Night watch

Title:

Night watch

Author:

Phillips, Jayne Anne, 1952- author.

Personal Author:

Phillips, Jayne Anne, 1952- author.

ISBN:

9780451493330

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

304 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

General Note:

"A novel"--Jacket.

"This is a Borzoi book"--Copyright page.

Abstract:

"In 1874, in the wake of the Civil War, eleven-year-old ConaLee and her mother arrive at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in West Virginia. They're delivered to the hospital's entrance by Papa--an abusive veteran who forces himself into their lives afer ConaLee's mother, who hasn't spoken in a year, grows even more withdrawn. Before he departs, Papa assigns them new identities and demands that ConaLee introduce herself as her mother's nurse--not her daughter--so they'll both be admitted and allowed to stay. There, far from family, their beloved neighbor Dearbhla, and the home they know, ConaLee will care for her mother and try to reclaim their lives. Years earlier, ConaLee's father left for the war before she was born and never returned"-- Provided by publisher.

Corporate Subject:

West Virginia Hospital for the Insane -- Fiction.

Subject Term:

Mothers and daughters -- Fiction.

Mute persons -- Fiction.

Mental illness -- Fiction.

Asylums -- Fiction.

Veterans -- Fiction.

Psychiatric hospitals -- Fiction.

Impersonation -- Fiction.

Caregivers -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

West Virginia -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Fiction.

West Virginia -- History -- To 1950 -- Fiction.

Genre:

Historical fiction.

Summary:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Belmont	Book	FICTION PHILLIP	Searching... Unknown
Searching... East End	Book	FICTION PHILLIP	Searching... Unknown
Searching... West End	Book	FICTION PHILLIP	Searching... Unknown

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On Order

Summary

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER * LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION * A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * From one of our most accomplished novelists, a mesmerizing story about a mother and daughter seeking refuge in the chaotic aftermath of the Civil War--and a brilliant portrait of family endurance against all odds

"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.

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

Set in West Virginia during and after the Civil War, Phillips' book takes as given that slavery was evil and the war a necessity, focusing instead on lives torn apart by the conflict and on the period's surprisingly enlightened approach toward care of the mentally ill. The novel's pitch-perfect voice belongs to ConaLee, observant and loving but also a scrappy survivor. Initially, ConaLee knows only that she was born in 1861 after her father "went away" and that her mother loves books. When a frightening man shows up years later calling himself "Papa," ConaLee assumes he's her father. He is not, but he stays and tyrannizes ConaLee's mother until she suffers mental and physical collapse. Then he dumps now 12-year-old ConaLee and her mother at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum and disappears. Here readers' assumptions about 19th-century psychiatric care are tested. The asylum's founder follows the real-life Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride's theory of "moral treatment," which included empathetic compassion on the part of the staff along with activity and fresh air for the patients. His humane approach was accepted, even prevalent in its day. Here, the asylum becomes the catalyst for characters to uncover identities lost, hidden, or unknown. ConaLee's lineage, revealed piecemeal, exemplifies a complex world in which names change, sometimes more than once. Her mother grew up the daughter of a plantation owner. He disapproved of the boy she loved because he was supposedly "shack Irish," the nephew of the girl's Irish nursemaid. The nursemaid kept secret that he was not her relation but a slave's half-Black orphan. Fleeing to Appalachia in 1861, the young lovers married under an assumed name before ConaLee's father joined the Union Army. After surviving a head wound in battle, he lost all memory of his past and started a new life with a new name…guess where. Yes, expect coincidences and convolutions, but Phillips pulls them off with gorgeous prose, attention to detail, and masterful characters. Haunting storytelling and a refreshing look at history. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.