Bibliofemme Bookclub An Irish Bookclub

Sarah Waters shot to fame in 2002 when Fingersmith, her third novel, was shortlisted for both the Orange Prize and the Man Booker Prize. The Night Watch is Water’s fourth novel and in my mind every bit as good as Fingersmith.

Based in London, the book is set in three distinct times: post war London, London at the height of World War II, and London just after The Blitz. Narrated in reverse chronological order, the reader first meets the characters in 1947 post-war London, when a feeling of displacement was secondary only to the disbelief that it was all over. The book’s four main characters have survived the war and are now trying to resume a normal life, but for three women who performed indispensable jobs during the previous four years, returning to a ‘normal’ life is far from easy.

The Night Watch is ultimately about relationships and secrets. The four main characters, Kay, Helen, Viv and Duncan each have a skeleton in their cupboard that they would do anything to keep secret. Kay was an ambulance driver during the war. Fearless, she lived the war on adrenalin alone; but now the war is over, Kay is haunted by the images of what she saw. Helen is shy and madly in love with Julia, a love perhaps bordering on obsession; she works in a dating agency with Viv. Viv has a boyfriend but their relationship is not straightforward and causes her an unending amount of heartache. Finally there is Duncan, who is sensitive and quiet, aimlessly letting life pass him by while he toils in a candle factory. Never able to forget the death of his best friend, Duncan hides from the world and his family.

Although we meet the characters in 1947, it is part two of the book that provides most of the explanations as to how each of them became the person they are. Waters weaves her story in the reverse brilliantly; it’s a style that can be annoying, but used here it’s a mark of brilliance.

The Night Watch is almost tragic, all the characters including the minor ones project an air of misery, yet it is the underlying human emotions that make this book the incredible read it is. Waters took four years to write it and there is no doubt in my mind that not one minute was wasted. A masterful accomplishment – highly recommended.