The Night Watch (Waters novel)
UK first edition cover
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| Author | Sarah Waters |
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| Cover artist | TWBG - Duncan Spilling Lettering: Stephen Raw |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical fiction |
| Publisher | Virago |
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Publication date
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2 Feb 2006 (UK) |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 480 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 62265716 |
The Night Watch is a dark, 2006 historical fiction novel by Sarah Waters. It was shortlisted for the 2006 Man Booker Prize and shortlisted for the 2006 Orange Prize. The novel, which is told backward through third person narrative, takes place in 1940s London during and after World War II. The storyline follows the fragmented lives and the strange interconnections between Kay, Helen and Julia, three lesbians, Viv, a straight woman and Duncan, her brother, a gay man - their secrets, shames and scandals. The war, with its never ending night watches serves as a horrifying context, backdrop and metaphor as a constant reminder of the morbidity that surrounds life and love.
Kay
The novel begins with Kay Langrish-a woman broken by the war. She spends her days locked in her room in London, watching her landlord's patients arrive and leave at precisely the same hours every day. The only human contact that Kay is seen to be having at this stage in the narrative is with another lesbian, Mickey. Kay is suggested to be wealthy by her residence in Lavender Hill. One night, while waiting for the cinema doors to open, Viv, a woman from her past appears and hands to her a gold ring.
Helen
Helen and her assistant Viv run a match-making agency near Bond Street for individuals who have either lost their loved one or were disappointed to see how much their sweethearts had changed after the war. The work itself is not very fulfilling, but their hesitant friendship keeps them entertained. Viv
After work, Viv sets off to meet her brother Duncan, who lives with a much older gentleman named Mr Mundy. The three of them meet on a weekly basis for dinner at Mr Mundy's, and Viv always brings a tin of meat for them to share. Duncan shrugs off news of their father, and proceeds to show Viv the latest addition to his antiques collection. Viv politely ends the night and heads for the railway station, but she doesn't go home to her father's.
On the same day that Helen wanted to confide her love for Julia to Viv, the two women receive an unexpected visit from Robert Fraser, Duncan’s old cellmate. He asks to speak with her regarding Duncan, and his present condition: collecting antiques (which Robert finds morbid), living with Mr Mundy, whom both men knew at the prison, and working at a candle factory. Viv dismisses Fraser, feeling as though he thinks she and her father haven’t done enough to help Duncan’s situation and explains that he simply doesn’t know everything. Duncan
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