Author Marlon James' second book, The Book of Night Women, has critics in the United States raving since it was released in February by Penguin Books.

It revisits slavery in 18th century Jamaica, and a plantation rebellion led by women.

"Marlon James' second novel is both beautifully written and devastating ... . Writing in the spirit of Toni Morrison and Alice Walker but in a style all his own, James has conducted an experiment in how to write the unspeakable - even the unthinkable. And the results of that experiment are an undeniable success," read the review in the New York Times.

Bookmarks magazine was just as impressed: "By exploring the ferociously cruel and dehumanising practices of slavery in Jamaica, James adds a new chapter to the history of human bondage in the Americas. Powerful and eloquent, The Book of Night Women is narrated in a lilting Jamaican patois that at once underscores and eerily conflicts with the disturbing images of violence and degradation that James conjures.

Jealous mistresses

Though the novel is filled with familiar figures - dissolute masters, jealous mistresses, house and field slaves - James never lets them devolve into clichés or ciphers; instead, he creates convincingly human characters. A stunning testament to the dynamics of ultimate power and powerlessness, Night Women will keep readers up at night."

The Kingston-born James earned similar attention for his first book, John Crow's Devil, which was published in 2005.