Night Watch (Pulitzer Prize Winner)

A novel

De: Jayne Anne Phillips

Narrado por: Karissa Vacker, Theo Stockman, Maggi-Meg Reed

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION • A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • From one of our most accomplished novelists, a mesmerizing story about a mother and daughter seeking refuge in the chaotic aftermath of the Civil War—and a brilliant portrait of family endurance against all odds

"A tour de force." —Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage

In 1874, in the wake of the War, erasure, trauma, and namelessness haunt civilians and veterans, renegades and wanderers, freedmen and runaways. Twelve-year-old ConaLee, the adult in her family for as long as she can remember, finds herself on a buckboard journey with her mother, Eliza, who hasn’t spoken in more than a year. They arrive at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in West Virginia, delivered to the hospital’s entrance by a war veteran who has forced himself into their world. There, far from family, a beloved neighbor, and the mountain home they knew, they try to reclaim their lives.

The omnipresent vagaries of war and race rise to the surface as we learn their story: their flight to the highest mountain ridges of western Virginia; the disappearance of ConaLee’s father, who left for the War and never returned. Meanwhile, in the asylum, they begin to find a new path. ConaLee pretends to be her mother’s maid; Eliza responds slowly to treatment. They get swept up in the life of the facility—the mysterious man they call the Night Watch; the orphan child called Weed; the fearsome woman who runs the kitchen; the remarkable doctor at the head of the institution.

Epic, enthralling, and meticulously crafted, Night Watch is a stunning chronicle of surviving war and its aftermath.

Good. Parts of it are great.

Good performance. Interesting and well written. That said, the story was somewhat difficult to follow and occasionally slow.

Not a total waste of money

The writing is descriptive and poetic, but the story is nonstop depressing. I couldn’t finish it.

Gripping plot, well developed characters and excellent delivery

The story is spectacular. Some moments were rather hard to listen to (some disturbing scenes) but appreciated having multiple narrators.

A Renaissance of American writing could be dawning

This was a deftly written, hauntingly American but blazingly beautiful novel and I look forward to reading more from this author. The plot weaves strands of family, love and honor into the dark, ugly spaces of our country and it's checkered history in a manner that educates as it entertains, challenges as much as it comforts, providing caring refuge as it reflects light and love into some dark places in our collective pasts.

The author has an eloquent voice that brings the characters to life!

As a resident of West Virginia and a lover of this land and her culture, I enjoyed a chapter of her history! the traumatic events described were nuanced with subtle, believable touches.