The Watch That Ends The Night

The Watch That Ends The Night

YA fiction
Not surprisingly, in 2012 on the hundred year anniversary of her
sinking, publishers issued a boat load of new Titanic books. Author
Allan Wolf took a novel approach. "...my aim in writing The Watch
That Ends the Night was not to present history. My aim was to present
humanity. The people represented in this book lived and breathed and
loved. They were as real as you or me. They could have been any one
of us.". There is a large cast of characters ranging from the captain
and ship builder of the ill fated liner to the iceberg that caused the
tragedy and a ship rat. (Yep, you read right.). The book covers the
time from the preparation for the voyage to the rescue of suvivors.
It's divided into a prelude, seven watches--the last being the one
that gives this volume its poignant title, and a postlude. Within
each section the actors take turns telling their pieces in free form
verse. You'll get to know:
*Margaret (the Unsinkable Molly) Brown, a socialite returning from a
trip abroad. Unlike the old money folks and more proper nouveau riche
she knows how to speak her mind and has quite a way with words;
*Frederick Fleet, a lookout. Abandoned by his mother, he spent his
childhood in an orphanage. When he was only twelve he embarked on
training to become an able bodied seaman. The rest of the ship's crew
is the closest to family he's ever had;
*Frankie Goldsmith, the dragon hunter. He and his parents are moving
to America to start over again after the death of his baby brother,
Bertie. Although older boys don't share in his belief in fierce
mystical creatures, ship crew members encourage him;
*Jamila, a teen age refugee girl from Lebanon. She and her younger
brother were to travel to America with their father. Only in France
he was pronounced unfit for travel due to trachoma. So, en route to a
very unknown new world, she is alone with a sibling who feels he is
the man of the family and does not want her bossing him around;
*and so many more. It's almost as though you are there with them.
As for the iceberg and the rat, the former waxes philosophically
and has the voice that comes closest to a classic poetic form while
the latter has a very skittery narrative with a focus on finding food
and avoiding danger.
If you're a Titanic fan or simply fond of a good drama you'll
find The Watch That Ends the Night well worth reading.
On a personal note, the messy art project was wonderful. Louise read
to the children about abstract art and they created it. It was so
wonderful to hear them discuss their beautiful and original visions.
A great big shout out goes out to all young artists in the hope that
they will not grow out of a belief in the beauty of their creations.
Julia Emily Hathaway


Sent from my iPod