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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
So, I wish 2.5 stars was an option, but while I did not dislike this book, my liking of it is not without reservations. I somewhat willed myself to finish it, instead of just abandoning it part-way through. I had a hard time getting attached to any of the characters, and the bouncing around between them without understanding their connection to each other was frustrating. Waters goes backwards in her narrative - starting in 1947, and spending the most time there, some in 1944, and then just a short bit in 1941. So the book and its revelations were mostly anticlimactic. But it her descriptions of wartime and postwar London were really great.
Not my cup of tea. Clearly very well written but I found it dull. I didn't care about anyone in the book and it was too convoluted.
I generally enjoy the plot structure that starts with disjointed sections about a bunch of separate people who will, by the end of the book, become connected and intertwined. In this case the story unfolds in reverse chronological order so the connections have already happened by the time you are reading their separate story lines at the start of the book. Clever, I thought.
really good but it ended a bit too abruptly for my liking!
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was interested in this book when reading it, but I didn’t really fall in love with any of the characters. I think the addition of Duncan’s story didn’t add much and the pacing felt off. The Kay/Julia/Helen situation was interesting, but it kind of made me dislike all of them. All of that said, I really enjoyed the world building, which is always my favorite part of Sarah Waters’ books. I would recommend this if you’ve already read a couple of her books, but I don’t recommend this as your first one. The time jumps were intriguing but felt a little forced and underdeveloped- which is surprising for a 500+ page book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Suicide, War
I don't read a lot of WWII historical fiction (Goodnight Mister Tom just cannot be beaten!), however I think that if Sarah Waters wrote a novel about putting the bins out I would read it, she is that good! The Night Watch is set in London during the 1940s, following the lives of three women and one man who all have a past and secrets... The format of this novel is set in reverse, so we start in 1947 and end in 1941, with the three sections of the novel bringing together the characters so we understand how they are interwoven and how their actions impacted on another.
The writing is glorious and really evokes the sense of being in London during and post-war. The characters were all beautifully drawn and you could really sympathise with their situations. I liked learning more about the lesbian scene in 1940s London too and comparing it to what I recently read in Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo. I liked all the characters but perhaps I most enjoyed reading about Kay - let down in love and wandering London's streets in her mannish clothes and short hair and Viv, the glamour girl who is foolishly loyal to her soldier lover.
I can see why Waters has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won so many other literary awards: I read The Paying Guests last year and thought it was excellent and I'm so pleased that The Night Watch was just as good. Happily, I have a copy of The Little Stranger on my TBR and I don't think it will be too long before I read it!
The writing is glorious and really evokes the sense of being in London during and post-war. The characters were all beautifully drawn and you could really sympathise with their situations. I liked learning more about the lesbian scene in 1940s London too and comparing it to what I recently read in Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo. I liked all the characters but perhaps I most enjoyed reading about Kay - let down in love and wandering London's streets in her mannish clothes and short hair and Viv, the glamour girl who is foolishly loyal to her soldier lover.
I can see why Waters has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won so many other literary awards: I read The Paying Guests last year and thought it was excellent and I'm so pleased that The Night Watch was just as good. Happily, I have a copy of The Little Stranger on my TBR and I don't think it will be too long before I read it!
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5 stars! I love Sarah Waters’ writing style and her ability to build different worlds and set the atmosphere. The story is set in three different times: 1947 after WWII, 1944 during WWII and 1941 in London and follows Kay, Duncan, Viv, Helen and Julia. The war changes everything and almost nothing and that reflects upon the characters’ faith drastically. I really really enjoyed how we have to find out about the secrets and events by visiting the past in another chapter. The character development is superb.