The Midnight News

A novel

By: Jo Baker

Narrated by: Katherine Manners

From the best-selling author of Longbourn, a gripping novel of one young woman’s unraveling during the Blitz—a story of World War II intrigue, love, and danger • “[A] thrilling novel…atmospheric and memorable.” —Emma Donoghue, best-selling author of Haven

It is 1940 and twenty-year-old Charlotte Richmond watches from her attic window as enemy planes fly over London. Still grieving her beloved brother, who never returned from France, she is trying to keep herself out of trouble: holding down a typist job at the Ministry of Information, sharing gin and confidences with her best friend, Elena, and dodging her overbearing father.

On her way to work she often sees the boy who feeds the birds—a source of unexpected joy amid the rubble of the Blitz. But every day brings new scenes of devastation, and after yet another heartbreaking loss Charlotte has an uncanny sense of foreboding. Someone is stalking the darkness, targeting her friends. And now he’s following her.

As grief and suspicion consume her, Charlotte’s nerves become increasingly frayed. She no longer knows whom to trust. She can’t even trust herself . . .

Utterly riveting and hypnotic, The Midnight News is a love story, a war story, and an unforgettable journey into the fragile mind and fierce heart of an extraordinary young woman.

An intensity that bordered on painful at times but worth the discomfort

The sections on the Blitz capture the horror and madness as so much more than just background setting. The war on Great Britain becomes a reflection of the war fought by women against male domination and almost impossible odds. Almost impossible. And “mental health care” as control quite frankly had me taking short breaks and not listening while driving. I don’t say this lightly—brilliant characterization, too.

Original plot; rather depressing

The book was very well written, and the story original. However, I was expecting more emphasis on life during the blitz and more of a murder mystery from the plot summary. And the book was a bit too depressing for me with regards to the main character’s mental health.

Slow

Slow book very boring skipped around to much not a very interesting story at all for my taste thought it would be better