Night Watch (2023) is a historical fiction novel by Jayne Anne Phillips. The novel follows ConaLee, a young girl in post-Civil War West Virginia, as she and her mother, Eliza, struggle to survive in the immediate aftermath of the conflict. The novel is split into parts that take place in 1864, 1874, and 1883, following Eliza and ConaLee’s life in the Appalachian Mountains and the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. As a work of postmodernism, Phillips uses unconventional narrative techniques, such as moving through time, developing imagery through stream-of-consciousness writing, and differences in perspective to further the plot and characterization in the novel. Night Watch explores themes of Trauma and Its Long-Term Effects, The Importance of Family, and The Societal Impacts of War as ConaLee struggles to raise her mother’s children, protect herself and her mother, and find her father in the decade after the Civil War.

This guide refers to the Kindle Borzoi Book edition of the text, published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2023.

Content Warning: This novel includes descriptions of sexual assault and abuse, child abuse, violence, war, trauma, racism, sexism, and mental health conditions; this guide touches on all these topics.

Plot Summary

In the mid-1800s, Dearbhla, an Irish indentured servant working on a plantation in Virginia, adopts Ephraim Connolly, whose true name is never revealed in the text. Dearbhla raises Ephraim as her own child. Ephraim gradually falls in love with the plantation owner’s daughter, Eliza, leading the plantation owner to order Ephraim to be branded and whipped. When an enslaved man is attacked in Dearbhla’s home, Ephraim, Eliza, and Dearbhla use the attack to kill the overseer and another man, allowing them to escape the plantation. Ephraim leads Eliza and Dearbhla into the Appalachian Mountains and an area that would become West Virginia. Eliza has a miscarriage en route, but she becomes pregnant again in 1861. The same year, Ephraim joins the Union army as a sharpshooter, hoping to win the war and earn his freedom, as he, Eliza, and Dearbhla are effectively outlaws.

Dearbhla and Eliza remain in the ridges of the Appalachian Mountains, occupying two abandoned cabins. Dearbhla uses magic and knowledge of plants and animals to support the family, while Eliza quickly refines her knowledge of maintaining and caring for their home. Eliza gives birth to a daughter, ConaLee, a name that mimics Ephraim’s chosen last name, Connolly. ConaLee, Eliza, and Dearbhla live an idyllic life in the mountains, but they stop receiving word from Ephraim early in the war. In 1864, Ephraim participates in the Battle of the Wilderness in Saunders Field, where he is injured and taken to Alexandria, Virginia. Ephraim loses his memory entirely, and he is cared for by Dr. O’Shea, the attending surgeon at the hospital.

Dearbhla senses Ephraim’s injury, and she makes the journey to Alexandria in the fall of 1864. At this time, Ephraim has recovered from his injuries, though he lost an eye and his memory. He is working as an aide at the hospital in Alexandria, going by John O’Shea. Dearbhla fails to find him, as no one recognizes Ephraim’s name or image, and she returns to the mountains. While Dearbhla is gone, a Union soldier and his Confederate prisoner attack Eliza, who quickly hides ConaLee. The Confederate soldier, who wants to be called Papa, kills the Union soldier when he attempts to sexually assault Eliza. However, Papa also sexually assaults Eliza, leaving after promising to return after some time. Eliza recovers quickly, retrieving ConaLee, her gun, and a nail to protect herself if Papa returns.

After the war, in the early 1870s, Papa returns to Eliza’s cabin, and she is shocked into a near-catatonic state. Papa quickly takes over their home, forbidding them from seeing Dearbhla, who has raised ConaLee as her granddaughter. Dearbhla tries to teach some of her magic to ConaLee, including a way to avoid the trauma of Papa’s abuse, as Papa begins assaulting both Eliza and ConaLee. When Papa assaults ConaLee, she drifts into a dream-like state, which then manifests as “seeing lights” and “losing time.” After two years of Papa living on the ridge, in 1874, Eliza has three more children, a boy called “the chap” and two twins, a boy and a girl. Dearbhla plots to convince Papa to bring Eliza to the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, West Virginia, which he does after giving away all of Eliza’s possessions and her three younger children. Papa brings Eliza and ConaLee to the asylum, telling Eliza to use the name “Miss Janet,” with ConaLee as her aide. After bringing them to the asylum, Papa leaves.

In the asylum, ConaLee and Eliza meet O’Shea, the night watch, whom Eliza recognizes as Ephraim. O’Shea is caring for a boy named Weed, who is the charge of Mrs. Hexum, the cook. After meeting with the physician superintendent, a Quaker named Dr. Story, Eliza is admitted to the asylum as Miss Janet, an upper-class woman who lost her family in the aftermath of the war. Over time, Eliza recovers, though she maintains the persona of Miss Janet, and ConaLee becomes a nurse in the asylum. Papa returns to the asylum, but he is raving after being arrested for assaulting a stableboy. Hexum and O’Shea lock Papa in the most restrictive section of the asylum, though ConaLee fears that Papa will escape.

Dr. Story and Eliza start to fall in love, and Eliza tries to involve ConaLee in more of her activities in the asylum. ConaLee no longer sees lights or loses time, but she is afraid that the lies she and Eliza told to secure their place in the asylum will backfire. After a carriage ride, Eliza confronts O’Shea about his past, revealing that he is Ephraim, and the two reunite. ConaLee witnesses the reunion, which causes her to pass out. ConaLee reads her mother’s letters, though she does not understand that they reveal how Eliza and Ephraim met, moved to West Virginia, and separated due to the war. Dr. Story reveals to O’Shea that Papa escaped, and Weed finds Hexum dead in her office, accidentally starting a fire. When Eliza and Ephraim decide to tell Dr. Story about their true past, Papa breaks into Dr. Story’s office and shoots Ephraim in the chest as Ephraim pushes Papa out a window. Both Papa and Ephraim die in the exchange.

Dearbhla comes to the asylum to rescue ConaLee during the attack and fire, and ConaLee brings Weed with them. They leave Eliza to continue her relationship with Dr. Story, and Dearbhla, Weed, and ConaLee return to their cabins in the mountains. Dearbhla explains Eliza and Ephraim’s full history to Eliza, teaching her how to maintain the cabins, raise Weed, and earn a living selling herbs. The chap, living nearby, reunites with ConaLee, who accepts him as another son in addition to Weed. When Dearbhla dies, ConaLee and Weed move back to Weston, using the money saved in Ephraim’s name during the war to buy a home. Eliza marries Dr. Story after telling him her real name and history, and ConaLee returns to the asylum as a nurse.