Customer Reviews

Night Shall Overtake Us

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Most of the reviewers discuss the characters of this book and the romance, and I agree with their assessments that this book is excellent on that score. However, the main reason this book is good is that it artfully demonstrates how the characters were changed by World War I. As the book begins, the characters are interested in society, social conventions, getting married, etc. They expect WWI to be over quickly. It is not, and the way it affects the people and the society makes this book a real standout. I bought this book when it was first published and recently re-read it, which says a lot, because I rarely re-read fiction. This book delivers much more than its cover indicates.

This is a book filled with everything and anything that you may be looking for. It's has romantic momets as well as tragic ones. There are funny and serious parts too. But the best thing about this book is that it is done in a biografical form which starts from their chilhood until adulthood. This book is definitely a book worth reading.

I read this book in a day and have read it sveral times since. It has everything you could want in a historical novel. The characters were so well drawn too - Tertius was adorable. And the ending was extremely satisfying.

I loved this book - it is perfect for spending a night in on a winter's evening. The story is enthralling, accounting for the fortunes of the four friends and their loved ones. It details the events of the time and the change from the carefree life before 1914 to the tragedies of the Great War. I defy anyone to read this and not go through a box of Tissues

Fascinating time period. Well rounded characters make the losses more tragic and the triumphs more sweet. Another good book set in this same time period and equally good - "Song of Songs" by Beverley Hughesdon. Hard to find (British) but worth the effort

First read this in 1996 and the stories are still in my head. Rory herself has been a living character for me, and so has her friends

I just finished reading this book. Twice, within the past week. (I can't ever remember doing that before.) What a delight to read! Definitely one of the best novels I've read in a long time, a notch above much of what is out there. Kate Saunders creates vivid, believable characters that you will love and cheer and mourn despite their human flaws and weaknesses. The story line kept me captivated until the very last page, and Saunders has such a brilliant way with words, I wanted to flip back through and read scenes again and again. There wasn't a page I wanted to miss. It's filled with great dialogue, reflection, action, humor, and delightful (warning: graphic) scenes of love-making.

I came online just to see what other books this author had written.

Should it be made into a movie? Oh, I think it could be great on film, but it would have to be a mini-series. A 2-hour movie would not do it justice.

My first introduction to this novel was in an abridged form. My grandmother used to get Good Housekeeping when I was a teenager, and sometimes if I got bored at her house I'd read the condensed novels that were featured in the magazine. _Night Shall Overtake Us_ was the featured novel one month (the selected parts focused mostly on Jenny's story but contained tantalizing hints of the rest), and I resolved to read the entire novel someday. Thing is, I kept forgetting to do so. I stumbled across this by accident in the library the other day, and though it's got to be ten years after the fact, I couldn't resist.

So now I've read the entire novel, and I can't shake the feeling I've still only gotten an abridgement. _Night_ purports to tell the story of four women and their loves and losses during WWI. I think the novel did a very good job of portraying the war. There's a huge ensemble cast of lovable and hateable characters, all of them vivid, and two-thirds of whom will die by novel's end. At first no one takes the war seriously, which I think is also realistic. Then reality sets in. I thought the parts dealing with the war were heartbreaking and well-done.

Trouble is, in terms of the love stories, only Rory's is developed to my satisfaction. Rory did commit a rash and almost inexplicable act; however, she'd been portrayed as just the sort of woman who did rash things, so it was in-character for her. I also loved Rory's redemption and eventual happiness. But Francesca had huge and traumatic issues. I would love to have seen a more in-depth scene in which she began to heal. The way it's written, it sounds like the magic fairy of hormones just happened to wave her wand, and all was forgotten. Eleanor only had the POV a handful of times. Jenny was the second most-developed character, but her story also feels like an important scene was left on the cutting-room floor. I want to see more of how she grew to love her husband. It's clear at the end of the book that they have a deep love. I want to see how that happened.

I don't know if an editor chopped this up, or what. I just know that it feels like a lot of scenes were left out, particularly toward the end of the novel. Everything is tied up in a neat little bow, but the ending is really only satisfying in Rory's case. Jenny's came close (and I love the man she ended up with), but I would have liked to see more. Francesca's plot was resolved *much* too quickly and not really believably.

Wouldn't this make a great film? Who do other readers think could play the characters? I think Cate Blanchett (with short, redder hair) could be Rory, someone like Winona Ryder as Francesca, Keeley Hawes (from Our Mutual Friend) as Jenny and a plain looking actress as Eleanor. For the guys someone Daniel Day-Lewis-ish as Lorenzo and perhaps a Cary Elwes lookalike as Stevie. What do you think?