Night Watch (Pulitzer Prize Winner) Audiobook By Jayne Anne Phillips cover art

Night Watch (Pulitzer Prize Winner)

A novel

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Night Watch (Pulitzer Prize Winner)

By: Jayne Anne Phillips
Narrated by: Karissa Vacker, Theo Stockman, Maggi-Meg Reed
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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.

Accolades & Awards

Pulitzer Prize
2024
Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Pulitzer Prize Virginia Fiction War Heartfelt Genre Fiction Suspenseful Medical
Beautiful Writing • Complex Characters • Historical Authenticity • Engaging Plot • Emotional Depth

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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.

A hard listen for me

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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.

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

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I gave up on listening to this over and over and over until I went online and read a basic review, which told me it would get better. So I started listening again and it was most certainly better in the last third of the book it did go way too deep on many many many things which were tremendously superfluous. It was well done overall but took forever to get to the meat and bones of the story

The suffering of the people in and around the Civil War

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The book was very engaging. Reading about the lunatics asylum was interesting but the ending was not to my liking.

Lunatic asylum

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Probably realistic to time period events. Good, unless you want a happily ever after.

A bit confusing in presentation

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