BISAC | Book Chatter

Night Watch
By Jayne Anne Phillips
Knopf, 9780451493330, September2023, 304 pp.

The Short of It:

Brutal and honest.

The Rest of It:

“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 publisher

I am not a fan of war stories. I find them to be incredibly tedious. This book, although set during war, was a bit different in its approach. I was immediately pulled into this story. A very brutal act, takes place fairly early on and from that moment, I was riveted. As ConaLee and her mother, the non-speaking, completely lost Eliza make their way to a “hospital”, really an asylum for the mentally ill, I couldn’t help but want the best for them. But at every turn you are made to question the motives of others. Doctors, nurses, etc.

ConaLee and Eliza leave children behind. Eliza, left her son and a set of twins behind, not able to care for them. She was drained physically and mentally from the ordeal that she survived while her husband was away at war.

ConaLee, just 12 years of age is old enough to know that something terrible happened and is old enough to feel the loss of her siblings. The closeness that she has to her mother is what propels her forward. So when she is forced to play the role of Eliza’s nursemaid, she does so out of desperation so they can remain together at the hospital. In the midst of all this is their dear friend Dearbhla, who is a healer and can see the future. She continues to look out for them as they make their journey to the hospital.

What ensues is a story of survival. Eliza’s health, at first very fragile begins to show the effects of good food, quality care, and the safety that the hospital provides. ConaLee sees the change in her mother but she also notices a closeness between her mother and Dr. Story, the man who seems to be turning her life around for the better.

Old characters return from the past. Some dearly missed, and some absolutely evil. The last few chapters are delivered as a whirlwind of action. So much happens. So much is revealed. What an interesting story. And if you are wondering about the title, Night Watch is a position held at the hospital and plays a critical role in the story.

My book club chose this book for March. We meet to discuss it tonight. I think there will be plenty to discuss.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

Trust
By Hernan Diaz
Published Riverhead, 9780593420324, May 2023, 416 pp.

The Short of It:

What happens when money can’t buy the perfect life?

The Rest of It:

Trust is a novel made up of four competing narratives:

The book opens with BONDS, a novel by Harold Vanner. The story of Wall Street financier Benjamin Rask and his wife, Helen. Rich beyond means, but dealing with Helen’s declining health and her descent into madness.
MY LIFE, a memoir by Andrew Bevel. This is Bevel’s attempt to correct the horrible fictionalization of his life in BONDS. It’s never completed and fails to hit the mark.
IDA’S MEMOIR, is the memoir that results from Ida’s story. Ida is the ghostwriter hired by Bevel to help him pen his memoir.
MILDRED’S JOURNAL is comprised of her personal papers detailing her life with Andrew and ultimately, what we know of her final days.

This was a fascinating read. The transitions between each story was a little jarring at first, until you get the hang of what is happening. I read this on my Kindle and at first, I thought my ebook copy was possibly corrupted but then it all began to make sense.

I have to say, I was pretty enthralled with Benjamin and Helen Rask. They lived quite the life of affluence. Parties, concerts, social circles and Helen’s philanthropy. I was very invested in their story, especially when Helen falls ill and descends into possible madness. BUT, this is the fictionalized story that Vanner absolutely hated!! So much so that he purchased the publishing house that put the book out and bought every copy to get it off the shelves. BONDS has dashes of GATSBY, in my opinion.

Bevel is quite the oddity. Somewhat brilliant as a financier but without possessing any tangible talent. Financial matters just seem to go his way. His desire to correct Vanner’s work leads him to hire a ghostwriter, Ida. This part of the story is really interesting. The hiring process gives us a window into Bevel’s life and Ida’s own memoir highlighting the experience gives us her unfettered opinion of Bevel himself.

The author gives us all of these female characters in various stages of realization and dare I say it, enlightenment. Historically, women didn’t play a large role in the world of finance, or did they? As the reader, you are tasked with putting all these stories together to find the real truth.

Was Bevel as devoted to his wife Mildred as he wants us to believe? Was Mildred really “too far gone” in her descent into illness or was she well aware of the goings on around her? Mental illness or some other ailment? Once you get to her journal, it’s not clear because it is after all HER point of view and she clearly writes from a medicated haze of awareness.

Who can you believe? What story is real?

I picked this for my club’s February read and I am really glad I did. It was pretty readable even with the different formats, but more than that, I was intrigued. I wanted to know more about these people and the search for truth, a somewhat elusive thing, was entertaining. I liked how the author didn’t really lead the reader by the hand, he sort of puts it all out there for you to interpret. I liked that the story could be considered from many different angles.

Trust won the Pulitzer for fiction, was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2022 and made Obama’s list of fave reads for 2022. I really enjoyed Diaz’s writing and can’t wait for his next work. Trust is also being adapted into a series for HBO by Kate Winslet.

Highly recommend.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

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