Reason read: Pulitzer winner 2024. Set just after the civil war. This is a story that looks at the effects of the war on the pysche. It is set at the Trans-Alleghanes Lunatic Asylum. The references to Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride was a real person who advocated for compassion in treatment of the mentally ill. His asylum in West Virginia was in operation from 1864 all the way until 1994. The story involves several perspectives and is also not linear with flash backs to the civil war. There is an element of magical realism. The book is about the dangers to women and children by roving veterans surviving by taking what doesn't belong to them. The author is US author from West Virginia and this is the second book I've read by the author. The first being Lark and Termite. ( )

I have very mixed feelings about Night Watch. I think I was focused more on "Why did this win the 2024 Pulitzer Prize?" than the actual story, which was disturbing yet contrived. The storyline takes place in 1874 and 1864 and is not chronological. So, it is sometimes confusing to understand the order of the various plot elements. The story opens in 1874 with "Papa" dropping off ConaLee, a thirteen-year-old girl, and her mother, Eliza, at the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. All three go by different names, and some of their connectedness remains unknown until the story unravels. Their confusing identity sets the stage for many characters with multiple names. It is Reconstruction in the Appalachians of West Virginia, and folks haven't recovered from the Civil War. Each character and erasable personhood mimics the undefined characteristics of states like West Virginia and Americans in the backdrop of the war.

As the story progresses and shifts between 1864 and 1874, we learn the backstories of ConaLee, the only first-person voice in the novel, and Eliza. We meet other characters who have experienced war and other traumas. Sometimes, the personal traumas are related to the war and sometimes to social class, gender, or mental health status. The insane asylum's philosophy is one of "moral treatment," which is revolutionary. The asylum was real, and Quaker physician Thomas Story Kirkbride, quoted in the book, was also a real person. Dr. Story, kin of Kirkbride, is fictional yet based on historical information about how to treat the mentally ill if they could seek refuge in such a place.

The Night Watch, who is on duty at the asylum when ConaLee and Elize arrive, has severe war injuries and multiple identities throughout the story. His backstory before, during, and after the war provides significant plot developments. Another character, Dearbhla, depicted as an Irish witch and sometimes mistaken for a man, has a history with the Night Watch, Eliza, and ConaLee. Dearbhla, although lower class and probably on par with those enslaved in the social order, takes good care of the main characters and seems to have ESP in protecting them. The only other child in the book is Weed, an orphan treated as a pet at the asylum. Weed, like Dearbhla, has a seemingly magical ability to be aware of more than what the senses can perceive.

There are graphic descriptions of sexual and physical abuse in this book, as well as war violence and other human interactions that are in contrast to the "moral treatment" "professed at the asylum. The story illustrates the effects of war and enslavement in myriad ways. To appreciate the messages of this book, one must consider not only the actual fighting and official slavery but also the virtual enslavements between characters. Also essential in the convoluted human relationships included in the novel is the absence and importance of family figures and the continual search for familial nurturing. I have concluded that this book won the Pulitzer because the United States' current divisive issues resonate today with those around the Civil War. As in those days, we must figure out how to adapt to new and changed conditions. ( )

Not hard to see why this one won the Pulitzer. The perfect combination of a well told tale and history. ( )

Perhaps my personal loose connection to this book made me enjoy this book more than some might, but I certainly would recommend it to anyone. I have been to the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, a very eye-opening if disturbing experience. This book showed me a very different side of how some patients were treated while they were there. Along with this setting in the novel, I also enjoyed meeting Eliza, ConaLee, and O'Shea. The Civil War portions of the book were also interesting, especially since they portray a different aspect of the war than what is often found in books. The personal story of Eliza and ConaLee was equally interesting. The book is not very long to include all that is in it, but Phillips writes it masterfully. ( )

41. Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips
OPD: 2023
format: 276-page hardcover
acquired: library loan read: Jun 24-29 time reading: 11:23, 2.5 mpp
rating: 3½
genre/style: historical fiction theme: none
locations: Civil War and post-Civil War West Virginia
about the author: an American novelist and short story writer born in Buckhannon, West Virginia in 1952.

This was intriguing as a kind of dark horse Pulitzer winner by a veteran but largely unknown author who has published a lot of books and been on numerous short lists. Consistent with my current mindset, I started this thinking about the prose. It was nice. It gets more complicated and I found myself reading very slow and unable to speed up. But, I always liked it. She creates a nice rhythm, she manages plot pacing and feeling and situation. I definitely felt like I was reading a veteran author.

But it's not a novel I should have read. It's just not for me, and that's on a sort of literary metaphysical level. To put it bluntly, I don't like how witch-like characters are handled in most contemporary fiction. These are women with somehow with nearly magical secret knowledge of medicine and psychology, and sometimes with purely magical stuff - none of which prevents really bad stuff from happening. When a magical character in a non-magical world fails to prevent, or at least reasonable manage catastrophic stuff, that, to me, is a plot hole. It's also really common in contemporary literature, especially historical fiction. (If you've read the book, I'm talking about Dearbhla, the Irish herb specialist)

So, that aside, this is the story of Eliza and her daughter living hidden away in the West Virginia hills who lose their husband/father during the Civil War. He just disappears. Later Eliza is abused by a southern Civil War veteran until he, for unclear reasons, drops Eliza, now mute, and her daughter off at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, WV and instructs the daughter to hide her origin and relationship with her mother. The 12-yr-old girls follows this instruction - this is where the book opens. It's one of the better aspects of the book.

The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, WV is real. And, according to Phillips, for its 1st 50-years was run with a remarkably compassionate philosophy. Patients were treated humanely and well. Much of the novel hovers on this facility and it's quite interesting, giving some real factual flavor.

Another interesting aspect of the book worth mentioning it that Phillips seems to like to tell her story through voyeurs, characters learning by peeking out windows, or listening through openings or thin walls (or through unexplained feelings of distant happenings). It works, and creates some atmosphere, although it can be awkward.

Overall, for me this novel has some good aspects, but also, for me, a lot of problems. I liked the slightly difficult prose, and the various aspects of history and place. The plot seemed really flawed to me, full of aspects that I couldn't make sense of. I feel it's a flawed book by veteran skilled author. I can't recommend it, but I do know many readers did enjoy it a lot.

2024
https://www.librarything.com/topic/360386#8568670 ( )