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The Marvellous Equations of the Dread: a Novel in Bass Riddim is a novel by Jamaican-American writer Marcia Douglas. Originally published through Peepal Tree Press in 2016, the novel was then published on July 31, 2018, through New Directions Publishing.^[1] The novel has been described as "experimental" or "prose poetry in novel form".^[2]

The novel adopts a "reggae aesthetic",^[3] exhibiting numerous aspects of musicality from the intermixing of lyrics and songs into the text, to the "lyrical" language Douglas employs.^[2]

The novel primarily takes place in Kingston, Jamaica, with particular focus on Half-Way Tree, a road intersection in Kingston characterized by a Victorian era clocktower.^[3]

Some chapters and segments also take place in the “Dub-Side,” which in the novel can be understood as the afterlife. Portions of the novel also take place in Xaymaca (Jamaica before its colonization by Spain); London, England; Miami, Florida (the place of Bob Marley’s death);

The novel's plot follows a non-linear collage-like structure in order to tell a full, multi-dimensional and multi-generational story of Jamaican resilience in the face of centuries' old colonial devastation.

A large subplot of the novel surrounds Leenah, a Rasta woman who has a romantic relationship with Bob Marley. Leenah experiences and witnesses persisting many colonialism-driven violences bestowed upon Jamaicans.