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End of the Night Girl
Molly, a sassy waitress, is haunted by the ghost of a murdered Polish Jew. Two novels, each a compelling page-turner, combine teasingly in one as End of the Night Girl explores the shadow cast by the Holocaust across decades, continents and cultures.
277 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 25, 2016
Absolutely freaking amazing. Powerful imagery, interesting characters, and a story that keeps going round in your mind.
June 21, 2023
I looked forward to reading this book after finishing Amy T Matthew’s book”Someone Else’s Bucket List” which was so good.
“End of Night Girl” was so disjointed-it was hard to know who was narrating. The current day story seemed to end with no real point, and I’m not even sure how the holocaust story did end. Very disappointing book.
“End of Night Girl” was so disjointed-it was hard to know who was narrating. The current day story seemed to end with no real point, and I’m not even sure how the holocaust story did end. Very disappointing book.
November 5, 2017
Loved this book - took me back to my days in hospitality then boom the tragedy of the holocaust shadowing the story is amazing
March 30, 2018
the writing style really captivated me and this was one I looked forward to getting int each evening.
January 15, 2023
Matthews writes with intimacy and heart. The prose feels personal and the characters known, easily drawing you into the worlds of both Molly and Gienia and their tightly entwined stories.
January 20, 2016
End of the Night Girl is a remarkable book, I’ve never read anything quite like it.
It’s the story of Molly, a young waitress in an Adelaide restaurant, who has become obsessed by the Holocaust. Killing time in a library to forget her lost lover (and other fraught relationships), she comes across a rather battered set of that old series, Peoples of the World. (The ones with the red covers, with their simplistic summaries and inane B&W photos of ‘happy natives’ and ‘exotic’ locations. There is a set of these somewhere in my childhood, I remember them well. )
In the volume about Poland, in the chapter entitled ’People You Will Meet in the Jewish Village’ she becomes captivated by one of the photographs:
In the centre of the page, uncaptioned, was a photo of a girl. She was teenaged, soft, somehow unformed, unfinished. Her cheeks were round, her eyes pale, her head hidden by a headscarf. Her gaze was directed above the cameraman’s head. What was she looking at? Why is she almost smiling? Her lack of caption worried me.
…
Nothing about the girl. If she was a teenager in 1933, how old would she be now? I paused. 1933. The Holocaust was looming. Would she even be now? (p81-82)
At school Molly had encountered a Holocaust Survivor, her French teacher. She had seen a documentary about the Holocaust too, but it had failed to move her then. Now, confronted by a girl close to her own age, for the first time Molly realises the enormity of it, and begins to read about it. And then to write.
To read the rest of my review please visit
http://anzlitlovers.wordpress.com/201...
It’s the story of Molly, a young waitress in an Adelaide restaurant, who has become obsessed by the Holocaust. Killing time in a library to forget her lost lover (and other fraught relationships), she comes across a rather battered set of that old series, Peoples of the World. (The ones with the red covers, with their simplistic summaries and inane B&W photos of ‘happy natives’ and ‘exotic’ locations. There is a set of these somewhere in my childhood, I remember them well. )
In the volume about Poland, in the chapter entitled ’People You Will Meet in the Jewish Village’ she becomes captivated by one of the photographs:
In the centre of the page, uncaptioned, was a photo of a girl. She was teenaged, soft, somehow unformed, unfinished. Her cheeks were round, her eyes pale, her head hidden by a headscarf. Her gaze was directed above the cameraman’s head. What was she looking at? Why is she almost smiling? Her lack of caption worried me.
…
Nothing about the girl. If she was a teenager in 1933, how old would she be now? I paused. 1933. The Holocaust was looming. Would she even be now? (p81-82)
At school Molly had encountered a Holocaust Survivor, her French teacher. She had seen a documentary about the Holocaust too, but it had failed to move her then. Now, confronted by a girl close to her own age, for the first time Molly realises the enormity of it, and begins to read about it. And then to write.
To read the rest of my review please visit
http://anzlitlovers.wordpress.com/201...
September 24, 2012
I don't know what to say, but "wow!". I'm going to a meet the author thing in a couple of weeks and I thought I'd better read this book so as not to embarrass myself. I picked it up last night to read a couple of pages and I barely put it down until I finished it this afternoon. It is still swirling around in my head hours later and I don't know why. Characters? Subtle plot twists I didn't anticipate? Part of it was that it reminded me of a particular old friend and a nice time in my life. Part was facing language and situations that are real but not part of my world and therefore somewhat confronting (I'm married, middle class and don't-say-middle-aged, so I'm easily confronted these days). I really don't know what made this book exceptional but it wrapped me up and took me away and that's all that matters in the end. I don't want to analyse it too much in case I ruin it.
As an aside, I loved reading something set in my home town. To read about Rundle St and Coopers Pale was really refreshing: I hadn't realised how much I missed it until I experienced it for the first time. Now I just have to work out what to say to Amy Matthews beyond "wow", so as not to embarrass myself when I meet her.
As an aside, I loved reading something set in my home town. To read about Rundle St and Coopers Pale was really refreshing: I hadn't realised how much I missed it until I experienced it for the first time. Now I just have to work out what to say to Amy Matthews beyond "wow", so as not to embarrass myself when I meet her.
August 12, 2012
End of the Night Girl is something very different. Australian author AmyT. Matthews has done something very special with this tale and I am looking forward to reading more of her works. In End of the Night Girl, Molly is a waitress who is haunted (obsessed?) by a young Polish woman who died in the Holocaust. End of the Night Girl moves between the experience of that young woman in the 1930s/40s and that of Molly in current times. This movement can be hard to follow at times as there are no character names in chapter headings but the unheralded transition in the narrative only increases the connection between Molly and Gienia. Gritty, rarely pretty but heart wrenching and riveting, Matthew's story fully deserved the Adelaide Festival Award for Best Unpublished Manuscript and I bet all those publishing houses that rejected End of the Night Girl for ten years are now kicking themselves. If not, they should be. 4/5 stars.
July 10, 2014
I feel the need to write a review as so many on here were uber positive.
Firstly, let me say this is a very intelligent and well written novel. It has intriguing characters and Molly is set in an unfamiliar setting that quickly feels familiar. Gienia's story is engaging and truly spurs the reader on. It also contains well researched facts and vocabulary.
However, with these elements so well done, I feel like I should have actually liked the book more than I thought I would. Perhaps I had built it up slightly (exciting to read a book partly set in my home town written by one of my university tutors from years ago). Or perhaps, Molly's side of the story failed to develop fully and felt disappointing.
I rather think it's the latter. And before I am criticised for wanting a book with a happy ending, Molly's ending was neither happy, sad or incomplete, it was underwhelming.
I would like to read more from this author to see whether my comments are justified.
Firstly, let me say this is a very intelligent and well written novel. It has intriguing characters and Molly is set in an unfamiliar setting that quickly feels familiar. Gienia's story is engaging and truly spurs the reader on. It also contains well researched facts and vocabulary.
However, with these elements so well done, I feel like I should have actually liked the book more than I thought I would. Perhaps I had built it up slightly (exciting to read a book partly set in my home town written by one of my university tutors from years ago). Or perhaps, Molly's side of the story failed to develop fully and felt disappointing.
I rather think it's the latter. And before I am criticised for wanting a book with a happy ending, Molly's ending was neither happy, sad or incomplete, it was underwhelming.
I would like to read more from this author to see whether my comments are justified.
July 31, 2015
I just want to firstly say that 'haunted' isn't really the best description of Molly and her interactions with the polish Jewish women. This woman is more of a history, a life, that is deeply part of her life. She crafts this story for this woman and the way she does is so graceful yet raw, and the holocaust sequences are so vivid and emotional. I was blow away by this book that I just stumbled upon really. Wonderfully written.
July 17, 2015
Coming from Adelaide, it was nice to read all of the familiar places Matthews listed in this book. End of the Night Girl blended Molly's and Gienia's stories nicely and she handled the sensitive nature of writing about Auschwitz with the respect the topic deserved. Molly was also a very easy to relate to in her dealings with her job and her love life.
June 16, 2016
My goodness, Amy has set the bar high for her next book. Great read on so many levels. It's wonderful to find new Australian writers, such as Amy, stepping away from well worn genres and plots to take risks and succeed.
February 15, 2014
The second book I've read recently that won the Unpublished Manuscript award. Now published, obviously, and rightly so. The story of an Adelaide waitress and a Polish Jew weave together in an extraordinarily compelling fashion.
May 26, 2015
Tierno, intenso, rompedor, escalofriante, humano; te arranca sonrisas y, a la vez, te sobrecoge hasta límites insospechados. Muy recomendado.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews