Jaine Blackman gets swept up by the many voices telling the story of Jamaican violence

The 2015 Booker Prize winner Marlon James will be discussing his book in Oxford next week.

A Brief History of Seven Killings is set against the backdrop of 1970s reggae culture, disco, sex and excess.

It begins from a factual point: in December 1976, weeks before the Jamaican general election – two days before Bob Marley was to play a concert to ease political tensions – seven men from West Kingston stormed his house with machine guns.

Remarkably Marley survived and went on to perform at the free concert but the next day he left the country and didn’t return for two years. James, who has written two previous novels, reimagines the attempted assassination.

Spanning three decades and crossing continents, A Brief History of Seven Killings chronicles the lives of a host of unforgettable characters and tells the story of Jamaica in the 1970s and early 80s, when guns flooded in to the island, CIA agents arrived, and the island went through one of its most violently defining moments.

The book is told through different voices. The seven would-be assassins were never caught and James imagines their futures. They are followed in to the Nineties through their own eyes and through those of others.

The voices include patois and streetwise New York – there’s even the English of a colonial-era ghost.

It’s not an easy read, partly because of that, and also the violent subject matter but there’s no doubt it’s a dazzling display of masterful storytelling.

Marlon James will be discussing his book from 4pm to 5pm on Wednesday at Blackwell’s Oxford. The free event will take place in the philosophy department in the Norrington Room and no booking is required but people are advised to arrive early to avoid disappointment.

For more information call 01865 333623 or email events.oxford@Blackwell.co.uk

A Brief History Of Seven Killings by Marlon James, Oneworld Publications, £8.99 paperback