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The Night Watch
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The Night Watch Hardback - 2006

by Waters, Sarah

A novel of relationships set in 1940s London that brims with vivid historical detail, thrilling coincidences, and psychological complexity, by the author of the Booker Prize finalist Fingersmith.

Sarah Waters, whose works set in Victorian England have awards and acclaim and have reinvigorated the genres of both historical and lesbian fiction, returns with novel that marks a departure from nineteenth century and a spectacular leap forward in the career of this masterful storyteller.

Moving back through the 1940s, through air raids, blacked-out streets, illicit liasons, and sexual adventure, to end with its beginning in 1941, The Night Watch tells the story of Londoners: three women and a young man with a past-whose lives, and those of their friends and lovers, connect in ways that are surprising not always known to them. In wartime London, the women work-as ambulance drivers, ministry clerks, and building inspectors. There are feats of heroism, epic and quotidian, and tragedies both enormous and personal, but the emotional interiors of her characters that Waters captures with absolute and intimacy.

Waters describes with perfect knowingness the taut composure of a rescue worker in the aftermath of a bombing, the idle longing of a young woman her soldier lover, the peculiar thrill convict watching the sky ignite through the bars on his window, the hunger a woman stalking the streets for encounter, and the panic of another who sees her love affair coming end. At the same time, Waters is absolute control of a narrative that offers up subtle surprises and exquisite twists, even as it depicts the impact grand historical event on individual lives.

Tender, tragic, and beautifully poignant, The Night Watch is a towering achievement that confirms its author as "one of the best storytellers alive today" (Independent on Sunday).


Summary

“[A] wonderful novel…Waters is almost Dickensian in her wealth of description and depth of character.”—Chicago Tribune

Moving back through the 1940s, through air raids, blacked-out streets, illicit partying, and sexual adventure, to end with its beginning in 1941, The Night Watch tells the story of four Londoners—three women and a young man with a past—whose lives, and those of their friends and lovers, connect in tragedy, stunning surprise and exquisite turns, only to change irreversibly in the shadow of a grand historical event.

From the publisher

[A] wonderful novel Waters is almost Dickensian in her wealth of description and depth of character. "Chicago Tribune"
Moving back through the 1940s, through air raids, blacked-out streets, illicit partying, and sexual adventure, to end with its beginning in 1941, "The Night Watch" tells the story of four Londoners three women and a young man with a past whose lives, and those of their friends and lovers, connect in tragedy, stunning surprise and exquisite turns, only to change irreversibly in the shadow of a grand historical event."

Details

  • Title The Night Watch
  • Author Waters, Sarah
  • Binding Hardback
  • Edition 1st/1st
  • Pages 448
  • Language EN
  • Publisher Riverhead Hardcover, New York
  • Date 2006-03-23
  • ISBN 9781594489051

Media reviews

“Flawless…A sophisticated beautifully written novel.”
The Washington Post
 
“Captivating.”
The New York Times
 
“Masterful.”
The Seattle Times
 
“[A] wonderful novel…Waters is almost Dickensian in her wealth of description and depth of character.”
Chicago Tribune
 
“Waters has the gift of story, the ability to dissolve the distance between reader and subject until nothing but experience remains.”
Los Angeles Times
 
“Compelling…sexually and psychologically provocative.”
USA Today

About the author

Sarah Waters is the author of "Tipping the Velvet," a "New York Times "Notable Book; "Affinity," which won her the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award; "Fingersmith" and "TheNight Watch," both of which were shortlisted for both the Orange Prize and the Man Booker Prize; and "The Little Stranger," which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award and a "New York Times "Notable Book. She has also been named one of "Granta"'s best young Britishnovelists. She lives in London."
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