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'Night Watch' Goes Back to the Blitz, with a Twist

London after the Blitz might be seen as bombed-out literary turf. And Sarah Waters' fourth novel, The Night Watch, has what we expect of war-time Londoners: bravery, fear and sometimes, heroism.

But Waters builds this historical tale around lesbian characters, and in telling the story backwards, starting in 1947, she strips layers off complex and complicated lives.

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Martha Woodroof