28 Jun Book Review: The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

Sarah Waters built her reputation on gripping historical fiction—whether it’s haunted houses or submerged secrets in canals. With The Night Watch, she turns her attention to post–World War II London, weaving together the lives of four interconnected people in a novel that’s both suspenseful and deeply emotional. It’s a tale of love, loss, and resilience in a city coming back from the brink.

What’s it about?

The Night Watch unfolds in reverse chronological order, starting in 1947 and moving back to 1944. That backward structure forces you to piece together how these lives shattered during wartime—and how they found their way to each other.

In 1947, Kay Langrish runs a small photographic studio and wrestles with the aftermath of the Blitz. She cares for her lover Julia, who’s slowly recovering from an accident that occurred in 1944. Kay is good at helping others—she has to be—but her own wounds, especially residual guilt and longing, are quietly fracturing her.

Then there’s Helen, a museum secretary at the Natural History Museum, recently engaged to Vivian. She should be settling into postwar domestic life, but her past liaison with a mysterious woman named Julia resurfaces, complicating everything. It’s a story of choices made under pressure, and how love doesn’t always fit neatly into society’s boxes.

Among them is Viv, Helen’s fiancé, whose cries for stability mask a darker struggle. His relationship with Helen is strained by his own wartime experiences, and he’s desperate to build a safe, normal world—at any cost.

Then you meet Duncan, a talented photographer and Kay’s brother. Sensitive, struggling with his sexuality and creativity in a hostile time for gay men, Duncan becomes entwined in Kay’s life in a way that binds them all together, even as he fights for personal identity and expression. His section reveals an underground London of forbidden art and discreet relationships.

By the time you reach 1944, you see the seed of it all: wartime violence, love tangled with sacrifice, and Winston’s defeat on streets scarred by bombs. Kay is a volunteer ambulance driver. Helen is a W.A.A.F. communications officer. Duncan’s art takes shape on the margins. Lives snap and reform, friendships form in basements and bomb shelters. Moments of tenderness—small gifts in a broken time—become lifelines.

Through these shifting perspectives and jumps back in time, Waters shows how these lives interlock. A photograph Duncan took in the Blitz becomes an artifact in Kay’s studio. Helen’s defiance in wartime ripples into her choices in 1947. Every detail—an overheard conversation, a photograph, a wounding accident—takes on weight as you move deeper into past. The novel doesn’t shy away from emotional and physical scars: broken bones, broken trust, broken lives.

By the final chapters, you understand how deeply love can wound and heal, and how London, and each character, is still trying to restore itself in the ruins.

What This Chick Thinks

Intricate Structure, Deep Emotion

That reverse chronology can feel intimidating, but it works beautifully here. Every chapter peels back a layer of character emotion, revealing who these people were and why they ended up so bruised. The structure demands attention—and pays off with big emotional resonance when everything clicks.

London as a Living, Breathing Character

Waters has a gift for setting. London isn’t backdrop—it’s a totem. The smell of coal fires, the shape of crumbled bombsites, the sudden electricity-blue skies after raids all build atmosphere and weight. You feel the city’s exhaustion and resilience in every scene.

Characters That Stay With You

Kay’s quiet grief, Helen’s conflicting identities, Duncan’s artistic courage, Viv’s desperation—they’re all vividly drawn. These aren’t archetypes—they’re real people grappling with guilt, love, shame, longing. Their internal battles echo long after you close the book.

Gently Queer, Fiercely Bold

Waters has always written queer characters with nuance and dignity, and here she’s particularly brave. Duncan and Julia’s stories unfold through a collective that’s cautious yet alive. You see coded signifiers, quiet passion, fear of being discovered—yet also defiance.

Final Thoughts

The Night Watch is a beautifully woven tapestry of postwar London and human resilience. The reverse structure turns reading into assembling a puzzle—but when the final piece clicks into place, it hits hard. This one’s for readers who love atmospheric historical fiction where every scene matters, and every emotional cut—no matter how small—shapes who we become.

Rating: 9/10

Try it if you like:

• The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters – A haunting, slowly simmering gothic novel set in postwar England.
• The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman – Immersive historical narrative focused on women’s lives and emotional endurance.
• The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters – A tale of forbidden love and crumbling social structures in 1920s London.