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"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.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Awards
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Release date
September 19, 2023 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780593787939
- File size: 294136 KB
- Duration: 10:12:46
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Starred review from July 10, 2023
Exquisite attention to detail propels a superb meditation on broken families in post–Civil War West Virginia from Phillips (Lark and Termite). In 1874, 12-year-old ConaLee and her mute mother, Eliza, are delivered to the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston by an abusive man known to ConaLee as Papa, who has sold off the pair’s possessions. Papa assures ConaLee that the asylum will cure Eliza; before he departs, he also reveals he is not ConaLee’s father. Mother and daughter are welcomed by night watchman O’Shea, a Union Army veteran who lost his eye in battle. As her health improves, Phillips oscillates between 1874 and 1864 to fill in narrative puzzles, explaining Eliza’s quiet nature, the origins of Papa in their lives, the identity and fate of ConaLee’s real father, and O’Shea’s injury. A profound sense of loss haunts the novel, and Phillips conveys a strong sense of place (describing the asylum, she writes, “There was noise and commotion, all of a piece, like off-pitch music”). The bruised and turbulent postbellum era comes alive in Phillips’s page-turning affair. Agent: Lynn Nesbit, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. -
Good performances abound in this audiobook. At its heart is ConaLee, a child swept up in the cruelty and uncertainty of the antebellum South. Karissa Vacker, the primary narrator, is a strong voice throughout the production. Similarly, Theo Stockman's performance of male points of view and Maggi-Meg Reed's renditions of the female characters are well paced and emotionally charged. ConaLee's little family is shattered by wartime violence, and the best moments in the audiobook are centered around the interactions among characters. Episodes unfold in a tangled order, and it takes a patient listener to follow along. Some sections languish due to stilted language and belabored points, but the story is largely engrossing, and, all in all, the narrators do a fine job with the material. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine -
June 10, 2024
Phillips's (Quiet Dell) striking latest interlaces Civil War-era history with an exquisite examination of abuse, family, and loss. In 1874, ConaLee and her traumatized mother, Eliza, are dropped off at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum by a man whom ConaLee knows as Papa, although he is anything but. The night watchman welcomes the pair inside; later, Eliza begins to heal and get stronger, cared for by the facility's kind staff. Phillips allows listeners glimpses of the past, describing Eliza's journey to the high ridges of the Allegheny Mountains and her husband, who was gravely wounded in battle and never returned to them. Alone and unprotected, Eliza and ConaLee were then preyed upon by a Rebel deserter, who terrorized them, causing Eliza to stop speaking altogether and precipitating her arrival at the asylum. Narrator Karissa Vacker employs a gentle Southern accent for ConaLee and expertly voices her lyrically described thoughts and memories as revealed secrets chart a new path forward. Theo T. Stockman and Maggi-Meg Reed also offer versatile performances, providing a variety of voices for the other characters in Phillips's troubled landscape. VERDICT A powerful listen for those seeking meditative and haunting historical fiction. Share with fans of Jennifer Cody Epstein's The Madwomen of Paris.--Joanna M. Burkhardt
Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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