The Night Watch
by Sarah Waters
Published by Riverhead Books: February 2nd 2006
Paperback: 528 pages
Star Rating: 5/5
Synopsis:
Moving back through the 1940s, through air raids, blacked out streets, illicit liaisons, sexual adventure, to end with its beginning in 1941, The Night Watch is the work of a truly brilliant and compelling storyteller.
This is the story of four Londoners - three women and a young man with a past, drawn with absolute truth and intimacy. Kay, who drove an ambulance during the war and lived life at full throttle, now dresses in mannish clothes and wanders the street with a restless hunger, searching. Helen, clever, sweet, much-loved, harbours a painful secret. Viv, glamour girl, is stubbornly, even foolishly loyal, to her soldier lover. Duncan, an apparent innocent, has had his own demons to fight during the war. Their lives, and their secrets connect in sometimes startling ways. War leads to strange alliances...
Tender, tragic and beautifully poignant, set against the backdrop of feats of heroism both epic and ordinary, here is a novel of relationships that offers up subtle surprises and twists. The Night Watch is thrilling. A towering achievement.
My review:
I buddy read this with Charlie Brook, Kie Reads and Sarah from YourTrueShelf and had a wonderful reading experience. I think it was made all the better because this was a phenomenal book and I truly loved the writing.
As you may know, I adore World War II historical fiction novels and this one was completely different to any other I have read before. Sarah Waters managed to create atmosphere and feeling of 1940s London perfectly while also having a really diverse and interesting cast.
The characters of The Night Watch are the best part and in fact this is very heavily a character-based story. Each one of our main four is linked in some way to the others and you slowly start to realise how and why they know each other.
I think Helen was my favourite but they all have incredible merit. I don't want to go into too much detail about any of them because the fun and joy of the reading this book is meeting the characters and really getting to know them. I will tell you this bunch of people are very diverse; they are all taboo in the eyes of the time period this book is set. The main characters include: lesbian representation; a gay man in prison for his sexual orientation; a woman in love with a married man; and many more besides.
This book packs a real emotional punch and not only do you get to know the characters really well but the development of them is a wonderful thing to behold. Even better because the true achievement of this book is the narrative. This book takes place backwards; so it's set into three sections... the first being 1947, 1944 and finally 1941. The timeline is reversed so you almost read the ending before you find out the backstory. I personally loved the way it was done and I found myself enthralled but wanting to know more all the time. It was an exciting way of reading and done in a truly accomplished way.
Overall this was my first Sarah Waters book but it definitely will not be my last. I am beyond positive about the whole experience and would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys slower paced character-driven stories which centre around this time period.
Until next time, happy reading!
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