Night Watch

A Novel

By: Jayne Anne Phillips

Narrated by: Karissa Vacker, Theo T. Stockman, Maggi-Meg Reed

Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2023 Jayne Anne Phillips (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Beautiful, mournful . . . Carefully and engrossingly crafted . . . The good suffer equally with the bad. Phillips’s artistic conscience won’t let her flinch from this truth, but her generous heart won’t let it be the last word. She leaves readers with a rueful yet doggedly hopeful maxim that could easily serve as an epigraph for Night Watch as a whole: ‘Endurance was strength.’”—Wendy Smith, The Washington Post

“A story of trauma and restoration in the aftermath of the Civil War . . . Ms. Phillips presents harrowing, visceral scenes of war, but a lot of this novel relates the daily business of convalescence in an asylum, with loving attention given to the motley staff that tends to the unwell . . . The theme of healing extends to the plot. Ms. Phillips, who is drawn to depicting the poor, the mentally disabled, the wounded and other vulnerable souls, is a principled practitioner of narrative magic. Not only serendipity but a kind of clairvoyance connects the characters . . . Goodness is a real thing in this novel—a verifiable force—and the question posed is whether we still have the sensitivity to discern it.”—Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal

“Phillips is very good at is capturing a sort of inner dialect, conveyed here in a language inflected with a Southern twang, modulated to reflect characters’ social status and degree of education . . . It is when Phillips channels [these] thoughts that the telling, like the story itself, becomes [so] compelling, even beautiful.”—Ellen Akins, Minneapolis Star Tribune

Excellent story

Often bleak; consistently compelling. I loved this novel. The story, the character development, the performance. Highly recommended

Beautifully written historical novel

In response to a previous review, there is a horrendous rape scene in this novel, which you may want to skip. But to say the victim enjoyed it is a complete misreading of that horrific scene. This is a beautifully written Civil War novel about a vulnerable woman left behind, a soldier recovering from terrible injuries, and neighbors and kindly doctors looking after the lost and injured. It’s also about the love between a mother and daughter that carries them to a much better place. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Fascinating

This involved a bit of history I was not familiar with. Curious to read more about the real hospital now. Well told, lovely descriptions.

Great story

The story was great but she didn’t give enough information about some things and too much about others. For instance, the sex between papa and Eliza went on way too long. The voice of Conna Lee was annoying but the other voices were good.

Disturbing

This is not a bad story. However there is one scene that ruins the whole book. A woman is sexually assaulted and she enjoys it. Seriously? And a woman wrote this?

not for me

Perhaps I should have continuing reading. The writing of rape and war I found too graphic. We all have limits.