A new novel exploring the background to the attempted assassination of reggae superstar Bob Marley in 1976 is due out this Autumn.
A Brief History of Seven Killings by a Jamaican novelist Marlon James recalls the momentous incident, taking the story from the slums of Jamaica’s capital, Kingston, in the 1970s, through to the crack wars of 1980s New York, and Jamaica in the 1990s.
ON December 3 1976, on the eve of the Jamaican General Election, and two days before he was to play the Smile Jamaica Concert, a number of gunmen entered Marley's house.
The subsequent machine-gun attack almost killed the musician, his wife and his manager. Several people were injured in the shooting.
Despite the incident, Marley performed at the free concert on December 5. However, he left the country the following day, and did not return for two years.
