Night Waking [Paperback]

Anna is an Oxford Academic currently living on the tiny island of Colsay, in the North of Scotland, which her husband Giles has inherited. She has two sons - Raph and Moth - and is attempting to finish the book she is writing, while Giles counts the Puffin population and tries to understand why the numbers are declining. Anna sees herself as a historian and is highly resentful of being a full time mother without help, with little to amuse the children and a husband who has high standards regarding shop brought bread, etc, but who happily disappears all day and leaves her to cope. Her desperation and sleep deprivation is so well written that it will be understood immediately by all mothers of young children, as will Giles offhand manner I suspect! Part of the book takes place during the night, when Anna goes to soothe Moth, who still wakes and cries. Giles feels that taking the toddler into the bed 'sets a precedent' although in order to get some sleep, just about every mother (assuming they can't face controlled crying, which I certainly could not) give in sooner or later. Anna is very hard on herself and feels she is being judged harshly by almost everyone, including herself. The first half of the book establishes the personalities involved and is absolutely brilliant writing - Anna's feminist retellings of various childrens picture books actually had me laughing out loud! I also adored Anna's retelling of the Gruffalo - which mother of a young child cannot recite it word for word?!

Into this very self contained life, the outside world comes intruding, after Anna and Raph dig up a small skeleton while planting trees. The baby has lain, undisturbed, for many years and the police begin to investigate. This is not a crime book as such though, as the story has more to do with how the discovery affects Anna and her children and the secrets that all families hold. When another family also arrive, to stay in the holiday cottage that Giles is hopefully wishing will make some money, the dynamics on the island change again. Each chapter ends with a letter from a visitor to the island long ago, which is parallel to Anna's investigations of who the baby could be. However, this is not just another historical fiction book with stories running in the present and the past. The book is rooted firmly with Anna and the letters from the past are mere glimpses into what has been. It is also a very interesting account of what happened to a rural and remote community and the way that Giles, and his ancestors, are resented as owners of the 'big house'.

I cannot praise this book enough. This is really intelligent and brilliantly written fiction, from a master storyteller. Cold Earth was a fantastic book, but I have to say that this is even better. Sarah Moss is fast becoming one of my favourite authors of all time and it is no exaggeration to say that she should be winning major awards. I would recommend this book highly - read it, love it and recommend it to everyone you can. It really is that good and I look forward, with pleasure, to reading anything else by this fabulous author.

Set on an imaginary remote Scottish island with a nod to St. Kilda, Night Waking has the most beautiful opening paragraph I have read in years.

The likeable and basically good egg Giles Cassingham is the heir to this barren island. He and his wife Anna, with their two continually questioning little boys Raphael and Timothy (Raph and Moth) are staying in the big house for the summer. They have just completed the refurbishment of another building, a `blackhouse' ready to receive holiday-makers. Anna devotedly answers her children's cries relentlessly through the night; her wide-ranging thoughts in these dark hours stitch the tapestry of the story.

This thoughtful and grounded work, so well evokes the experience of sleep-deprived parent who in this case is also a respected academic. Her dream of a Hotel de la Mere, a wonderful sanctuary for the exhausted mother which is fleshed out through the book, becomes a delightful and understandable fantasy indulgence.

The gruesome discovery of an infant skeleton buried in their proposed orchard provokes further questioning and research. Anna uses her skills to investigate life on the island, which has been historically a terribly hard place to live with an awful record of infant mortality. From the past we are party to a series of letters written by a previous visitor to Colsay House, May; who was sent to try to help the women who in those days had no luck in keeping their babies alive, little scraps for whom they had no true hope. Small poignant mysteries stir again and Anna is keen to solve them all.

Arriving for their holiday are Judith Fairchild, Brian her heart surgeon husband and Zoe their troubled daughter. Anna and Giles shoulder their responsibilities towards their guests with impressive good humour and patience. They produce amusing moments as well as challenges, all above the call of duty.

I really liked the Cassingham family and enjoyed my time with them. Just occasionally I felt a bit fed up with the continual dialogue between Raph, who is quite an extraordinary little chap, clingy baby Moth, always so demanding, and their overwrought perhaps prone to over explaining Mother. There was just a bit too much of that for me. However this does describe reality for a young family and showed the author's lively perceptive ear. The real comedy which emerges from some of these conversations together with the wry thoughts that occur to Anna as she soldiers on all add up to a great mix of humour, humanity and history.

This is a wonderful book: sharp and funny, sad and gripping. I was racing to the end to find out how it was all going to come together, and now want to go back and read it again slowly.
As with Cold Earth, the location is described so beautifully that I was almost surprised to look up and discover I wasn't on a remote Scottish island. The characters are compelling, the details of life with small children all-too-easy to recognise. The chapters in the form of letters in the past were horrible in their details of the absolutely poverty-stricken life lived by the island's inhabitants, and Sarah Moss conveyed the social injustices bleakly and subtly.
But this is not a tragic story: it is a funny and true to life one. I look forward very much to reading more by this author.