Why read Names of the Women?

Book cover of Names of the Women

Book description

'Dazzling' MARLON JAMES, BOOKER PRIZE WINNER
'Original and thought-provoking' SPECTATOR
'Electrifying' TESSA HADLEY

Under a predawn sky, humming with starlight and the songs of birds, a group of determined women return to the cave where they have laid the body of their saviour. When they arrive, it is empty.

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Why read it?

1 author picked Names of the Women as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

D.B.C. Pierre

Author

Every so often a book comes along which throws open the curtains on a theme we thought we knew.

Here the poet, novelist, and scholar Jeet Thayil recreates the end days of the prophet Jesus, but seen through the lives of women around him.

Not a religious text, nor one that sets out to alter history – Thayil’s sensitivity and brilliance lie in exploring what must have been, at the time, routine dusty days with animals to feed, in a world where only male viewpoints would survive. As refreshing as it is finely written.

From D.B.C.'s 3 favorite reads in 2023.