The Disappearers by Marlon James is about eight gay men who meet for the first time, in Kingston in 1988. They are well aware that they are taking a big risk in answering the casting call for an openly queer play. During one of the rehearsals, the actors are brutally assaulted. One dies. The story unfolds over the following years, tracking the individuals and their lives. It is an extremely violent book to read not just for the depiction of the physical and sexual violence, but the manner in which hostility exists towards gays, leaving the reader shatttered with the experience. To encounter this on a daily basis. For some, even their own homes are not safe places to exist. They have to leave in order to survive. The brutality of it. The last time I read such a book that left me completely shattered was Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life. It is a million copy bestseller that too had been shortlisted for The Booker Prize.

Despite the glowing reviews like the now famous NYT review and incredible support amongst readers worldwide, The Disappearers may have lost the Booker Prize but it is going to be a steady seller for years to come. It may not have the enviable spike in sales that all Booker Prize winners achieve, but Marlon James’s novel will be spoken about for very long time. Who knows it may even achieve this backhanded compliment that Hanya Yanagihara’s book has got by being pirated on the streets of Delhi and is being sold at crossroads. I took this picture a couple of weeks ago in Delhi NCR.

Here are a couple of images sourced from the Internet:

Image from Facebook.

Marlon James won The Booker Prize in 2015.

10 Nov 2026