The Night Watch – Sarah Waters
The Night Watch follows the intertwined lives of 6 young people living in London during the war. All of them are experiencing their own struggles and none of them quite ‘fit in’ to the norm. Kay, who dresses in men’s clothing and longs for a wife, is a night time ambulance driver during the Blitz. Helen, constantly searching, fights her own demons. Duncan spends the war in prison, and his sister, Viviene suffers through it because of love. Then we meet Julia and Fraser and Mickey – all important and all as confused and torn and outcast thanks to the massive upheaval wrought by the bombing and destruction and death that becomes a part of their lives.
The novel is unusual because it is written backwards. We first meet the characters when the war is over. It is 1947 and although it should be a time of happiness because of the relative peace after so long at war, every character is troubled for some reason or other. The author provides enough information that you can start to form a picture of why each person is where they are, but not so much that you can guess at what befell them during the war years. Kay is very much alone, Viv remains loyal to her married lover but shows signs of disillusionment, Duncan is now free from prison, but living with one of his prison wardens and Helen, in love with and living with Julia, is torn apart by her own jealousy and insecurity.
The tragic section of this book is the middle section which covers the events of 1944. It is during this section that we find out the reason for Kay’s sadness, and the roots of Viv’s disillusionment. We discover when Helen fell in love with Julia and the impact that that had on others. And we share prison with Duncan, and begin to learn why he is there. In the final, short section of the book – 1941 – some final answers are provided, causing you to think back over what you have read to put the pieces together and explain the atmosphere which pervades the first part of the book.
I really enjoyed the novel, although I was a little frustrated by the reverse narrative, not because I found it difficult to follow, but because when I had discovered the causes, I wanted to know what happened after 1947 and I kept reminding myself that I wouldn’t know because I had already read that part! I thought the descriptions of the relationships between the characters were very tender and unselfconsciously written, and I really liked that. It isn’t always that you get to read about lesbian relationships with such candour and it helped you to understand just how difficult it would have been during a time where any kind of unorthodox relationship was frowned upon, whether it was same sex, or simply an affair out of wedlock. As a result, every single character experiences something of the forced secrecy which they have to endure as an added stress to the difficulties everyone faced.
I think this was a well written novel which brought to life the Blitz in London. It successfully showed that not everyone who went through it fitted the archetype of the Londoner which you see on the old newsreels or read about in history books. Then, as today, there were ‘outcasts’ – who had to show perhaps greater bravery and strength to make it through.
Rating: 8/10
ISBN: 978-1-84408-241-4
Publisher: Virago
Year:2006
Date Finished: 6 November 2009
Pages: 503
Hey, just stopped by to let you know I’ve given you a blog award!
Just wondering if you had read Bird by sophie cunningham it is a disjointed novel as well, with chapters not in chronological order.
@Sean the Blogonaut I haven’t read Bird, but I’ll look it up. I found this book pretty challenging although I am always open to challenge the standard!
@Jeane Thank you!