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5.0 out of 5 stars
A forgotten classic, remembered, November 23, 2010
This review is from: Night Shift (Paperback)
But for a bizarre place to keep a manuscript, Maritta Wolff would have been long forgotten now, another author long out of print and no particular reason to hope she might ever come back into print. So thank goodness Mrs. Wolff decided to keep her last, unpublished manuscript in her freezer, where her husband found it after she died in 2002. It was published and achieved as much attention for its odd resting place as for its literary quality (which is considerable), and this in turn brought two of her first novels back into print, "Whistle Stop" and this one, "Night Shift."
"Night Shift" is an excellent novel, more than justifying the faith that some literary titans of the day such as Sinclair Lewis had in Maritta Wolff. It's a ground-level tale of absolutely ordinary humans struggling to survive in a midsize American city just before World War II, and as such it doubles as a cultural portrait of a bygone era, because Wolff captures that era with crystalic precision. She seems to be writing as much for us, seventy years later, as for her own time. The book was a bestseller in 1942 when it was published, and should remain in print this time, if there's any justice in the world.
The book takes place during the winter of 1940-41 and you can see and feel the biting cold, the blistering snow closing in. Two sisters, Sally and Petey, are at the center of the story, although there are several other major characters. Sally is the most well-drawn and interesting character in the novel, a working mother whose husband has had a mental breakdown requiring him to reside "temporarily" in a facility out in the country. Without his income and support, Sally's life is a dire struggle, grasping her way from one paycheck to the next, trying to keep herself, her kids, her other sister, her brother, and several neighbors afloat. It's a lot for one person to carry, and Wolff makes Sally's ordeal completely believable. Midway through the novel, when Sally's fortunes are at their lowest, her sister Petey comes to town and seems to save the day...this section is admittedly a somewhat awkward deus ex machina, the sister dropping in like the cavalry at the last moment, and there is even the feeling (however brief) that two unrelated novels about two unrelated characters have been joined at the hip...but fortunately the book is only halfway over at this point. Wolff more than redeems herself as more troubles soon develop for both Sally and Petey, sending us rocketing to the violent, powerful conclusion.
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a gripping, dramatic read. Wolff's writing doesn't feel at all dated, and whatever her background she makes her characters and their setting wholly believable. The additional curiosity of seeing what life was like back then is only a bonus, never an excuse. It's a great book, a good story well told, and I'm very very glad Maritta Wolff decided to keep her last novel in the freezer.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
A well kept secret, August 28, 2011
This review is from: Night Shift (Paperback)
It's a shame that more people haven't reviewed this book--it means that not nearly enough people have read it. It was an accidental find on my part, and I've tried to share the book with as many people as possible ever since. The plot has been described well enough already, so I won't go into details. If you love old movies or would love a glimpse into what life was like after WW2, then you'll thoroughly enjoy this book. It's melodramatic in the best ways, and written in just enough detail to make you understand the world the characters are living in. I highly recommend it.
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