Night Watch

A Novel

By: Jayne Anne Phillips

Narrated by: Karissa Vacker, Theo Stockman, Maggi-Meg Reed

Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's 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.

©2023 Jayne Anne Phillips (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Beautiful, mournful . . . Carefully and engrossingly crafted . . . The good suffer equally with the bad. Phillips’s artistic conscience won’t let her flinch from this truth, but her generous heart won’t let it be the last word. She leaves readers with a rueful yet doggedly hopeful maxim that could easily serve as an epigraph for Night Watch as a whole: ‘Endurance was strength.’”—Wendy Smith, The Washington Post

“A story of trauma and restoration in the aftermath of the Civil War . . . Ms. Phillips presents harrowing, visceral scenes of war, but a lot of this novel relates the daily business of convalescence in an asylum, with loving attention given to the motley staff that tends to the unwell . . . The theme of healing extends to the plot. Ms. Phillips, who is drawn to depicting the poor, the mentally disabled, the wounded and other vulnerable souls, is a principled practitioner of narrative magic. Not only serendipity but a kind of clairvoyance connects the characters . . . Goodness is a real thing in this novel—a verifiable force—and the question posed is whether we still have the sensitivity to discern it.”—Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal

“Phillips is very good at is capturing a sort of inner dialect, conveyed here in a language inflected with a Southern twang, modulated to reflect characters’ social status and degree of education . . . It is when Phillips channels [these] thoughts that the telling, like the story itself, becomes [so] compelling, even beautiful.”—Ellen Akins, Minneapolis Star Tribune

A hard listen for me

It probably took me 25 hours to listen to this book… I started it over 2.5 hours in and then continued to hit back constantly throughout. If I didn’t focus solely on the what I was listening to I was lost within minutes. The writing style was hard for me to digest and it felt like a series of sentences at times.

The story was good, I liked the characters, and the narrators were all really good in their roles. I’m glad it’s over though.

The pain and suffering that is forced on so many by war and that family is all.

The true history of the Civil is paramount to this novel. The characters were complicated and rang true. At times the pain of the story became overwhelming.

Not a total waste of money

The writing is descriptive and poetic, but the story is nonstop depressing. I couldn’t finish it.

A Renaissance of American writing could be dawning

This was a deftly written, hauntingly American but blazingly beautiful novel and I look forward to reading more from this author. The plot weaves strands of family, love and honor into the dark, ugly spaces of our country and it's checkered history in a manner that educates as it entertains, challenges as much as it comforts, providing caring refuge as it reflects light and love into some dark places in our collective pasts.

Gripping plot, well developed characters and excellent delivery

The story is spectacular. Some moments were rather hard to listen to (some disturbing scenes) but appreciated having multiple narrators.

The author has an eloquent voice that brings the characters to life!

As a resident of West Virginia and a lover of this land and her culture, I enjoyed a chapter of her history! the traumatic events described were nuanced with subtle, believable touches.

Good. Parts of it are great.

Good performance. Interesting and well written. That said, the story was somewhat difficult to follow and occasionally slow.

The history of life in rural WV

Great story that is including a hx of mental health care after the Civil War.

Compassion & Brutality in Civil War Period

Very nicely written story of the civil war period. It shows the ravages that took place, but also shows a compassion that was beyond its time. I really enjoyed it.

The story line I

I love this book. It was a wonderful, beautiful story. I felt like I knew each character and loved the narration.