Editorial Content for The Disappearers

1988, Kingston, Jamaica. Eight men start rehearsals for a play. They are all gay, each one a “battyman,” making their way through a difficult and dangerous world. As they begin to bond, the play goes on until one night when their secrets bring forth such violence that one of them is killed. Each man has a particular response to the realities that have been laid bare by this horrific scenario. As they come to grips with homophobia and bigotry, the ways to survive take on many guises. 

Thus begins THE DISAPPEARERS, Booker Prize winner Marlon James’ latest novel, a mystery-thriller/love story/sociological historical study, all in one. It is an unflinching and heart-wrenching look at a time and place and the deep reckoning that comes with it.

"THE DISAPPEARERS is a tour de force, sending Marlon James into a rarefied stratosphere occupied by only a few authors for whom 'genre fiction' is a complete misnomer. It does everything at once and brilliantly so."

James’ characters are distinctly different. Each possesses such specific characteristics and emotions that they feel 4-D, jumping off the page with their sassy dialogue and fears about their lives. Setting the action against the backdrop of artists making theater gives the story yet another dimension. Some men sink into the make-believe as a way to get in touch with where they are situated in history and in locale, while others use the opportunity to hide completely from their inside and outside worlds. They all know they are skirting with disaster just by being part of such an underground culture. But, true to themselves and sometimes to others, they are living as best they can under difficult circumstances. 

Eddy Porteous, the main character, is affected most directly from hiding his true nature. According to James, “Eddy’s worldview is shaped by all the new stuff he is learning in philosophy class, and all the life experiences that he’s now dealing with at a massive clip.”

James delves into “hidden histories: “I think the fact that writers such as myself are writing ‘hidden histories’ speaks to what stories get told. Even with thousands of books being published over hundreds of years, the number of stories that remains untold is impossible to count.” His literary virtuosity lies in his ability to shape a story that comes from the world he has experienced and maneuver his characters through these eras, making assumptions and getting them knocked down at every turn until the reality of the danger is phosphorescent bright. 

Eddy and the other men hold on to hope as long as they can. As James states, “All my characters hope, even ones who fall into despair. All my characters can see a little better than what they’re in and try in their own ways to grasp it, even if that means taking revenge. Characters grab onto hope because they know it is the most rebellious thing they can do, so in the end it also becomes a form of resistance.” As elegant as he can write, James is always on the lookout for the bravest souls he can find to illuminate here.

The story and the ways in which the characters encounter each new bend in the road make it feel like an actual history book, as if these men are very much alive, and readers are treated to a time machine ride that lands them right in the middle of a newsreel from the era. James’ vibrant and unflinching honesty about these times makes the novel a page-turner, as well as an investigation into the myriad ways in which secrets eat people up and then serve them up a portion of illustrative reality when they least expect it.

A word of caution: This is a book that needs to be read carefully. Readers are drawn so far into the lives of Eddy and the others that these men will become fixations, impossible to stop thinking about. THE DISAPPEARERS is a tour de force, sending Marlon James into a rarefied stratosphere occupied by only a few authors for whom “genre fiction” is a complete misnomer. It does everything at once and brilliantly so. Enjoy.