The Night Watch (Waters novel)

infobox Book |
name = The Night Watch
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = UK first edition cover
author = Sarah Waters
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Historical fiction
publisher = Virago
release_date = 2 Feb 2006 (UK)
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
pages = 480 pp
isbn = ISBN 1844082466
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"The Night Watch" is a 2006 historical fiction novel by Sarah Waters. It was shortlisted for the 2006 Man Booker Prize and longlisted 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 three lesbian women, one straight woman and one man, their secrets, shames and scandals that connect them despite their different experiences.

In 2005, Waters received one of the highest bids (£1,000) during an auction where a real person's name would be immortalized in one of her novels [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3586013.stm Book role auction nudges £20,000] BBC News online, 31 March 2004] . The auction featured many notable British novelists, and the winning bidder, author Martina Cole, had a modified version of her name featured in the novel, as ambulance driver E.M. Cole.

Plot summary

1947

Kay

Kay Langrish is a woman in her mid-thirties who dresses in trousers and spends her days locked in her room in London, watching her landlord's patients arrive and leave at precisely the same hours every day. She stops to notice an elderly gentleman and his young companion, a boy who seems no older than twenty five. She spends her days watching in this manner with assumingly nobody watching her.

During a visit with one of her war-time friends, Mickey, it is revealed that Kay is wealthy and her residence in Lavender Hill is both a surprise and a disappointment to Mickey. They vaguely refer to what happened in the war and how difficult it was for Kay to overcome a potential challenge. Mickey is extremely kind and considerate, even when Kay tells her how she spends her evenings since emerging from her self-imposed exile: going to the cinema and watching back-to-back reels. She begins to share an illicit encounter with a drunken woman, but stops herself in fear of Mickey's disapproval and out of disgust for her own self.

One night, while waiting for the cinema doors to open, a woman from her past appears and hands to her a gold ring. The exchange takes no longer than a minute or two, but Kay has enough time to notice how thin she has become.

Helen

Helen and her assistant Viv run a match-making agency for individuals who have either lost their loved one, or were disappointed to see how much their sweethearts had changed after the war, and are now in search of someone new. The work itself is not very fulfilling, but their friendship keeps them entertained. On their breaks, Viv often begins to tell Helen something revealing about her past, but stops abruptly. For example, Viv casually mentions her brother, but stops before she divulges anything else. Likewise, Helen neglects to tell Viv about Julia, the woman with whom she is romantically involved. Julia is a published author, and is an upper-class woman, which Helen is not. Helen is also jealous of Ursula, another lesbian who reviewed Julia's latest work on the newspaper, because Julia has been spending a lot of time with her.

That night, Helen comes home and finds the house empty. Over the hours that Julia doesn't come home, Helen works herself into a frenzy, until her lover finally arrives cheerful and a bit drunk. Helen picks a fight with Julia, and Julia hashes out her frustration at Helen's incessant jealousy, revealing that she hasn't been able to maintain friendships with any other women because of Helen's jealousy. Julia then asks her rhetorically whether cheating is strictly a concern of those who have cheated in the past. Helen doesn't argue and leaves the room, upset. She goes into the bathroom, cuts her skin with a razor and returns to bed by Julia's side. As the two make up, and Julia drifts into sleep, Helen remembers silk pajamas she once had in the war.

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 can of meat for them to share. Their father never attends, although he is aware of their dinners. Duncan shrugs news of their father off, and proceeds to show Viv the latest addition to his antiques collection. He is amused by the history behind antiques and likes to brag about how he managed to bring the cost down from its original price. Viv politely ends the night and heads for the train station, but she doesn't go home to her father's. She instead hops inside a car and kisses Reggie.

The two are seen together in a car, in a clear day, driving somewhere secluded and out of the city. They have a picnic where they can’t be seen. On the way back, while navigating through atrocious city traffic, Viv spots Kay waiting at the cinema line and panics. She quickly ducks, makes Reggie maneuver like a madman, and finally stops at a quiet street. Viv explains that she saw someone she knew and gets out of the car. Reggie hands her two tin cans of meat, and irritated, she heaves them back at him and tells him to take them to his wife and children.

On the same day that Helen wanted to confide her love for Julia in Viv, the two women receive an unexpected visit from a Robert Fraser, Duncan’s old cellmate. He asks to speak with her regarding Duncan, and his present condition: collecting antiques (which he finds morbid), living with Mr. Mundy, whom both men knew at the prison, and his working at a candle factory. It is clear he thinks Duncan ought to be doing more with his life, and wants Viv’s help in getting Duncan out of his shell.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. Fraser tags along with Viv, who after first spotting Kay outside of the cinema has been coming back the cinema for a whole week, hoping to see Kay again. The two wait at a café, and when Viv spots Kay, it is Fraser who convinces her to run to Kay. It doesn’t take Viv long to hand Kay a gold band and return to the café. She suddenly feels free, and starts to think of breaking her affair off with Reggie, about leaving her job and living somewhere else by herself.

Duncan

Duncan accompanies Mr. Mundy, or "Uncle Horace," as he referred to him in public, every Tuesday to his Christian Science doctor at Lavender Hill. Upon not seeing Kay standing at the window watching the streets, they comment that "Colonel Barker" isn't there, and proceed inside. Mr. Leonard, Kay's landlord, begins the session by soothingly telling Mr. Mundy that his arthritis doesn't exist.After having dinner with his sister, Duncan works at the candle factory. It is implied that the boss adores him, and he shies away when a younger co-worker brags about his latest indiscretion and invites Duncan to join him. His boss brings to him a reporter who was doing a story on factories and is surprised to see it's Robert Fraser, his old cellmate, though neither of them explain to the others how they know one another. Before proceeding on his tour of the factory, Fraser hands Duncan his address and asks that he come visit him sometime, which Duncan trashes some time later. When he leaves work, Duncan is surprised to see Fraser waiting for him at the gates. He invites Duncan to a pub by the water, and Duncan reluctantly agrees, mainly because he doesn't want Mr. Mundy to worry. The two share two pints of beer, and while Fraser goes off to the bathroom, Duncan suddenly sees two familiar faces looking at him scornfully. Knowing what they’re thinking, he begins to panic, and when Fraser returns, he sees Duncan's state and explains to Duncan that nobody’s looking at him. It is implied that the figures he imagined were related to Alec, a boy he knew before going to prison.

Fraser makes several calls at Duncan's for dinner. One night, however, he doesn't show, and Duncan is quite upset, while Mr. Mundy relieved. He decides to sneak out that night to go to Fraser's, regardless of Mr. Mundy’s disapproval. He arrives at Fraser's window, and the two chat. He learns Fraser hadn't gone to see Duncan because he'd gotten caught up with his "date" with Viv.

1944

Duncan

Duncan has been in prison for three years now, and Viv and her father visit him once a month. Duncan's time is juxtaposed between prison guard Mr. Mundy's kind and defeatist demeanor and Fraser's free-thinking, free-acting attitude. Although it is unclear why Duncan's there, his father comments that it should be "that other boy" in there, not Duncan. He is referring to Alec, whom the other prisoners have coined Duncan's "boyfriend." When Fraser asks Duncan about his "boyfriend," Duncan snaps and tells him that Alec was nothing more than Duncan’s only friend, someone who appreciated the arts just as much as he did. Duncan constantly shrugs off implicit suggestions that he might be gay, even though one night, when Fraser is masturbating, Duncan joins in silently. Despite this, whatever suspicions Fraser has about Duncan's sexuality don't bother him, as the two seem to have a special connection. Towards the end of the chapter, there are indications that Duncan was imprisoned following an attempted suicide.

Viv

Viv is working as a typist, along with many other girls, and lodges at a boarding house with some of her co-workers. She meets Reggie, who is married, at anonymous hotels once every five weeks, whenever Reggie is permitted leave from Wales. One day she finds her period is one month late, and realizes she is pregnant with Reggie's baby. After she telephones him, she has to wait two weeks for him to take off leave, and when he does he brings her to the office of a dentist who performs clandestine abortions on the side. As a result, Viv suffers a massive haemorrhage and Reggie calls the ambulance. Kay arrives with Mickey.

Before they put Viv in the ambulance, Reggie apologizes, and later on, the women realize that he'd fled. On the way to the hospital, Viv explains to the women her situation and begs them to remain silent. Upon arrival, Viv becomes afraid that the doctors will learn about the abortion and scorn her for being an unwed woman. Kay slips her pinkie ring, which she never took off, on Viv's finger and leaves. She tells the nurses that Viv suffered a miscarriage during one of the air raids and her womb might have been punctured as a result. That was the last time Viv saw Kay for four years.

Kay

Kay works as an emergency response ambulance worker along with Mickey. She spends long nights cleaning up after air raids, sometimes collecting corpses, other times rushing victims to the nearest hospital. She lives with her lover, Helen, who she sees as someone she must protect and shelter from the horrors of war.

For Helen's birthday, she spends a fortune, about 13 pounds, buying her silk pajamas, coffee and an orange. Mickey is stupefied at how much Kay's spent, but Kay responds that someone must spend the Langrish fortune.

One night a call comes in for an air raid that occurred on her street. She assumes Helen's been asleep throughout the entire bombing and panics. She runs to the rubble to where her flat used to be and weeps at her loss. One of her co-workers then point out Helen walking alongside Julia, and she runs to Helen ecstatic and crying. She exclaims, "Oh, Julia! Thank God! I thought I'd lost her."

Helen

Helen works for the government in a division that assists those who've lost their belongings in the war. By chance she runs into Julia, a woman who was once acquainted with Kay. Julia invites her to tea, and Helen begins to fall in love with her. They discuss how loving, protective and yet tiresome Kay can be. Julia mentions that Kay wants a wife, and Julia simply couldn't be that wife for Kay.

One night Helen is unable to sleep and leaves for Julia's flat. They take a walk around more ruins, and when another raid alarm signals, they run amongst more ruins and hide from the chaos. It is there they kiss and make love for the first time.

Their affair carries on for some weeks, thanks to Kay's late hours. They are in Julia's flat, and it is then that Helen decides she must tell Kay and break things off with her. She finds she is entirely in love with Julia, and while she cares for Kay, she doesn't love her in the same manner she once used to. It is also then that Julia straightens out her past for Helen: it was Julia, not Kay, who was in love with the other, while the latter didn't feel the same. Julia attributed Helen's misconception to Kay's gallantry, and Helen suddenly feels used, but still finds she can't help her love for Julia. They reconcile and while making love, an air raid hits close to her flat. They dress and make their way to her place, and find Kay sitting on the rubble, weeping.

1941

Viv is on a crowded train, filled with civilians and military men. By chance, she meets a soldier named Reggie. They engage in a conversation under awkward circumstances, and he reveals to her that he is stuck in an unhappy marriage, and had a very limited time to go home, meet his newborn daughter before leaving for the front lines. It is in her earnestness and honesty that she falls in love with him.

Duncan is asleep in Viv's room when Alec taps on his window. Alec is frantic and panicked, as he had just received his summons for duty that day. He'd argued with his parents earlier over this: he refused to fight in a war he didn't believe in and his "brute" father struck him on the face. Convinced his father would never understand his beliefs, nor his appreciation for the arts, he resolves to make a statement by killing himself. He easily convinces Duncan to do the same, since Duncan can't imagine a life without Alec.

Alec writes a suicide note, and decides to slash his throat. He goes before Duncan, who all the while is wishing his father will come into the kitchen and interrupt the entire thing. Alec bids farewell and cuts himself. It is inferred that Duncan follows suit, but his father interrupted before much damage was done.

Kay is responding to an emergency call along with Mickey. They arrive at the scene and find one woman dead, another young woman caught underneath rubble, and two others blocked behind more debris. Kay helps the young woman, and after a brief exchange, she soon finds herself displaying much care towards her victim. They share a cigarette and Kay finds she's smitten with her. She asks for her name and she tells her it's Helen.

Awards

* Man Booker Prize for Fiction (shortlist), 2006
* Orange Prize for Fiction (shortlist), 2006
* Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction, 2007

References

External links

* [http://www.sarahwaters.com/book4.htm Book description at Sarah Waters' official webpage]
* [http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/generalfiction/0,,1681559,00.html Smoother than velvet:] Book review at The Guardian
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/26/books/review/26leavitt.html?ex=1175659200&en=724d48edfc187f77&ei=5070 This Is London:] Book review at the New York Times