath is a second guess.
Told through varying perspectives and mediums, the novel has a collage-like feel to its storytelling that propels the reader through time through teenage diary entries, letters, witness statements and interviews.
James truly immerses you into Kingston in the 80s, but what truly made this novel feel so incredible was the way he interweaves queer joy and love through their unending hardships. The way that these men are continuously saved by the beauty of pop music, literature and flashes of queer community had me in tears again and again.
This is going to be THE book of 2026. I can’t wait for this one to come into the world so I can talk about it with people!
1988 Jamacia: 8 men meet in rehearsals for a play that promises to expose the “fragile myth of Jamaican sexuality and homophobia.” The very act of putting on this play is transgressive in a time and place where stoic masculinity is the only accepted norm, and being publicly identified as a “battyman” is akin to a death sentence.
We first enter this world through Eddy Porteous’s diary. He is 18 but tells everyone he is 17 to relive and reclaim his “fucked up” 17th year. Eddy’s voice really captures the dueling forces of his queer interior versus the outside world, which is telling him that to survive, he must be a ‘normal’ man. It’s a concept has been so ingrained into him that it even bleeds into his own diaristic world.
On the night of the targeted murderous attack by a mob—an attack that is not a tragedy, but an “atrocity”—I was taken aback by the switch in perspectives to the mobs. Entering the minds of these extremely hateful, bigoted men was hard to read (like, A Little Life-level hard to read at times), but such an effective way to tell this story of how a country’s scars effects everyone. It really took me aback, but WOW!
Following the attacks (not a spoiler, it’s on the book jacket!) the play disbands, some men vanishing into thin air, everyone focusing on just surviving in a world that would rather see them dead, where every single breath is a second guess.
Told through varying perspectives and mediums, the novel has a collage-like feel to its storytelling that propels the reader through time through teenage diary entries, letters, witness statements and interviews.
James truly immerses you into Kingston in the 80s, but what truly made this novel feel so incredible was the way he interweaves queer joy and love through their unending hardships. The way that these men are continuously saved by the beauty of pop music, literature and flashes of queer community had me in tears again and again.
This is going to be THE book of 2026. I can’t wait for this one to come into the world so I can talk about it with people!
Read
May 16, 2026 I would like to thank Net Galley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book had me in a chokehold.
I thought I knew what I was getting myself into. I consumed A Brief History of Seven Killings and I also read Black Leopard, Red Wolf. I thought I knew what to expect. I was wrong. I wish I could have read this book in paperback. I did miss flicking back to the character list in previous books.
I think it does follow a certain formula that Marlon James excels in. There are a string of characters and lots of plotlines going on but with one plotline that is at the heart of the story. You have no idea what's going on for a while until you do. Then, it hits you.
I found this book extremely difficult. I normally binge read a book and found I couldn't do this. Perhaps, this is because I was reading this book at my most busiest, stressful time at work or maybe it was this book. This book haunted me. I thought about it whilst I was doing other things and I craved its return.
The title is so clever.
Have you disappeared if no one misses you?
I am still in a state after the ending. I don't know what else to say but read it.
This book had me in a chokehold.
I thought I knew what I was getting myself into. I consumed A Brief History of Seven Killings and I also read Black Leopard, Red Wolf. I thought I knew what to expect. I was wrong. I wish I could have read this book in paperback. I did miss flicking back to the character list in previous books.
I think it does follow a certain formula that Marlon James excels in. There are a string of characters and lots of plotlines going on but with one plotline that is at the heart of the story. You have no idea what's going on for a while until you do. Then, it hits you.
I found this book extremely difficult. I normally binge read a book and found I couldn't do this. Perhaps, this is because I was reading this book at my most busiest, stressful time at work or maybe it was this book. This book haunted me. I thought about it whilst I was doing other things and I craved its return.
The title is so clever.
Have you disappeared if no one misses you?
I am still in a state after the ending. I don't know what else to say but read it.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Irreverent, Haunting, Unflinching, Violent but also a deeply necessary read.
Set in the 1980s in Kingston, Jamaica we are taken to a theatre for a rehearsal of a play. All the men who gathered are strangers to each other and they share one thing in common- they are all gay. Being gay in Jamaica in the 80s is pretty much a death sentence and they are all hyper aware about this. Their worse fears are realized when one night they are savagely attached by a mob and one of them is beaten to death. The others barely survived the attack and as they heal from the trauma they each process things differently. How can they exist in a world that wants them dead?
In The Disappearers Marlon James attempts to answer this question. Written with heart we meet characters who are just trying to live, exist and take up space in a place that is trying to make them feel small. James did a brilliant job of taking us to Kingston, Jamaica during a time that was violent and unrelenting for gay men. Once you start reading the book you will understand the title and why a book like this needs to be written and read widely.
I cannot wait for more people to experience this.
Set in the 1980s in Kingston, Jamaica we are taken to a theatre for a rehearsal of a play. All the men who gathered are strangers to each other and they share one thing in common- they are all gay. Being gay in Jamaica in the 80s is pretty much a death sentence and they are all hyper aware about this. Their worse fears are realized when one night they are savagely attached by a mob and one of them is beaten to death. The others barely survived the attack and as they heal from the trauma they each process things differently. How can they exist in a world that wants them dead?
In The Disappearers Marlon James attempts to answer this question. Written with heart we meet characters who are just trying to live, exist and take up space in a place that is trying to make them feel small. James did a brilliant job of taking us to Kingston, Jamaica during a time that was violent and unrelenting for gay men. Once you start reading the book you will understand the title and why a book like this needs to be written and read widely.
I cannot wait for more people to experience this.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
An epic set decades across the Jamaican queer diaspora. Told in multiple points of views, it isn't just about a horrific and violent hate crime, but it sets the scene of the before, during and after. Like dropping a rock in a puddle in how the rings ring out. But on top of that, there are so many clever and funny lines. And how each man reacts, it's clear that how one survives is just as vital as to how one lives.
I received an arc from the publisher but all opinions are my own.
I received an arc from the publisher but all opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Tasteless at times, horrifically violent, occasionally downright unbelievable, but it’s really cool to read an author who’s still willing to swing for the fences like this
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews