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katy_chessum_rice 's review for:
The Night Watch
by Sarah Waters
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!