Night Watch (Pulitzer Prize Winner)

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER ΓÇó LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION ΓÇó A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR ΓÇó From one of our most accomplished novelists,a mesmerizing story about a mother and daughter seeking refuge in the chaotic aftermath of the Civil WarΓÇöand a brilliant portrait of family endurance against all odds In 1874in the wake of the Warerasuretraumaand namelessness haunt civilians and veteransrenegades and wanderersfreedmen and runaways. Twelve-year-old ConaLeethe adult in her family for as long as she can rememberfinds herself on a buckboard journey with her motherElizawho hasnΓÇÖt spoken in more than a year. They arrive at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in West Virginiadelivered to the hospitalΓÇÖs entrance by a war veteran who has forced himself into their world. Therefar from familya beloved neighborand the mountain home they knewthey try to reclaim their lives. The omnipresent vagaries of war and race rise to the surface as we learn their story: their flight to the highest mountain ridges of western Virginia; the disappearance of ConaLeeΓÇÖs fatherwho left for the War and never returned. Meanwhilein the asylumthey begin to find a new path. ConaLee pretends to be her motherΓÇÖs maid; Eliza responds slowly to treatment. They get swept up in the life of the facilityΓÇöthe mysterious man they call the Night Watch; the orphan child called Weed; the fearsome woman who runs the kitchen; the remarkable doctor at the head of the institution. Epicenthrallingand meticulously craftedNight Watch is a stunning chronicle of surviving war and its aftermath.