lizscanlon's review
4.0
The Night Brother is quite difficult to put into words. The writing throughout screams quality. It screams quality because reading Garland’s book exhibits knowledge and experience. Experience in the sense that this is not author’s first book. It’s a solid, solid read and one that can easily be appreciated for what it is.
Set in the late 19th, early 20th century Manchester, UK, Edie and Gnome are like most siblings. When they’re young they enjoy each other’s company, as they get older they start to bicker and fight, and as they mature into adulthood they find a way to peace. This full circle takes years, crosses the turn of a century and human condition at it’s best, worst, ugliest and prettiest.
The historical setting for this book works miracles. I can’t – nor do I want to- imagine this book in a contemporary setting. I am happy that the (sometimes present) shallowness and distorted modern day values don’t taint this novel. It has it’s own conflicts from the past to put to good use. Past that is important and has set us on the path we are walking now.
Sexual and gender fluidity may well be the driving force of this novel no matter how much it crosses the line from real to made-up. Same sex relationships are of course a taboo in those archaic societal norms of blushing ladies, courteous gentlemen and lower class individuals working hard to get by. So are suffragettes and any notions of a person having an independent thought.
And thus, Edie’s life is a string of misery. She lives above the pub her Mother Cissy runs with her grandmother, and Cissy has exactly 0 love for Edie. Not only is Cissy working Edie to the ground, she is verbally abusive. Edie is confused about herself, about why she is being hated. She knows there are secrets in the family but these are not shared with her. Her self-image is whittled down to ashes….
The insults and hateful feelings spitting out of Edie’s mother are heartbreaking and disgusting, and we learn about this toxic relationship from pretty much the start of the novel. Normally, I would have a hard time feeling sorry for the character(s) until I have had time to connect with them fully. But there’s something about Edie that begs for protection, and even though it took her time to stand on her own two feet, we got there eventually. Edie is strong, lovable, considerate…
Gnome- much adored by Mother Cissy is everything Edie is not. He is mischievous, clever and cunning, ambitious and confident. He is also selfish, mean and spiteful. I could hardly find a cell in me to feel for him, even after everything was said and done. Even after I understood the whys…
Edie and Gnome, once inseparable, are now constantly fighting for their place in world. Freedom from each other… Separation. You probably have already put 2 and 2 together after reading the blurb, anyway… Edie and Gnome are siblings but they’re not siblings. They’re one, yet two. The differences of these two characters portray a lot more than gender fluidity and issues it may have caused in the historical setting. Edie’s and Gnome’s characters are like the yin and yang of humanity. The battle in between their two contrasting characters were a front row seat of one person’s struggle with themselves; a fight with their inner demons where the characteristics lose boundaries. Who’s going to win? The night or the day? And if one of them wins- are they really whole? Can night survive without day and vice versa?
The Night Brother is unlike anything I have read. I loved the flow of writing, I loved the subject matter and the fact that it wasn’t in a contemporary setting. But I also felt like I was suffocating- at times it just got to be too much. I wanted it to end, to come to a conclusion no matter how tragic or happy. Too much hate, too much spite, too much revenge, too many mistakes and insults. The road was long and hard, full of hurt and hate. But there were also small victories, there was Guy and Miss Hargreaves. Guy who has had his share of beatings because of his preference for same sex yet refuses to shine less brightly. Miss Hargreaves- a wealthy member of community fighting for women’s rights. A suffragette.
The plot is brought together nicely and without fault even though a small niggling question remained: did the fact, that at times we moved from realistic to unrealistic, tamper with my enjoyment? No. I choose to see this tool of execution as symbolism. More than likely, this is why we never learn about how Edie, Gnome, their mother and grandmother ‘came to be‘. It’s not really a magical happenstance- it’s a symbolism of individual experiences and in this case how one family deals with it…or doesn’t deal with it, as it were…
The ending… I have had time to consider this. It was most certainly the best outcome in all accounts. I did find Gnome’s culmination- his action and realization- to be somewhat cliché, but I have to admit that while some things can’t be fixed by love, in this case- love and acceptance seemed to be exactly what was needed to end the spiritual war that was not ever going to yield any winners in the long term.
Would I recommend this book? Yes. And when you read it, my recommendation is to not read it at face value… Instead, see the overall picture, grasp the presence of history and witness the struggle in between two souls. There’s a thing or two in this story for all of us to learn.
Set in the late 19th, early 20th century Manchester, UK, Edie and Gnome are like most siblings. When they’re young they enjoy each other’s company, as they get older they start to bicker and fight, and as they mature into adulthood they find a way to peace. This full circle takes years, crosses the turn of a century and human condition at it’s best, worst, ugliest and prettiest.
The historical setting for this book works miracles. I can’t – nor do I want to- imagine this book in a contemporary setting. I am happy that the (sometimes present) shallowness and distorted modern day values don’t taint this novel. It has it’s own conflicts from the past to put to good use. Past that is important and has set us on the path we are walking now.
Sexual and gender fluidity may well be the driving force of this novel no matter how much it crosses the line from real to made-up. Same sex relationships are of course a taboo in those archaic societal norms of blushing ladies, courteous gentlemen and lower class individuals working hard to get by. So are suffragettes and any notions of a person having an independent thought.
And thus, Edie’s life is a string of misery. She lives above the pub her Mother Cissy runs with her grandmother, and Cissy has exactly 0 love for Edie. Not only is Cissy working Edie to the ground, she is verbally abusive. Edie is confused about herself, about why she is being hated. She knows there are secrets in the family but these are not shared with her. Her self-image is whittled down to ashes….
The insults and hateful feelings spitting out of Edie’s mother are heartbreaking and disgusting, and we learn about this toxic relationship from pretty much the start of the novel. Normally, I would have a hard time feeling sorry for the character(s) until I have had time to connect with them fully. But there’s something about Edie that begs for protection, and even though it took her time to stand on her own two feet, we got there eventually. Edie is strong, lovable, considerate…
Gnome- much adored by Mother Cissy is everything Edie is not. He is mischievous, clever and cunning, ambitious and confident. He is also selfish, mean and spiteful. I could hardly find a cell in me to feel for him, even after everything was said and done. Even after I understood the whys…
Edie and Gnome, once inseparable, are now constantly fighting for their place in world. Freedom from each other… Separation. You probably have already put 2 and 2 together after reading the blurb, anyway… Edie and Gnome are siblings but they’re not siblings. They’re one, yet two. The differences of these two characters portray a lot more than gender fluidity and issues it may have caused in the historical setting. Edie’s and Gnome’s characters are like the yin and yang of humanity. The battle in between their two contrasting characters were a front row seat of one person’s struggle with themselves; a fight with their inner demons where the characteristics lose boundaries. Who’s going to win? The night or the day? And if one of them wins- are they really whole? Can night survive without day and vice versa?
The Night Brother is unlike anything I have read. I loved the flow of writing, I loved the subject matter and the fact that it wasn’t in a contemporary setting. But I also felt like I was suffocating- at times it just got to be too much. I wanted it to end, to come to a conclusion no matter how tragic or happy. Too much hate, too much spite, too much revenge, too many mistakes and insults. The road was long and hard, full of hurt and hate. But there were also small victories, there was Guy and Miss Hargreaves. Guy who has had his share of beatings because of his preference for same sex yet refuses to shine less brightly. Miss Hargreaves- a wealthy member of community fighting for women’s rights. A suffragette.
The plot is brought together nicely and without fault even though a small niggling question remained: did the fact, that at times we moved from realistic to unrealistic, tamper with my enjoyment? No. I choose to see this tool of execution as symbolism. More than likely, this is why we never learn about how Edie, Gnome, their mother and grandmother ‘came to be‘. It’s not really a magical happenstance- it’s a symbolism of individual experiences and in this case how one family deals with it…or doesn’t deal with it, as it were…
The ending… I have had time to consider this. It was most certainly the best outcome in all accounts. I did find Gnome’s culmination- his action and realization- to be somewhat cliché, but I have to admit that while some things can’t be fixed by love, in this case- love and acceptance seemed to be exactly what was needed to end the spiritual war that was not ever going to yield any winners in the long term.
Would I recommend this book? Yes. And when you read it, my recommendation is to not read it at face value… Instead, see the overall picture, grasp the presence of history and witness the struggle in between two souls. There’s a thing or two in this story for all of us to learn.
elizabethbest's review against another edition
3.0
(Goodreads Giveaway Win)
The idea was good and the themes explored were interesting, but Gnome was just way too annoying. I couldn't understand his character at all. I get he was angry, but I just couldn't find him believable as a character. If Gnome wasn't in it, it would still be a great story.
The idea was good and the themes explored were interesting, but Gnome was just way too annoying. I couldn't understand his character at all. I get he was angry, but I just couldn't find him believable as a character. If Gnome wasn't in it, it would still be a great story.
tas_takes_down_the_man's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Took awhile to sink my teeth into. Pathetic ending but otherwise an interesting read. Terrifying but interesting.
dannireadsallthetime's review against another edition
3.0
The Palace of Curiosity is one of my favourite reads, so I definitely had to read this one.
The Night Brother was nothing like I expected. I just didn't expect it to be so out there with the idea of this story. I did enjoy the concept with two people sharing a body, but I felt there wasn't much point to the story, there didn't seem to be a main point. It is suggested all the way through that something strange is happening with the brother and sister, so when it is confirmed it is no surprise, and I felt there was no climaxing moment. Also their mother is always so angry with the daughter, and I just didn't relate to her at all, I didn't understand her.
It was an interesting read, and definitely different to what I have read before, I just needed something exciting to jump out and grab me.
The Night Brother was nothing like I expected. I just didn't expect it to be so out there with the idea of this story. I did enjoy the concept with two people sharing a body, but I felt there wasn't much point to the story, there didn't seem to be a main point. It is suggested all the way through that something strange is happening with the brother and sister, so when it is confirmed it is no surprise, and I felt there was no climaxing moment. Also their mother is always so angry with the daughter, and I just didn't relate to her at all, I didn't understand her.
It was an interesting read, and definitely different to what I have read before, I just needed something exciting to jump out and grab me.
brynne_'s review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
A touch heavy handed at the end but beautifully written