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Midnight #1
The Other Side of Midnight
A naive American wife finds herself caught in a game of terror, passion, and revenge. The players in this game: her husband, Larry Douglas, a handsome aviator whose career went... Noelle Page, a mysterious French actress who has never forgotten the past...and, finally, Constantine Demiris, a Greek magnate who ties them all together.
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First published January 1, 1973
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About the author
Sidney Sheldon
369 books8,612 followersSidney Sheldon (1917-2007) was an American writer who won awards in three careers—a Broadway playwright, a Hollywood TV and movie screenwriter, and a best-selling novelist.
His TV works spanned a twenty-year period during which he created I Dream of Jeannie (1965-70), Hart to Hart (1979-84), and The Patty Duke Show (1963-66), but it was not until after he turned 50 and began writing best-selling novels such as Master of the Game (1982), The Other Side of Midnight (1973) and Rage of Angels (1980) that he became most famous.
His TV works spanned a twenty-year period during which he created I Dream of Jeannie (1965-70), Hart to Hart (1979-84), and The Patty Duke Show (1963-66), but it was not until after he turned 50 and began writing best-selling novels such as Master of the Game (1982), The Other Side of Midnight (1973) and Rage of Angels (1980) that he became most famous.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,520 reviews
June 29, 2011
I think I found this book via my mother. When I was in university, whenever I went home to visit, I'd return with a big bag of books my mom had bought and read.
One night I grabbed this from the bookshelf, not knowing what to expect. I think I had been putting it off for a while because it had a cover from the seventies and looked like pseudo romance.
Anyway, I read it in one or two sittings! I'd never read an author as breezy (and I say this is a very good way), as Sheldon. His writing is so clean and simplistic, I don't understand why more authors don't imitate his style.
Actually, I should modify that by saying Dan Brown--da Vinci man himself--got his writing bug after reading a Sheldon book--The Doomsday Conspiracy, I believe. He said he read it, thought it was great, and thought he could do better. Well, maybe he did with the da Vinci Code (commercially speaking). But Dan, brother, let's keep things real: you've written for or five books. Sheldon was an Academy Award-winning writer. His TV works spanned a 20-year period during which he created The Patty Duke Show (1963–66), I Dream of Jeannie (1965–70) and Hart to Hart (1979–84). Only at fifty--that's right, the big five-oh--he began writing novels. He wrote about fifteen of them, becoming the sixth best selling writer of all time, before passing away a couple years ago.
That above paragraph in itself should be enough to get you to read this work if you've never picked up a Sheldon book before.
One interesting fact I read somewhere about him: he never sat down at a typewriter to write but instead dictated to his secretary. At the end of the process, he would then cut away as much as eighty percent of the novel. No fat--one of the reasons his books or so lean and tough to put down.
Here's the blurb: An innocent American girl becomes a bewildered pawn in a game of vengeance and betrayal.
LOL...Even that is bare bones!
Check him out if you haven't. If you have, read this one (it was my first and favorite). If you have read this one, there's a sequel to it he wrote seventeen years later in 1990 called Memories of Midnight.
Oh--and there was a film made about it too. It was directed by Charles Jarrott and the cast included a young Susan Sarandon. Those crazy Japanese (yes I can say that; I lived there for several years!)turned it into a radio drama. Didn't that stuff die with Orson Wells??
Oyasuminasai!!
One night I grabbed this from the bookshelf, not knowing what to expect. I think I had been putting it off for a while because it had a cover from the seventies and looked like pseudo romance.
Anyway, I read it in one or two sittings! I'd never read an author as breezy (and I say this is a very good way), as Sheldon. His writing is so clean and simplistic, I don't understand why more authors don't imitate his style.
Actually, I should modify that by saying Dan Brown--da Vinci man himself--got his writing bug after reading a Sheldon book--The Doomsday Conspiracy, I believe. He said he read it, thought it was great, and thought he could do better. Well, maybe he did with the da Vinci Code (commercially speaking). But Dan, brother, let's keep things real: you've written for or five books. Sheldon was an Academy Award-winning writer. His TV works spanned a 20-year period during which he created The Patty Duke Show (1963–66), I Dream of Jeannie (1965–70) and Hart to Hart (1979–84). Only at fifty--that's right, the big five-oh--he began writing novels. He wrote about fifteen of them, becoming the sixth best selling writer of all time, before passing away a couple years ago.
That above paragraph in itself should be enough to get you to read this work if you've never picked up a Sheldon book before.
One interesting fact I read somewhere about him: he never sat down at a typewriter to write but instead dictated to his secretary. At the end of the process, he would then cut away as much as eighty percent of the novel. No fat--one of the reasons his books or so lean and tough to put down.
Here's the blurb: An innocent American girl becomes a bewildered pawn in a game of vengeance and betrayal.
LOL...Even that is bare bones!
Check him out if you haven't. If you have, read this one (it was my first and favorite). If you have read this one, there's a sequel to it he wrote seventeen years later in 1990 called Memories of Midnight.
Oh--and there was a film made about it too. It was directed by Charles Jarrott and the cast included a young Susan Sarandon. Those crazy Japanese (yes I can say that; I lived there for several years!)turned it into a radio drama. Didn't that stuff die with Orson Wells??
Oyasuminasai!!
April 22, 2025
The beginning of the book, or maybe the first 100 pages are a bit slow since it was difficult to link the "sides of midnight", but after that, it gets better and better. I liked all the characters and their development. Sheldon takes his time to describe all the characters with big detail and it was not difficult for me to get interested in them. How the story was being explained and all the geographical places described is also a plus for me, since I love geography and I really like to see places such as Greece and its beautiful cities to be mentioned throughout the book.
I want to highlight that this is one of the best endings I've ever read: My goodness! Of course I will not spoil anything, but I can only say that I love plot twists when they are well written.
Maybe the only criticism is that Noelle changed her mind a bit too easily... but again: I won't spoil even if the book was written so many years ago so even if I say the whole story it would not be spoiler. I am really looking forward to reading the second part of this story. Superb book which I completely recommend!
I want to highlight that this is one of the best endings I've ever read: My goodness! Of course I will not spoil anything, but I can only say that I love plot twists when they are well written.
Maybe the only criticism is that Noelle changed her mind a bit too easily... but again: I won't spoil even if the book was written so many years ago so even if I say the whole story it would not be spoiler. I am really looking forward to reading the second part of this story. Superb book which I completely recommend!
March 7, 2018
"Era copleșită de un profund sentiment de singurătate, de tristețea de a se despărți de persoana pe care o iubea cel mai mult, dar, în același timp, era nerăbdătoare ca trenul să plece, încântată că avea să fie pentru prima oară liberă să-și trăiască viața."
"Demiris insistă ca Noelle să-l însoțească pretutindeni. În afaceri, nu avea încredere în nimeni, așa că era nevoit să ia singur toate deciziile. Descoperi că îi era de ajutor să discute despre afacerile sale cu Noelle."
"Demiris insistă ca Noelle să-l însoțească pretutindeni. În afaceri, nu avea încredere în nimeni, așa că era nevoit să ia singur toate deciziile. Descoperi că îi era de ajutor să discute despre afacerile sale cu Noelle."
February 10, 2017
This story is driven by Love, Lust, Hatred and Revenge between 4 characters: Noelle, an incredibly beautiful actress who chase to revenge the man she love and hate in every bit of her passion Larry Douglas. A tycoon Demiris who get into this revenge and Catherine, a normal girl who is the pawn in this game of revenge... till her life turns up side down.
This Sheldon's book made me HATE anti-heroine/hero that I've never been before, ugh. The book is told from Catherine and Noelle's POV and I hate Noelle *sorry, not sorry* Maybe because I love Cat, that's why I can't stand Noelle and Larry. But Demiris oh Demiris, he is The Star of this book! The true hero of this story. *swoon* This super powerful bussiness man might ruthless at time, but he is also good at another time. I LOVE him! He remind me of Roarke from In Death.
This might be my least favorite of all four Sheldon's books I read, but the ending is the best! It's heart-wrenching and made me have tears in the eyes. Applauds for my Demiris. *sigh*
This Sheldon's book made me HATE anti-heroine/hero that I've never been before, ugh. The book is told from Catherine and Noelle's POV and I hate Noelle *sorry, not sorry* Maybe because I love Cat, that's why I can't stand Noelle and Larry. But Demiris oh Demiris, he is The Star of this book! The true hero of this story. *swoon* This super powerful bussiness man might ruthless at time, but he is also good at another time. I LOVE him! He remind me of Roarke from In Death.
This might be my least favorite of all four Sheldon's books I read, but the ending is the best! It's heart-wrenching and made me have tears in the eyes. Applauds for my Demiris. *sigh*
March 3, 2009
This is one of my favorite books and has been for a long time - I think I have read everything by Sidney Sheldon and loved all of them!!
October 29, 2014
So I inherited a lot of books from my mom and among them were about 10 Sidney Sheldon novels. I had read a couple of his years ago and while I thought they were pretty good, I wasn't compelled to go out of my way to aquire more of them. So I went into this one with a certain hopefulness but not expecting to be blown out of the water.
But I was...blown out of the water, I mean. Written in the '70s, it takes place during and shortly after WWII. But it's not "about" WWII but rather about three main characters who happen to interact during that time period. This novel is intrigue to the max, featuring numerous sordid affairs, rags to riches storylines, power-grabs, glamour, backstabbing plotlines, etc. Definitely a page-turner and suprisingly (at least to me) risque for the time it was written. It is the only Sheldon novel I know that has a sequel, Memories of Midnight and I am looking forward to that one with relish. Highly recommended.
But I was...blown out of the water, I mean. Written in the '70s, it takes place during and shortly after WWII. But it's not "about" WWII but rather about three main characters who happen to interact during that time period. This novel is intrigue to the max, featuring numerous sordid affairs, rags to riches storylines, power-grabs, glamour, backstabbing plotlines, etc. Definitely a page-turner and suprisingly (at least to me) risque for the time it was written. It is the only Sheldon novel I know that has a sequel, Memories of Midnight and I am looking forward to that one with relish. Highly recommended.
February 5, 2023
إثارة ، خداع ، هوى .
الرائعة سيدني شيلدون، براعة لاتوصف في التنقل بين شخصيات الرواية ، والاثارة في كل صفحة، حدثني عن عبقرية المشهد وتجسيده ، أحدثك عن سيدني شيلدون.
الرائعة سيدني شيلدون، براعة لاتوصف في التنقل بين شخصيات الرواية ، والاثارة في كل صفحة، حدثني عن عبقرية المشهد وتجسيده ، أحدثك عن سيدني شيلدون.
February 17, 2011
Being somewhere in the middle of the most recent Man Booker Prize winner at the moment and finding it decidedly uncompelling, I needed an antidote stat. And what better than this sordid potboiler, rediscovered on my shelves during a recent book purge? I always expect derision when I tell people of my Sidney Sheldon love, but oddly, it never comes. At least, not to my face. Perhaps this review will break the rule? Sheldon is a marvelous writer. The lessons to be learned from reading him are long - provided you're looking for a bestselling formula that set the world's pulse racing nearly forty years ago. Punchy, spare and in no way florid, unlike many of his contemporaries, not a page is wasted. The plot is constantly, ingeniously furthered at a driving pace. It's very much of its time, yet it's a time well worth visiting. 'The Other Side of Midnight' is a jet-set sort of novel, making one think of the doomed 70s love affairs of Taylor and Burton, Jackie and Onassis. Glamorous, damaged types flit about the globe in search of thrills, revenge or redemption. The central triangle of Noelle, Larry and Catherine is riveting, especially Noelle's dizzying descent into vengeance-fueled madness. There's one especially shattering, shocking chapter somewhere in middle that I shan't spoil, but needless to say, four decades on, it still packs a wallop. I doff my hat to Mr Sheldon. He was indeed a master of his game.
September 13, 2024
Enjoyed the book, It narrates and offers versatile story lines , mouth watering plot twist and adds it into one of my favourite sheldon 's novel.
July 11, 2019
This was a beach-side read for me in my teens. Sheldon was a master of melodrama and I devoured this book. I'm glad this book had a sequel. I felt so sorry for the poor messed up heroine, but this was a fantastic read. Not sure I would pick these books up today, because of all the blood and torture, but I'm tempted to reread this one and just skip over the hair-raising, gory parts. Highly recommended!
July 24, 2023
Reread. 4.5 stars.
September 6, 2018
Unputdownable ! Noelle is a wonderful lady who is betrayed by Larry Douglas at an exceptionally youthful age. In this way, she needs to deliver retribution on Larry. Catherine gets hitched to Larry. Noelle joins Constantin Demiris in Greece and brings Larry as Demiris' own pilot. Noelle and Larry presently genuinely cherish each other and Noelle does not dither about killing any individual who gets in her direction. Along these lines, Noelle and Larry choose to kill Catherine. I'm sorry I can't disclose here anymore 😋 To know what happens next, you better start reading it yourself.
September 11, 2024
Read this long ago and don't remember a thing. All I can recall is that I used to like his books a lot.
September 8, 2012
By Sidney Sheldon. Grade: A
Sidney Sheldon is one of the most prolific writers of all time. In the literary circles, he has been dubbed “the master of the unexpected”. From writing novels to screenplays to TV scripts, Sidney Sheldon has done it all. The Other Side of Midnight is the second novel of his career, the first being The Naked Face.
The story follows a beautiful French actress whose craving for passion and vengeance takes her from the gutters of Paris to the bedroom of a powerful billionaire; a dynamic Greek tycoon who never forgets an insult, never forgives an injury; and a handsome war hero lured from his wife by another woman. From Paris to Washington, Hollywood to the islands of Greece, The Other Side of Midnight is the story of four star-crossed lives enmeshed in a deadly ritual of passion, intrigue and corruption.
The plot basically revolves around two women: Noelle Page and Catherine Alexander.
Noelle Page, born in a small French town, is a young woman of unparalleled beauty. Her life was a dream, a doting father, a loving family, an awestruck village, until the Nazis invaded their country. Ever since then her life has been going downhill. She was forced into the arms (bed, rather) of the village’s richest man. But she runs away to Paris where she is rescued by an American stranger after getting into trouble. She falls in love with this American war hero, Larry Douglas and is about to marry him when she finds out that that the love of her life is a Casanova (that is an understatement) and that he had ditched her. It is at this point of time that she swears vengeance against the one man who had ruined her life and left her in shambles.
On the other hand, Catherine Alexander, born in Chicago in the family of a travelling salesman, had a lesser troubled life. As soon as she entered into college, a fear began to plague her which would shape the course of her life. Once graduated (and still fearing the same thing), she entered into a job in Washington D.C. where she found her first romance (who turned out to be her lifelong friend). After quite some time, she bumped into an arrogant, pestering, annoying man called Larry Douglas (yes, the same one). They both fall in love and get married.
Meanwhile, Noelle Page’s vengeance leads her to a French director, whose association helps her become an actress. From the bylanes of France, she had now come into the spotlight, into the eyes of every single person in France and all over the world. But when she learns about the new developments in Larry Douglas’ life, she renews her efforts and hence, lands into (yes, the bed) of Constantin Demiris, the ruthless yet benevolent Greek tycoon who had outmanoeuvred every enemy who had at any point of his life, insulted him. (During this period, it is Catherine who is suffering as Larry is caught up in the Second World War.)
Because of the deliberate circumstances created by Noelle, Larry ends up working for Demiris and both Catherine and Larry move to Greece. As planned by Noelle, this is the last nail in the coffin of Larry Douglas as he has now walked into her clutches. What happens at the end of Noelle’s vengeful journey is how the plot ends.
Had there been a moral of the story, it would have been “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”. The sheer monstrosity of the hatred that Noelle holds for Larry in her heart is what drives her to the lengths across the world and Catherine, probably the only innocent figure in the novel, is caught up in this. Sidney Sheldon, in The Other Side of Midnight, gives a glimpse of the dark side of a woman’s heart and desires. The novel is really fast paced and the best part is how the timeline is put to use (believe it or not, the Second World War plays a very important role in the novel).
The writing is very gripping and keeps the reader on the edge of the seat. Another very good example of how seemingly small errors in judgement can have extreme consequences. A must-read for everyone who is interested in fiction.
Originally reviewed at www.vaultofbooks.com
Sidney Sheldon is one of the most prolific writers of all time. In the literary circles, he has been dubbed “the master of the unexpected”. From writing novels to screenplays to TV scripts, Sidney Sheldon has done it all. The Other Side of Midnight is the second novel of his career, the first being The Naked Face.
The story follows a beautiful French actress whose craving for passion and vengeance takes her from the gutters of Paris to the bedroom of a powerful billionaire; a dynamic Greek tycoon who never forgets an insult, never forgives an injury; and a handsome war hero lured from his wife by another woman. From Paris to Washington, Hollywood to the islands of Greece, The Other Side of Midnight is the story of four star-crossed lives enmeshed in a deadly ritual of passion, intrigue and corruption.
The plot basically revolves around two women: Noelle Page and Catherine Alexander.
Noelle Page, born in a small French town, is a young woman of unparalleled beauty. Her life was a dream, a doting father, a loving family, an awestruck village, until the Nazis invaded their country. Ever since then her life has been going downhill. She was forced into the arms (bed, rather) of the village’s richest man. But she runs away to Paris where she is rescued by an American stranger after getting into trouble. She falls in love with this American war hero, Larry Douglas and is about to marry him when she finds out that that the love of her life is a Casanova (that is an understatement) and that he had ditched her. It is at this point of time that she swears vengeance against the one man who had ruined her life and left her in shambles.
On the other hand, Catherine Alexander, born in Chicago in the family of a travelling salesman, had a lesser troubled life. As soon as she entered into college, a fear began to plague her which would shape the course of her life. Once graduated (and still fearing the same thing), she entered into a job in Washington D.C. where she found her first romance (who turned out to be her lifelong friend). After quite some time, she bumped into an arrogant, pestering, annoying man called Larry Douglas (yes, the same one). They both fall in love and get married.
Meanwhile, Noelle Page’s vengeance leads her to a French director, whose association helps her become an actress. From the bylanes of France, she had now come into the spotlight, into the eyes of every single person in France and all over the world. But when she learns about the new developments in Larry Douglas’ life, she renews her efforts and hence, lands into (yes, the bed) of Constantin Demiris, the ruthless yet benevolent Greek tycoon who had outmanoeuvred every enemy who had at any point of his life, insulted him. (During this period, it is Catherine who is suffering as Larry is caught up in the Second World War.)
Because of the deliberate circumstances created by Noelle, Larry ends up working for Demiris and both Catherine and Larry move to Greece. As planned by Noelle, this is the last nail in the coffin of Larry Douglas as he has now walked into her clutches. What happens at the end of Noelle’s vengeful journey is how the plot ends.
Had there been a moral of the story, it would have been “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”. The sheer monstrosity of the hatred that Noelle holds for Larry in her heart is what drives her to the lengths across the world and Catherine, probably the only innocent figure in the novel, is caught up in this. Sidney Sheldon, in The Other Side of Midnight, gives a glimpse of the dark side of a woman’s heart and desires. The novel is really fast paced and the best part is how the timeline is put to use (believe it or not, the Second World War plays a very important role in the novel).
The writing is very gripping and keeps the reader on the edge of the seat. Another very good example of how seemingly small errors in judgement can have extreme consequences. A must-read for everyone who is interested in fiction.
Originally reviewed at www.vaultofbooks.com
August 19, 2020
I just had to write this review to purge my system of this garbage. Much regrets! Started out promising, but deteriorated unfortunately all too cunningly, so I couldn’t extricate myself until I had skimmed to the end. One-sided, boring characters, especially Sheldon’s women who apparently only seem capable of holding one motivation throughout their entire lives: to possess one man, Larry Douglas, who is so textbook sociopathic that it seems as if Sheldon opened the DSM-V and systematically wrote each trait into the character (thanks Hannah for these words of comparison!). Apparently the story is supposed to garner sympathy for one of the main characters - “the innocent American girl” - whose life is ruined by her involvement with Douglas. In general, but speaking about this character specifically, there is a lack of cohesion of personality. Really superficial; each character is reduced to a one-liner, a stereotype and chained there, despite the story screaming that this characterization doesn’t work, not in reality and definitely not in a novel. No way can a girl who quotes TS Eliot be so stupidly simple-minded, and if Sheldon’s point was to show that indeed the most intelligent can be drowned by heedless love/lust/insecurity, then he does a poor job of convincing us. Anyway, I’m done now, sufficiently exorcised of this vapid paradigm of pop storytelling.
June 26, 2024
Amei a leitura deste livro💞💕💕!!Mais uma vez o Sidney Sheldon no seu melhor! Que suspense eletrizante, que nos faz não largar o livro até ao fim!! Tem um pouco de tudo: romance, fatos históricos, thriller e claro o suspense😎😎. Fabuloso!!💯
January 8, 2018
This is a smashing brilliant work, with layers upon layers of fine plots and intrigue. But there is one aspect I just cannot understand. Why couldn't Larry Douglas recognise Noelle Page when he later became her main pilot as it were? Yes, he had had countless women over the years, but surely he would remember a woman depicted as incredibly beautiful with especial features...a woman he had lived with in an hotel for quite some time before he disappeared...a woman who just some years later became a global actress always in the media and the like. Is it really possible that despite the combination of her great beauty allied to her distinctive name and celebrity, Larry would still not recognise her? A woman he had promised to marry...I do not wish to be tedious, but consider it, her startling beauty, her name, their staying together, her becoming a global star still using her real name...Also consider that it was only like after 6 years after they had met that she became world famous. Yet Larry does not have any inkling as to who she is!
In fact the way Ms Page is depicted runs contrary to reality. She is incredibly ruthless and calculating, yet she always comes across to all her lovers over the years as the acme of perfection, a woman all of them can not do without, a sex goddess and domestic servant, and an expert on all subjects to boot. Of course Larry Douglas is the only man this nonpareil woman cares about. "Noelle was quicksilver a nymph, a genie, a dozen beautiful servants catering to his every wish before he even knew what he wanted" Hmm....
In fact the way Ms Page is depicted runs contrary to reality. She is incredibly ruthless and calculating, yet she always comes across to all her lovers over the years as the acme of perfection, a woman all of them can not do without, a sex goddess and domestic servant, and an expert on all subjects to boot. Of course Larry Douglas is the only man this nonpareil woman cares about. "Noelle was quicksilver a nymph, a genie, a dozen beautiful servants catering to his every wish before he even knew what he wanted" Hmm....
October 5, 2016
What a book! The story, the characters... And the ending! Totally unexpected :D
March 30, 2013
Though Sidney Shedon's "Stranger in the Mirror" affects me more strongly than any of the other books in his magnificent canon I would introduce "The Other Side of Midnight" as a flagship example to explain why Sidney Sheldon was one of the great story-tellers of the twentieth century. There are four protagonists with diverse backgrounds, and Sheldon puts them in his crucible - what emerges is a spectacularly textured epic that lifts and plunges us through the highs and lows of life.
Sheldon said in his autobiography that of all the artforms he was involved in -plays, movies,TV serials- he loved writing novels the best as he could do anything he wanted in them. In O.S.M ,we are thrust into the center of a thrillingly constructed courtroom drama which rivets international attention, Marseille in France pitches in with the smell of fish and scheming townfolk, we become voyeurs in the life of a young woman whose fantastic beauty is matched by her mental strength, soar into the skies where WWII planes zoom in a dance of death, peer into the colossal mind of a business tycoon who will not admit defeat, breeze past the glamour and riches of the super-wealthy and into a charmingly presented tour of the cities and countryside of Greece that is beautifully woven into the storyline. Sheldon can do anything, go anywhere and we are the beneficiaries of his largesse.
Noelle Page is an exquisitely beautiful young woman from Marseilles who is repeatedly hurt to the point of transforming her driven character. Though not born into royalty,she is inexorable in ultimately making herself a young empress by dint of own achievement. Severe trauma in her early life darkens her soul and cripples her kindness, and she coldly uses important men to advance her acting and modelling career while ascending to the ultimate international pedestal . Her alchemical transformation in a hotel room in Vienne, the teasing but superb psychodynamics between her and another man in Amsterdam,and sledgehammer verdicts in Greece are some of her saga's highlights .Her story also hints at that crazy thing called true romantic love.
Larry Douglas is an elite American pilot whose handsomeness and charm are as great as his flaws.He romances countless women before before marriage. But we realize more and more that Larry, for all of his gifts, is a man for whom there is no guarantee of stability even if he is given the greatest love of his life. His constant joy only lies in constant movement and the question looms -what is the price for that?
Catherine is a delightful young lady who hails from an unstable childhood. She is about to enter into a life of guaranteed security with a good prosperous man, when the force of "love" assails her. The narration is excellent in revealing her winsome nature, sparkling sense of humour, and the thankless nature of her fate in this story.
Constantin Demiris is a Greek business titan -amongst the richest men in the world- who rises with his supreme mind to conquer the physical world. Starting off as a stevedore in Piraeus,a stroke of coaxed luck is enough into propel him towards exponentially expanding business acquisitions. We see that he destroys pusillanimity while constantly nurturing his giant will-power. Noelle Page enters into his orbit- they both seem to make a perfect pair in terms of almost every quality that mortals could hope to have, but they lack that crucial something which can make even poor mortals noble. One of the book's great strengths lies in immersing us in the dizzying power that these individuals generate, and in reminding us that we are only limited by the boundaries that we draw in our own minds.
Readers would have noted that there are ample references to 'love' here. But Sheldon is also a specialist in the physical aspect of it, and it is great fun to experience the sexual adventures of Noelle. She thrills and astonishes her carefully chosen partners before meeting her shamelessly audacious equal. When it comes to romps by other characters too, the author has this knack for building excitement and cascade of sensations while surging towards explosive climaxes and spent sated states. But sex is also used in conjunction with the characters' other talents in service of bigger aims- the episode in which Noelle wins over Armand Gautier in their first sustained meeting, is a little masterpiece by itself.
As an exercise in the myriad powers of the author, Sheldon also devises cunningly constucted courtroom victories and intrigues (cf. Rage of Angels). For this he creates the remarkable character of Napolean Chotas - a top criminal lawyer whose cunning behaviour and stealthy strategies are a joy to witness.
Sheldon is well-known for making readers deeply care about his characters. I have sometimes wondered that if Noelle Page had been ushered unscarred into marriage with a boy she liked in the backwaters of Marseille, would she have subsumed her faculties into maintaining small-town family life, or would she still have found ways to break big? On another note, I am also impressed with how secondary characters are given such filling brush-strokes. Only for a few pages at the start of the novel, we are let into life of a Greek inspector who has a matronly wife and sweet young mistress. That ephemeral track is whipped up with such skill and investment of interest that it is enough to construct a whole petite novella. Sheldon can create magic from day-to-day life and he does not need magic realism for that.
Sheldon wrote this book early in his fifties, and early in his novel-writing career after the disapppointing "Naked Face", and what he achieves here is tantamount to winning the World Cup after stumbling in the leagues.The Other Side of Midnight has a satisfying follow-up act too, in the form of Part II- Memories of Midnight, but the first book does not need something to fill it out. It stands complete as a sprawling masterwork from which I emerged spent, asking for nothing more. This is entertainment for the Gods.
Sheldon said in his autobiography that of all the artforms he was involved in -plays, movies,TV serials- he loved writing novels the best as he could do anything he wanted in them. In O.S.M ,we are thrust into the center of a thrillingly constructed courtroom drama which rivets international attention, Marseille in France pitches in with the smell of fish and scheming townfolk, we become voyeurs in the life of a young woman whose fantastic beauty is matched by her mental strength, soar into the skies where WWII planes zoom in a dance of death, peer into the colossal mind of a business tycoon who will not admit defeat, breeze past the glamour and riches of the super-wealthy and into a charmingly presented tour of the cities and countryside of Greece that is beautifully woven into the storyline. Sheldon can do anything, go anywhere and we are the beneficiaries of his largesse.
Noelle Page is an exquisitely beautiful young woman from Marseilles who is repeatedly hurt to the point of transforming her driven character. Though not born into royalty,she is inexorable in ultimately making herself a young empress by dint of own achievement. Severe trauma in her early life darkens her soul and cripples her kindness, and she coldly uses important men to advance her acting and modelling career while ascending to the ultimate international pedestal . Her alchemical transformation in a hotel room in Vienne, the teasing but superb psychodynamics between her and another man in Amsterdam,and sledgehammer verdicts in Greece are some of her saga's highlights .Her story also hints at that crazy thing called true romantic love.
Larry Douglas is an elite American pilot whose handsomeness and charm are as great as his flaws.He romances countless women before before marriage. But we realize more and more that Larry, for all of his gifts, is a man for whom there is no guarantee of stability even if he is given the greatest love of his life. His constant joy only lies in constant movement and the question looms -what is the price for that?
Catherine is a delightful young lady who hails from an unstable childhood. She is about to enter into a life of guaranteed security with a good prosperous man, when the force of "love" assails her. The narration is excellent in revealing her winsome nature, sparkling sense of humour, and the thankless nature of her fate in this story.
Constantin Demiris is a Greek business titan -amongst the richest men in the world- who rises with his supreme mind to conquer the physical world. Starting off as a stevedore in Piraeus,a stroke of coaxed luck is enough into propel him towards exponentially expanding business acquisitions. We see that he destroys pusillanimity while constantly nurturing his giant will-power. Noelle Page enters into his orbit- they both seem to make a perfect pair in terms of almost every quality that mortals could hope to have, but they lack that crucial something which can make even poor mortals noble. One of the book's great strengths lies in immersing us in the dizzying power that these individuals generate, and in reminding us that we are only limited by the boundaries that we draw in our own minds.
Readers would have noted that there are ample references to 'love' here. But Sheldon is also a specialist in the physical aspect of it, and it is great fun to experience the sexual adventures of Noelle. She thrills and astonishes her carefully chosen partners before meeting her shamelessly audacious equal. When it comes to romps by other characters too, the author has this knack for building excitement and cascade of sensations while surging towards explosive climaxes and spent sated states. But sex is also used in conjunction with the characters' other talents in service of bigger aims- the episode in which Noelle wins over Armand Gautier in their first sustained meeting, is a little masterpiece by itself.
As an exercise in the myriad powers of the author, Sheldon also devises cunningly constucted courtroom victories and intrigues (cf. Rage of Angels). For this he creates the remarkable character of Napolean Chotas - a top criminal lawyer whose cunning behaviour and stealthy strategies are a joy to witness.
Sheldon is well-known for making readers deeply care about his characters. I have sometimes wondered that if Noelle Page had been ushered unscarred into marriage with a boy she liked in the backwaters of Marseille, would she have subsumed her faculties into maintaining small-town family life, or would she still have found ways to break big? On another note, I am also impressed with how secondary characters are given such filling brush-strokes. Only for a few pages at the start of the novel, we are let into life of a Greek inspector who has a matronly wife and sweet young mistress. That ephemeral track is whipped up with such skill and investment of interest that it is enough to construct a whole petite novella. Sheldon can create magic from day-to-day life and he does not need magic realism for that.
Sheldon wrote this book early in his fifties, and early in his novel-writing career after the disapppointing "Naked Face", and what he achieves here is tantamount to winning the World Cup after stumbling in the leagues.The Other Side of Midnight has a satisfying follow-up act too, in the form of Part II- Memories of Midnight, but the first book does not need something to fill it out. It stands complete as a sprawling masterwork from which I emerged spent, asking for nothing more. This is entertainment for the Gods.
October 21, 2012
I read this book when it first came out (in the 70's) and remember it as being amazing, but I had forgotten the details. This time when I picked it up it was with a sense of anticipation, and I was not disappointed. Sheldon writes so well, compelling the reader to hurry from page to page to find out what will happen. The characters are well-rounded and exciting, not necessarily likeable but always forceful and interesting. The story could be considered commonplace--romance and murder--but instead it is fascinating and has a surprise twist that really puts it over the top. Excellent read.
March 3, 2008
Read when I was really, really young. Thought it was great then. Not sure how I'd feel about it now...
October 14, 2022
First of all I didn't know Sidney Sheldon is well a male author. His books feels so much like written by female author. Now I can't explain how and why they just do.
The other side of midnight is fast paced. I hated Noelle and Larry. Felt sorry for Catherine. Overall a good read.
The other side of midnight is fast paced. I hated Noelle and Larry. Felt sorry for Catherine. Overall a good read.
May 23, 2019
I read this on school. I loved the auther's clever women stories. Now I wouldn't touch these books but then they were highly engrossing reads.
May 14, 2022
4 Before Goodreads Stars- Quick Only $1.99!!!
* * * * Spoiler Free
So this was like an Original Romance, Drama for me. Read it decades ago, couldn't stop, and was well worth the time.
The Other Side of Midnight (Midnight #1)
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* * * * Spoiler Free
So this was like an Original Romance, Drama for me. Read it decades ago, couldn't stop, and was well worth the time.
The Other Side of Midnight (Midnight #1) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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February 24, 2025❤️
First rate plot, dialogue, pacing and writing style
Too much sex, not that I'm complaining, it's GOOD sex, just...too much sex
I loved how the structure was designed and managed for this
The only thing I'm not sure I am completely on board with , is a decision the writer took with Noelle's character at a crucial point in the plot, which I thought, really tried to render her journey that far useless, and it almost did.
Can't wait to read the second part tho
Totally Recommended
P.S. A Movie/web show of an Indian version of this by Sriram Raghavan would go sooo hard ngl, on that note, here, take a movie recommendation : Ek Hasina Thi directed by Sriram Raghavan, an insanely well made revenge story with an insanely amazing female protagonist.
First rate plot, dialogue, pacing and writing style
Too much sex, not that I'm complaining, it's GOOD sex, just...too much sex
I loved how the structure was designed and managed for this
The only thing I'm not sure I am completely on board with , is a decision the writer took with Noelle's character at a crucial point in the plot, which I thought, really tried to render her journey that far useless, and it almost did.
Can't wait to read the second part tho
Totally Recommended
P.S. A Movie/web show of an Indian version of this by Sriram Raghavan would go sooo hard ngl, on that note, here, take a movie recommendation : Ek Hasina Thi directed by Sriram Raghavan, an insanely well made revenge story with an insanely amazing female protagonist.
March 10, 2015
This is the first book I read of this author. It doesn't happen often when I'm in awe with an author's writing skill more than the story and characters he created in a book. Absolutely brilliant and clever writer. The summary of the story may seem simple but do not let it deceive you as it is as complex as it can get. Because the characters have more layers of depth under the surface that you will not be able to write them off simply as good and bad. The author kept me on edge the whole time and tricking me with the turn of events in the story. I look forward to read more of his books.
July 13, 2021
What a book!
I can't hate or like Constantine Dimiris enough. Sidney Sheldon knows how to weave a story. Four SOLID ✳️ to you Sidney Sheldon.
Am starting Memories Of Midnight immediately!
I can't hate or like Constantine Dimiris enough. Sidney Sheldon knows how to weave a story. Four SOLID ✳️ to you Sidney Sheldon.
Am starting Memories Of Midnight immediately!
March 7, 2024
Although this book is over 40 years old, it resonates with the present. I'm just in love with how Sydney Sheldon writes. I liked the suspense, the drama, and the action.
February 12, 2025
2025 reads, #3. I freely admit that two of my biggest guilty pleasures is reading random weird crap I find at the various Little Free Libraries around my neighborhood (at least ten of them here in Chicago’s Hyde Park where I live, greatly influenced by this also being the neighborhood of the University of Chicago); and reading the commercially popular books from the 1970s that were up on the shelves of my parents’ bookcases when I was a kid and the bookcases of all my friends’ parents, which here in my fifties I have a massive nostalgia for. So imagine the pleasure I experienced the other week when finding a chance to do both of these at the same time, when a few blocks from my house I discovered a donated copy of Sidney Sheldon’s 1973 trashy classic The Other Side of Midnight, which believe it or not I had still never had a chance to read in my entire life.
Who’s Sidney Sheldon? Oh, you must be a Millennial or younger, right? Because if you were any older than that, you would know deep within the pit of your soul who Sidney Sheldon is, because Sidney Sheldon was freaking impossible to get away from back in 1970s and ‘80s American pop culture. Interestingly, he started as a television producer before he ever became an author, and among the shows he created are the classics I Dream of Jeannie and Hart to Hart. But in the early ‘70s, inspired by the loosening of obscenity laws that were happening right in this period (it had only been about ten years previous when the Supreme Court got rid of government censorship in the first place, through the trifecta of sequential wins by Barney Rosset and Grove Press with first Lady Chatterley’s Lover, then Tropic of Cancer, then Naked Lunch), Sheldon decided to try his hand at the kinds of more edgy potboilers that you couldn’t get away with on broadcast television, full of sex and gore and people behaving very, very, very badly, now that he lived in a world where such books could be put in the front window of Kroch’s & Brentano’s instead of the dank corner of a porn store.
That gets us naturally to the book’s delightfully evil protagonist, and the main reason to be reading this book in the first place, one Noelle Page who can be thought of pretty accurately as Emma Bovary on crack. A beautiful, intelligent French girl who starts getting screwed over by the men in her life literally starting as a teen (literally screwed by one, a local shop owner who’s giving her a job in return for sexual favors, then metaphorically screwed by her father, who was the one who made the deal with the shop owner in return for some rewards of his own). Learning quickly that the odds are stacked against women in this world, but that sex as power is one thing women do have, she decides that she’s going to make all this start working to her advantage instead of her father or the shop owner or any other man, and takes off for Paris in the middle of the night one night and never looks back.
There’s a lot of storyline here (I’ve only told you the events of the first chapter so far), but it essentially all revolves around an American GI she falls in love with during World War Two, who gets her pregnant, pretends to marry her, then takes off one day to never be seen again. This makes something in Noelle’s brain just snap, and that’s when she becomes the woman we’re there to see, the one who created this massive cottage industry in the ‘70s of books and movies and TV shows about such women -- she becomes a complete and total sociopath, to be specific, and at that point vows to one day get soul-crushing revenge on this GI who did her wrong, no matter what she has to do to achieve it.
That turns out to be a rip-roaring adventure around the world over the next 400 pages or so, as Noelle uses her now perfected charms and her highly experienced genitals to woo a series of rich, famous, and/or highly educated men, who both fund her plans over the decades and teach her to become an expert at every subject under the sun. She uses this knowledge and these resources to slowly build more and more of a convoluted yet perfect plan to finally enact what she hopes to be the life-destroying revenge against her wartime lover, which we watch unfold over those pages too; but with a lot of hard-R sex scenes thrown in as well, absolutely delightfully batshit dialogue and plot turns, and a sweeping global scope that makes you feel like you’re caught up in a ‘70s miniseries.
To be clear, though, what really elevates this from simply a potboiler to an undeniable classic in “turning it up to eleven” is that the steely, determined, absolutely insane Noelle maintains such a consistent, soul-dead calm the entire time, whether she’s crushing the men around her, offering up her body for the crudest violations (the sex scenes here are unusually odd and dirty on top of everything else), or strutting into her 1940s private airplane in designer clothes on her way to her private Greek island. That’s what made the 1977 movie adaptation* such a big disappointment, which I watched immediately after finishing the book; Noelle just acts like a normal human being in the film version, and sometimes gets angry and sometimes gets sad, expresses happiness when things go her way, etc. The brilliance of the book is that Noelle actually does none of these things; she has devoted her life so thoroughly and completely to the act of destroying her far-off ex-lover, she just marches determinately through all the highs and lows without bothering to be emotionally moved by any of it.
[*And some interesting trivia: since the book sold so massively well, 20th Century Fox was convinced the movie version was going to be a massive hit too, so much so that for theaters to be able to get a copy, they also had to agree to screen this stupid little sci-fi kiddie film that everyone was a little embarrassed by, called Star Wars. Alas, Midnight bombed at the box office that summer, and of course we all know what happened with the other film.]
When you look at it this way, it’s easy to plot out the ever-spreading tree that happened throughout the rest of the ‘70s with this story trope: how it morphed and expanded with people like Danielle Steel (her first big hit, Now and Forever, came out five years after Midnight) and Judith Krantz (whose Scruples came out that same year); how it hopped into film with grungy classics like Joan Collins’ The Stud (which came out the same year as Steel and Krantz’s novels -- 1978 was a good year for trashy classics!); and how by the end of the decade the subgenre had gone mainstream with the explosion of nighttime soap operas such as Dynasty. But this ‘73 book that started them all is different than those, too; Sheldon really does have good chops as a writer, and this is a well-done melodrama that also deftly enfolds the real events of the French occupation during the war, and makes interesting fictional shades out of actual famous people of the time (like Ari Onassis, for example, who is the clear inspiration for the Greek tycoon in this novel who eventually provides Noelle all her massive wealth).
I’m not sure if I would ever read him again (if I did, it would probably be the other really well-known one from these years, 1977’s Bloodline), but I’m certainly glad I got the chance to read this one, which turned out to be much better than I was expecting. It also made me understand that every ‘70s trashy classic about a cold, manipulative woman can all eventually be traced back to this ur-example, whose unexpected massive success inspired them all. It comes warmly recommended in this spirit.
Who’s Sidney Sheldon? Oh, you must be a Millennial or younger, right? Because if you were any older than that, you would know deep within the pit of your soul who Sidney Sheldon is, because Sidney Sheldon was freaking impossible to get away from back in 1970s and ‘80s American pop culture. Interestingly, he started as a television producer before he ever became an author, and among the shows he created are the classics I Dream of Jeannie and Hart to Hart. But in the early ‘70s, inspired by the loosening of obscenity laws that were happening right in this period (it had only been about ten years previous when the Supreme Court got rid of government censorship in the first place, through the trifecta of sequential wins by Barney Rosset and Grove Press with first Lady Chatterley’s Lover, then Tropic of Cancer, then Naked Lunch), Sheldon decided to try his hand at the kinds of more edgy potboilers that you couldn’t get away with on broadcast television, full of sex and gore and people behaving very, very, very badly, now that he lived in a world where such books could be put in the front window of Kroch’s & Brentano’s instead of the dank corner of a porn store.
That gets us naturally to the book’s delightfully evil protagonist, and the main reason to be reading this book in the first place, one Noelle Page who can be thought of pretty accurately as Emma Bovary on crack. A beautiful, intelligent French girl who starts getting screwed over by the men in her life literally starting as a teen (literally screwed by one, a local shop owner who’s giving her a job in return for sexual favors, then metaphorically screwed by her father, who was the one who made the deal with the shop owner in return for some rewards of his own). Learning quickly that the odds are stacked against women in this world, but that sex as power is one thing women do have, she decides that she’s going to make all this start working to her advantage instead of her father or the shop owner or any other man, and takes off for Paris in the middle of the night one night and never looks back.
There’s a lot of storyline here (I’ve only told you the events of the first chapter so far), but it essentially all revolves around an American GI she falls in love with during World War Two, who gets her pregnant, pretends to marry her, then takes off one day to never be seen again. This makes something in Noelle’s brain just snap, and that’s when she becomes the woman we’re there to see, the one who created this massive cottage industry in the ‘70s of books and movies and TV shows about such women -- she becomes a complete and total sociopath, to be specific, and at that point vows to one day get soul-crushing revenge on this GI who did her wrong, no matter what she has to do to achieve it.
That turns out to be a rip-roaring adventure around the world over the next 400 pages or so, as Noelle uses her now perfected charms and her highly experienced genitals to woo a series of rich, famous, and/or highly educated men, who both fund her plans over the decades and teach her to become an expert at every subject under the sun. She uses this knowledge and these resources to slowly build more and more of a convoluted yet perfect plan to finally enact what she hopes to be the life-destroying revenge against her wartime lover, which we watch unfold over those pages too; but with a lot of hard-R sex scenes thrown in as well, absolutely delightfully batshit dialogue and plot turns, and a sweeping global scope that makes you feel like you’re caught up in a ‘70s miniseries.
To be clear, though, what really elevates this from simply a potboiler to an undeniable classic in “turning it up to eleven” is that the steely, determined, absolutely insane Noelle maintains such a consistent, soul-dead calm the entire time, whether she’s crushing the men around her, offering up her body for the crudest violations (the sex scenes here are unusually odd and dirty on top of everything else), or strutting into her 1940s private airplane in designer clothes on her way to her private Greek island. That’s what made the 1977 movie adaptation* such a big disappointment, which I watched immediately after finishing the book; Noelle just acts like a normal human being in the film version, and sometimes gets angry and sometimes gets sad, expresses happiness when things go her way, etc. The brilliance of the book is that Noelle actually does none of these things; she has devoted her life so thoroughly and completely to the act of destroying her far-off ex-lover, she just marches determinately through all the highs and lows without bothering to be emotionally moved by any of it.
[*And some interesting trivia: since the book sold so massively well, 20th Century Fox was convinced the movie version was going to be a massive hit too, so much so that for theaters to be able to get a copy, they also had to agree to screen this stupid little sci-fi kiddie film that everyone was a little embarrassed by, called Star Wars. Alas, Midnight bombed at the box office that summer, and of course we all know what happened with the other film.]
When you look at it this way, it’s easy to plot out the ever-spreading tree that happened throughout the rest of the ‘70s with this story trope: how it morphed and expanded with people like Danielle Steel (her first big hit, Now and Forever, came out five years after Midnight) and Judith Krantz (whose Scruples came out that same year); how it hopped into film with grungy classics like Joan Collins’ The Stud (which came out the same year as Steel and Krantz’s novels -- 1978 was a good year for trashy classics!); and how by the end of the decade the subgenre had gone mainstream with the explosion of nighttime soap operas such as Dynasty. But this ‘73 book that started them all is different than those, too; Sheldon really does have good chops as a writer, and this is a well-done melodrama that also deftly enfolds the real events of the French occupation during the war, and makes interesting fictional shades out of actual famous people of the time (like Ari Onassis, for example, who is the clear inspiration for the Greek tycoon in this novel who eventually provides Noelle all her massive wealth).
I’m not sure if I would ever read him again (if I did, it would probably be the other really well-known one from these years, 1977’s Bloodline), but I’m certainly glad I got the chance to read this one, which turned out to be much better than I was expecting. It also made me understand that every ‘70s trashy classic about a cold, manipulative woman can all eventually be traced back to this ur-example, whose unexpected massive success inspired them all. It comes warmly recommended in this spirit.
December 7, 2022
Especially early on, I found this novel enjoyable – even ‘powerful’, as claimed on the cover – but as the story unfolded a point of dissonance began to trouble me. It was as if two authors had each written half of the plot, and had struggled to meld their work. Rather like when they dug the Channel Tunnel from both sides, and there was that terrible moment of truth when it was feared the English and the French might miss one another.
It would be a spoiler to explain my point in full; suffice it to say that a key character behaves ‘out of character’, and in a way that undermines the main premise of the novel. I felt it led to an avoidable anticlimax. See what you think.
In brief, set largely during World War II, there is a transatlantic ménage-à-trois: Noelle Page, a French beauty who becomes a famous actress; Catherine Alexander, the all-American girl who abandons her successful career in Washington; and heartthrob war-hero US fighter pilot Larry Douglas. Will Larry get Noelle? Will Noelle get Larry? What will Kathy get?
One small curiosity. I was simultaneously reading John Steinbeck’s East of Eden (published 1952, twenty-one years earlier). Quite extraordinarily, Noelle in irregular persona and outrageous deed is a doppelganger for Steinbeck’s psychopathic Cathy Ames. I wonder if this has been commented upon?
On the whole a good yarn – the wrong-plot caveat aside – easy to read and plenty of progress each time you pick it up. A dark, romantic, suspenseful thriller – some rude bits, but nothing gratuitous.
It would be a spoiler to explain my point in full; suffice it to say that a key character behaves ‘out of character’, and in a way that undermines the main premise of the novel. I felt it led to an avoidable anticlimax. See what you think.
In brief, set largely during World War II, there is a transatlantic ménage-à-trois: Noelle Page, a French beauty who becomes a famous actress; Catherine Alexander, the all-American girl who abandons her successful career in Washington; and heartthrob war-hero US fighter pilot Larry Douglas. Will Larry get Noelle? Will Noelle get Larry? What will Kathy get?
One small curiosity. I was simultaneously reading John Steinbeck’s East of Eden (published 1952, twenty-one years earlier). Quite extraordinarily, Noelle in irregular persona and outrageous deed is a doppelganger for Steinbeck’s psychopathic Cathy Ames. I wonder if this has been commented upon?
On the whole a good yarn – the wrong-plot caveat aside – easy to read and plenty of progress each time you pick it up. A dark, romantic, suspenseful thriller – some rude bits, but nothing gratuitous.
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