Night Watch
In April 1874, ConaLee accompanies her mother and the man she calls “Papa” to the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in the new-ish state of West Virginia. After birthing three “babbies” in fifteen months, Mama is nearly catatonic, and Papa no longer wishes to care for her.
At the asylum, which, unlike other asylums from this era, is a compassionate, healthful place of rest and healing, ConaLee poses as her mother’s maid so the two won’t be separated. As Mama slowly returns to herself, ConaLee is fascinated by the big man known as the “Night Watch” and worries that Papa—whom she begins to suspect is not her biological father—will return to claim her and Mama from their sanctuary.
An interesting treatise on race and the lingering trauma of war, Night Watch does keep its readers at arm’s length. Phillips’s writing style and lack of quotation marks in dialogue put distance between the reader and the characters. While the characters are varied and feel realistic, this distance muddies the reader’s connection to them. The book alternates between 1874 and 1864 to show how the characters all reached the asylum, sometimes spoiling plot points that were likely meant to be a surprise. The most interesting twist is that the 19th-century asylum is safer than ConaLee and Mama’s home. However, the book is impeccably researched, and photographs of the real Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum add interest. Readers fascinated by asylums of the period may be intrigued.
