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Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Waters (Fingersmith) applies her talent for literary suspense to WWII-era London in her latest historical. She populates the novel with ordinary people overlooked by history books and sets their individual passions against the chaotic background of extraordinary times. There are Kay, a "night watch" ambulance driver; her lover, Helen; two imprisoned conscientious objectors, upper-class Fraser and working-class Duncan; Duncan's sister, Viv; Viv's married soldier-lover, Reggie; and Julia, a building inspector–cum–mystery novelist. The novel works backward in time, beginning in 1947, as London emerges from the rubble of war, then to 1944, a time of nightly air raids, and finally to 1941, when the war's end was not in sight. Through all the turmoil on the world stage, the characters steal moments of love, fragments of calm and put their lives on the line for great sex and small kindnesses. Waters's sharply drawn page-turner doesn't quite equal the work of literary greats who've already mapped out WWII-era London. But she matches any of them with her scene of two women on the verge of an affair during a nighttime bombing raid, lost in blackout London with only the light of their passion as a guide. (Mar. 23)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
Waters' new novel is a departure from her previous yarn, the gripping Victorian thriller ingersmith (2002). This one visits a group of characters in World War II-era London at three different points in their lives: in the aftermath of the war, during its height, and the early days of the war. Waters' narrative moves backward, beginning in 1947 before turning to 1944 and then 1941. The format introduces the characters while gradually revealing the intricacies of how they are all connected. Vivian is a vibrant young woman in love with a married solider. Her brother, Duncan, is drifting through life after spending the years during the war in jail. Helen is worried her relationship with Julia is crumbling. Kay wanders aimlessly, searching for purpose in a broken city. All are affected and irrevocably changed by the war. Readers will be tempted to return to the beginning of Waters' elegant novel after turning the final page to fully appreciate the depth of the characters and their connections to each other. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE NIGHT WATCH is a superb look at WWII,
By Frank Summers (Alberta) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Night Watch (Hardcover)
By 1947, the war has been over for two years, but London is still reeling from the bombings and the deaths, and trying to convert to a post war economy. Everyday people struggle with finding their place in life. Kay drove an ambulance during the war and had a female lover Helen, but the men are back from the western front and so she is expected to quietly do female work or get married. Helen cannot deal with her past female lovers as she is filled with jealousy, but like Kay the men are back so she must return to the closet. Duncan spent the war in prison so though freed physically is incarcerated in his mind as he cannot let go of what happened to him during the war. Finally his sister Viv loves a married soldier, Reggie, who she feels returns her regard, but can never leave his wife. ----- - THE NIGHT WATCH is a superb look at WWII and its aftermath through the eyes of ordinary people expected to return to normalcy now that the hostilities are over. The story line reverses chronological order by starting in 1947 (after the war is over) going back to 1944 (the end seems in sight) and finally 1941 (the war has just begun and looks dark and foreboding). The cast is powerfully drawn so that the audience can observe how each member of the ensemble and others who touched their lives struggle with going back to who they were in the 1930s when they have seen and done so much. I also highly recommend ;The Quest by Giorgio Kostantinos.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Characters!,
By
This review is from: The Night Watch (Paperback)
I found this book a little hard to follow because it presents the characters and their lives at one point in history, but then it goes back in time from there, a couple of times in fact, and that was odd.Overall, I found the characters and their lives very interesting and diverse. I love history, and the fact that it is set in WWII time, intrigued me. Overall, a good book. If you can get really engrossed in the characters in the first part of the book, as I did, then you'll probably enjoy it also!
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great look at the complexity of relationships,
By
This review is from: The Night Watch (Paperback)
Sarah Water's the Night Watch is a great book about love (both for self and others) and loss. I found the characters extremely complex and extremely relatable.I loved being able to view the chaos of war and its aftermath on those on the fringes of society in 1940s London, lesbian lovers, conscientious objectors, "masculine" women, "feminine" men. After reading this novel I couldn't help but think about the sacrifices others have made and how lucky I am to be living the life I am living. I think this may be the most covertly feminist novel I have ever read and I applaud Waters for this immensely. This book has also helped me to get a sense of life in London after WWII and what it was like for those living amidst the rubble, something I had never given much consideration to in the past. I have recently read a few books written in reverse chronological order and although I do find it more challenging to read, it certainly can make what I have read more poignant in the end as is the case with this novel. This is not a quick or light read, but strongly worth the time to absorb. I found it took me much of the first section to get to the "I can't put it down" phase, but when I got there I was "in-deep". I would highly recommend this novel and am eager to read other Sarah Waters works.
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