From the Bookshelf of Bookmarks Subscribers …

Shaking off the reductive expectations of her self-described "lesbian Victorian romp[s]," Tipping the Velvet and Fingersmith,Sarah Waters proves she's no one-trick pony with The Night Watch. This doesn't come as a surprise to the critical colloquy, which paints Waters as a vigorous writer whose books wear their tireless research elegantly. The Oregonian goes so far to call The Night Watch "a writer's field guide to creating rich characters in fiction." Critics even applaud her transition to a th

Shaking off the reductive expectations of her self-described "lesbian Victorian romp[s]," Tipping the Velvet and Fingersmith,Sarah Waters proves she's no one-trick pony with The Night Watch. This doesn't come as a surprise to the critical colloquy, which paints Waters as a vigorous writer whose books wear their tireless research elegantly. The Oregonian goes so far to call The Night Watch "a writer's field guide to creating rich characters in fiction." Critics even applaud her transition to a third-person narrator. The only wobble is Waters' decision to tell the story in reverse. For a few critics the risky narrative device robs the book of its suspense, but in the final tally most writers agree that the view from the other end of the telescope is "an elegant and profound device" (Guardian).

This is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine.