Customer Reviews

Watch by Moonlight: Library Edition

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

 

 

Kate Hawks may be a new name in the genre, but she writes with the sureness of a master. Anyone who has enjoyed the unabashed romanticism of Alfred Noyes's poem "The Highwayman" won't be disapointed in this fleshing out of both story and characters. From the quickly drawn sketches of the innkeeper (whose daughter Bess falls in love with the young highwayman) to the portrait of mercurial Abel Gant (mentor, philosopher and friend of the young bandit, Jason Quick) the cast is believeably human. And the love story between Bess and Jason draws the reader right into their world. A delightful read with some substance as well.

When I found out this book was based on my favorite poem, I just had to read it. I'm glad I did. It's a rich, masterful rendering of "The Highwayman" by Noyes, with complex characters. Hawks brought the poem alive, made me feel for the characters, root them along. Even though I knew the ending from the poem, I cried anyway. Beautiful!

This is a must read for any who love "The Highwayman" by Noyes.

I know the poem, and I knew it before Lorena McKennit's rendering. Even though I used to listen to that CD incessantly, for some reason it didn't click with me, until the very end - I mean the END, when I turned the page and found the poem. But it was too late because I was absolutely depressed by the ending and then I read the poem and then I got this huge lump in my throat and then I wished I hadn't stayed up to finish the book.

It was riveting. I don't agree with the two reviews below - the person who apparently doesn't realize Lorena McKennit didn't write the words, just put them to music, or the reader who felt the characters weren't fleshed out. In my opinion, the story was well developed, both the plot and the characters had depth, and the foundation for the finality of the story/the poem was superbly done.

It took me a while to get to sleep, and that's unusual for me. I don't know if I'd read it again. I know the ending and it was too sad. I love West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet, but I won't read or watch either one of them again either.

And to think I almost didn't check it out of the library. Despite the heartbreaking ending, I'd have missed a real treat.

I know the much loved Poem written ALFRED NOYES. It was a favourite of mine since childhood, so I was delighted when this book was given to my as a gift. It is a true homage to the essence of the poem The book is rich in detail, the revealing of the characters masterful, making them leap off the page in this a work of love.

A must for anyone a favourite of the beloved poem by Noyes!!!

This was a very good book, while not excellent. The characters, mostly Bess, were somewhat superficial and shallow, but this got better as the book progressed. As far as I am concerned, the only problem was the author's tendency to write page-long narratives of Bess's slightly maundering thoughts, which were fairly uninteresting and repetitive. But, as I said, it got much better by the end, and the final conclusion was very emotionally moving (I cried), even though anyone who's read Alfred Noyes' "The Highwayman" knew what would happen.
The author is excellent at writing dark, emotional endings, and she used this ability to the full in this book. While there are the aforementioned problems, it's most definitely a page-turner, and if you like "The Highwayman" at all, you're pretty much guaranteed to like "Watch by Moonlight". It's not the sort of book you keep under your pillow and memorize, but it's a very good read even the second and third time.

I'm assuming the quote from "The Highway Man" that's used in the title comes from the poem of the same name by Alfred Noyes, which existed long before Ms.MeKenna's song of that title.

This was both good and bad. It also could have been shorter. It dragged on too much, way too much.This man is a robber and inadvertenly tells this gal Bess, who he falls in love with. So she is now complicet in his robberies. It all goes terribly wrong for these two. It also has a terribly sad ending( The young lovers both die) and then there is this really dumb poem at the end of the book. Ugh!

As soon as I had read the first few sentences of the review I immediately knew that the author had based this story on a song by Loreena McKennitt called "The Highway Man", from her 1997 CD "Book of Secrets". Since Ms. McKennitt is on of my favorite composers I had to read the book.Unfortunately the book did not do justice to the song or the woman who wrote the song. Did the author have permission to write this. I'm sorry but listening to the song is preferable.