A Watch in the Night (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: A. N. Wilson
- First Published: 1996
- Type of Work: Novel
- Time of Work: Primarily the 1980’s, with flashbacks to 1940’s and a brief frame set in 2000’s
- Setting: Staithe, an English country estate, and London
- Principal Characters: Julian Ramsay, Dodie Rich, Victoria Amt, Kit Mayfield, Campbell Dilkes, Raphael Hunter, Darnley, Leman, Gorley Swallow
- Genres: Long fiction
- Subjects: Family or family life, Love or romance, 1940’s, Religion, 1980’s, Life and death, Old age or elderly people, Shakespeare, William, or Shakespearean plays
- Locales: London, England
A Watch in the Night is chiefly a quiet story, not so flamboyant and farcical as some of A. N. Wilson’s earlier novels, but showing his characteristic wit as he dissects British institutions and social life. Its complicated plot involves members of the literary Lampitt family and their biographer and spans several decades.
At the beginning of the new century, Julian Ramsay, in his sixties, lives alone in a cottage. He is visited now and then by his cousin Felicity, the owner of the cottage, and makes desultory conversation with her. He apparently prefers his aloneness to...
[The entire page is 1975 words long]
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