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The River Midnight
Like the mythical Polish shtetl of Blaszka in which it is set, The River Midnight is boisterous, tangled with secrets, and startlingly generous. Told more as nine interwoven stories, Lilian Nattel's debut novel portrays Jewish village life in the 19th century as both dense and wondrous, something akin to Gabriel García Márquez's Macondo--with similar touches of magic realism. The novel uses a roughly nine-month period in 1894 as its framework, each chapter recounting many of the same events through the eyes of successive characters. Along the way we encounter the pettiness, charity, gossip, and customs that sustain the village, making its cramped life both full and frustrating. At the center of this whirl is Misha, the midwife, whose own pregnancy is one of the book's abiding mysteries, and who, despite her inscrutability, elicits a resolute affection from her fellow villagers: the men who have loved or admired her, and the women she has befriended, provoked, and, ultimately, redeemed. "I have to hold the secrets of the whole village," Misha explains, and as we learn of her girlhood friendships and adult loves, the twined network of those secrets becomes increasingly apparent.
The novel's ambitious fragmentation, while it may occasionally lead us down the same stretch of road, is undeniably effective--revealing the bottomless texture of mingled lives. And while the story's magic realism is a bit intermittent and tangential, Nattel more than compensates with lush, scrupulous detail and an unerring eye for the tension between self-interest and benevolence. In The River Midnight, she has created a world where flesh and prayer, accident and magic, coincide. --Ben Guterson
478 pages, Hardcover
First published November 5, 1998
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925 people want to read
About the author
Lilian Nattel
7 books133 followersLilian Nattel's 5th novel is Only Sisters, the story of a good woman whose life unravels with a single lie: posing as her rebel sister on social media to give her elderly mother peace of mind. Lilian's other novels are: Girl at the Edge of Sky, about a WW2 female fighter pilot; Web of Angels, which deals with D.I.D., The River Midnight, about life in a shtetl with angels in the 19th century; and The Singing Fire, where ghosts and immigrant mothers mingle. Lilian was born in Montreal and decided to be a writer at the age of 10 when she realized that not all writers were dead. Later, she lived in a Toronto garret and temporarily became an accountant to pay for the accommodation. Ever since the publication of The River Midnight, which was published in 8 languages, she's written full time.
For more about Lilian, visit her website .
For more about Lilian, visit her website .
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 129 reviews
April 27, 2024
As a young person I have read books about Jews in Europe during WWII, their lives filled me with such sorrow, it still does, but did I ever think of them as 'people'. No, never, I only thought of them as victims of a terrible war.
And then comes Nattel, with her beautiful book, a tiny village with each character a special person, each character narrating their life in a special voice. Was it boring that every person told the same story? No chance, there are so many layers to each episode, so many colours. So many customs, different rituals, traditions and rituals of birth and death, joys and sorrows of their simple lives but such richness, yes ordinary lives can be so fulfilling.
It is not a page turner, why should it be? You want to savour these lives, slowly page after page......
And then comes Nattel, with her beautiful book, a tiny village with each character a special person, each character narrating their life in a special voice. Was it boring that every person told the same story? No chance, there are so many layers to each episode, so many colours. So many customs, different rituals, traditions and rituals of birth and death, joys and sorrows of their simple lives but such richness, yes ordinary lives can be so fulfilling.
It is not a page turner, why should it be? You want to savour these lives, slowly page after page......
June 1, 2017
3 Stars until the final section which may rate a 4 on its own
The River Midnight tells the story of four women who were childhood friends in a village in Poland during the times of the pograms of Russian rule. However, their stories are not only told from their points of view, but also their husbands, their children, their neighbors. The story is an enriched tale of life's celebration and the coming together in support of family in the big picture reminiscent of "It takes a village".
The same basic threads weave their ways from beginning to end. What makes these threads special is how the author makes you view them from each character's perspective, so a subplot may be repeated five times but with different results. It can be a bit monotonous at times, but the payoff is spectacular because it brings the reader that much closer to the characters.
I appreciate the author's ability to keep all of her storylines straight as well as her ways of melding them together as she brings us closer to the end when all that really matters is a mother and the care the neighborhood can provide her. This is a love story. It's not romantic, but the heart is quite intimate and sentimental.
The River Midnight tells the story of four women who were childhood friends in a village in Poland during the times of the pograms of Russian rule. However, their stories are not only told from their points of view, but also their husbands, their children, their neighbors. The story is an enriched tale of life's celebration and the coming together in support of family in the big picture reminiscent of "It takes a village".
The same basic threads weave their ways from beginning to end. What makes these threads special is how the author makes you view them from each character's perspective, so a subplot may be repeated five times but with different results. It can be a bit monotonous at times, but the payoff is spectacular because it brings the reader that much closer to the characters.
I appreciate the author's ability to keep all of her storylines straight as well as her ways of melding them together as she brings us closer to the end when all that really matters is a mother and the care the neighborhood can provide her. This is a love story. It's not romantic, but the heart is quite intimate and sentimental.
June 22, 2012
I really didn't know what to expect with this read, but found myself swept away to a different time and place and enchanted by the lost shtetl culture. It had a feeling that I can only describe as a realistic fairytale, blending real life with folk lore, history with spirituality, connecting the past with the future, and mixing it all together with warmth, humor, love and a touch of magic. I can only imagine how it would resonate with those whose ancestors may have come from a shtetl community.
I appreciated Nattel's choice to phonetically translate the Yiddish words, which made it more accessible for English readers. Sprinkling the narrative with touches of the mama-loshen (mother tongue) helped to immerse me even further into her tale along with the glossary, which I hope is included with all editions. I love author's notes, they can add another layer of enjoyment to a read, if you don't normally read them I would suggest doing so with this book. Nattel's note tells us that the majority of this work is based on factual details but more telling was why this story is set in the fictional Polish town of Blaszka. I'm not going to spoil what that reason is, she explains it much better than I could anyway, but will say it made complete sense to me.
Grab a fresh, warm loaf of braided hallah bread or sweet haroses and just sit back and enjoy this gentle shaynela (nice little one) of a read.
"May your journeys bring you much nakhes, that untranslatable joy of a full heart."
I appreciated Nattel's choice to phonetically translate the Yiddish words, which made it more accessible for English readers. Sprinkling the narrative with touches of the mama-loshen (mother tongue) helped to immerse me even further into her tale along with the glossary, which I hope is included with all editions. I love author's notes, they can add another layer of enjoyment to a read, if you don't normally read them I would suggest doing so with this book. Nattel's note tells us that the majority of this work is based on factual details but more telling was why this story is set in the fictional Polish town of Blaszka. I'm not going to spoil what that reason is, she explains it much better than I could anyway, but will say it made complete sense to me.
Grab a fresh, warm loaf of braided hallah bread or sweet haroses and just sit back and enjoy this gentle shaynela (nice little one) of a read.
"May your journeys bring you much nakhes, that untranslatable joy of a full heart."
September 15, 2016
2.5 stars. The setting of "The River Midnight," a Polish shetl in the late 1800s, appealed to me. Nattel did a nice job evoking the daily life of the villagers and clearly did extensive research. But she didn't go much further - focusing on the daily drudgery of her characters and skimming over more interesting conflicts. A tangled thicket of a novel that was a chore to read and yielded few rewards.
March 6, 2008
I really liked this book. Wonderful character pieces all set in the same village (or shtetl-- a new word I learned) in a common time period. It was neat to read about various quotidian events from the perspectives of a variety of characters. Loved Misha the midwife!
May 5, 2025
Misha is a great example of “do I want to be with her or do I want to BE her?”. Read for the first time at age 11, probably a bit too young for the content. Rereading it now felt like coming home.
November 16, 2019
Sometimes a random pick from the library uncovers an unknown treasure. This historical fiction narrative mixed with elements reminiscent of fairy tale is set in a small fictional community in Poland called Blaszka. Set in the late nineteenth century we are told the story of about a year in the life of four Jewish women who were once childhood friends. It is almost like interconnected stories except each narrative adds a new look at a tale we should already know. It is not easy to write a story in this style but Lilian Nattel nails it like a pro. By the end of the narrative I was both happy about this look into a Jewish community with all its traditions and small town sagas. And even though the town on reflection seemed too good to be true, I can’t help but have enjoyed this book. It tackled infertility, justice, dealing with grief and death, sexuality and gender roles. But the one major point that was driven home is that everyone has layers. If you are willing to look, really look you can uncover the true nature of that person, not what you believe to know.
December 5, 2019
Read this in 1999, and remember it as a warm and emotional story, in spite of the background horrors.
April 9, 2023
3.5 ⭐️*
This was a very interesting read. It was at times, quite repetitive. But I liked that we got to hear from many points of views.
This was a very interesting read. It was at times, quite repetitive. But I liked that we got to hear from many points of views.
January 27, 2024
What a great story. The true meaning of "it takes a village"
February 27, 2023
This book was written a quarter of a century ago, and it only crossed my path today? Why? I am so grateful to Rabbi Eliana Jacobowicz and her Reading with the Rabbi group at Temple B'nai Brith in Somerville for bringing it to my attention!
Reading this book is like moving into a new community, where you gradually meet all your neighbors and find out what they think of one another, and why.
It is like spending a lot of time on one side of the mechitzah listening to the women, then the other side, listening to the men.
It is like Groundhog's Day, only instead of reliving one twenty-four hour period, you go through the cycle of the Jewish calendar over and over, reliving the same events with increasing understanding.
It is many family sagas stirred into one. It is a book full of magic that is more realistic than the daily newspaper. It is so Jewish, it makes Fiddler on the Roof seem goyish, and yet I think anyone could read it (perhaps with frequent recourse to the glossary) and be enraptured.
It's the story of four young women who grow up. It is a horror story about what it used to mean to be pregnant --and a triumphant tale of the midwife who gives birth and survives, and ensures the future. It is a well-researched book that uses literary devices and, after the first hundred pages or so, feels like a best-selling popular novel.
Did I mention I am glad I read this book?
Reading this book is like moving into a new community, where you gradually meet all your neighbors and find out what they think of one another, and why.
It is like spending a lot of time on one side of the mechitzah listening to the women, then the other side, listening to the men.
It is like Groundhog's Day, only instead of reliving one twenty-four hour period, you go through the cycle of the Jewish calendar over and over, reliving the same events with increasing understanding.
It is many family sagas stirred into one. It is a book full of magic that is more realistic than the daily newspaper. It is so Jewish, it makes Fiddler on the Roof seem goyish, and yet I think anyone could read it (perhaps with frequent recourse to the glossary) and be enraptured.
It's the story of four young women who grow up. It is a horror story about what it used to mean to be pregnant --and a triumphant tale of the midwife who gives birth and survives, and ensures the future. It is a well-researched book that uses literary devices and, after the first hundred pages or so, feels like a best-selling popular novel.
Did I mention I am glad I read this book?
December 28, 2022
An interesting book. At times loved it, at times hated it. Finishing up strong enough for 4 stars… a bit of a plod and slog at times. I didn’t realise the perspective shifts at first, and had I known the book was three parts - the women, the men, and the midwife, I probably wouldn’t have read it.
It ended quite well, glad I read it. But I was more hankering for the story of the midwife. She’s just woven in. And then at the end.
😆
It ended quite well, glad I read it. But I was more hankering for the story of the midwife. She’s just woven in. And then at the end.
😆
February 15, 2009
This is a book I found a bit slow to start, could very well have been my state of mind. However, when I finished the book I actually missed the characters. If you find it slow, don't give up!!!
September 30, 2014
Oh I loved loved loved this book...
February 8, 2022
What an extraordinary book! A feat of historical fiction and also a brilliant, luscious modern novel. Highly recommend!
August 26, 2018
The River Midnight takes a unique approach to telling a story. It is the history of approximately a year in the life of a Jewish shetl in Poland in approximately the year 1895. We go through the year over and over, each time from the viewpoint of a different person. It is enlightening to see in this way not only how each of them views the same events the same or differently depending on their point of view, but how some events are known only to one person or a few people but not to most of the others.
The fictional town of Blaszka on the fictional Pólnocna River is a small market town of about fifty fairly religious but not fanatical Jewish families and a few Polish tenant farmers. Some years before they were the object of a pogram in which the wealthier part of town on the far side of the river was burned out and most of its residents either killed or exiled to other parts of the country. The people of the town, even though they are mostly not farmers, live close to the land and to nature.
They also appear to live close to the spirit world, for most of the characters in the book are occasionally visited by one or more other characters who appear to be spirits of one kind or another. Some are the ghosts of departed relatives – Faygela, the baker’s wife, sees her father’s ghost from time to time, and Hanna-Leah, the butcher’s wife dreams of her grandmother – while others appear to be regular people… most of the time.
There were once four girls who were best friends, but now they are grown up and have somewhat drifted apart. Faygela and Hanna-Leah are two of them, and Misha the midwife is a third. The last one, Zisa-Sara married and went to America where she died leaving two children. We hear Hanna-Leah’s story, and Faygela’s and Misha’s. But Zisa-Sara is not there, so it is left to her aunt, Alta-Fruma, and her daughter Emma to tell their stories in her place. We also hear the stories of several of the men, including a thief and occasional peddler from the nearby city of Plotsk who appears to have raped Misha, the midwife. But there are several sides to all these stories, and to all these people.
The fictional town of Blaszka on the fictional Pólnocna River is a small market town of about fifty fairly religious but not fanatical Jewish families and a few Polish tenant farmers. Some years before they were the object of a pogram in which the wealthier part of town on the far side of the river was burned out and most of its residents either killed or exiled to other parts of the country. The people of the town, even though they are mostly not farmers, live close to the land and to nature.
They also appear to live close to the spirit world, for most of the characters in the book are occasionally visited by one or more other characters who appear to be spirits of one kind or another. Some are the ghosts of departed relatives – Faygela, the baker’s wife, sees her father’s ghost from time to time, and Hanna-Leah, the butcher’s wife dreams of her grandmother – while others appear to be regular people… most of the time.
There were once four girls who were best friends, but now they are grown up and have somewhat drifted apart. Faygela and Hanna-Leah are two of them, and Misha the midwife is a third. The last one, Zisa-Sara married and went to America where she died leaving two children. We hear Hanna-Leah’s story, and Faygela’s and Misha’s. But Zisa-Sara is not there, so it is left to her aunt, Alta-Fruma, and her daughter Emma to tell their stories in her place. We also hear the stories of several of the men, including a thief and occasional peddler from the nearby city of Plotsk who appears to have raped Misha, the midwife. But there are several sides to all these stories, and to all these people.
November 2, 2019
Complicated read. In a discussion at a book signing with author Steve Craig at Bookman in Grand Haven, MI, an attendee asked about 1st person POV, and talked about a recently read book that didn't get it right. Craig said the best book he'd read was The River Midnight. It was Lilian Nattel's debut about a shtetl in Poland in the 19th century. Four women - friends since girlhood - share their stories in Part One: The Women, each told from the POV of that vilda haya (wild one). Hanna-Leah, Misha, Faygela, Zisa-Sarah. The men involved with these friends are featured in Part Two: The Men. Hershel, Hayim, Yarush, Berekh. Each part is divided into chapters beginning with The Short Friday in December and onward to Yom Kippur. Once the reader sorts this, it works beautifully. Wandering within the story set in the little village on the River Midnight, and onward to Plotsk and Warsaw and back again is a tophatted stranger, and the Director of a theater troupe. Who these wanderers are I will leave to the reader's imagination. Nattel writes in the author afterward that she wanted to honor the communities that no longer exist, to share the warmth of close knit neighborhoods in the shaded peace (between pogroms). She accomplished what she'd hoped to achieve. Beautiful storytelling.
July 22, 2017
An excellent first novel of a time and place that I've heard about too little. Although I am not Jewish, this book portrays a time and place from which my grandparents escaped. It was like hearing my grandfather speak of the countryside, political situation, and schooling. Now, I understand why he could read and write four languages (and church Latin!). A criticism I've read is that some of the characters are not fully developed. However, isn't this the way with "real" life? A part of us always remains hidden from those around us...was Hannah Leah's failure to have children due to something with her or with her husband? We'll never know and back then even a midwife couldn't know for sure. As for the angel characters, aside from a literary device, who's to say they didn't exist then and don't exist now? I found the environmental descriptions both imagined and real an integral and rewarding part of the story - I wouldn't want to enter that mikvah. The extensive bibliography also shows good research and some guidelines for more in-depth reading. For this sharing, a big thank-you to the author.
August 15, 2019
This book was slow to grab my attention...so much so that I put it aside for awhile. I finally picked it up again last week, and I was captivated. The book tells the story of a small Jewish village in Poland...but it tells the story several times over from different points of view - first of three women in the village and then of three men and finishing with the incredible midwife’s perspective. You would think that it would get repetitive after awhile, but it was actually a fascinating look at the relationships between men and women and the intricacies of living in a tight knit community. Loved it.
May 8, 2020
almost of 5 star, so enjoyed stories told by different characters. even though some was a bit confusing, going back and forth as well as 'spiritual flashes' which actually made me slow down reading which isn't a bad thing. just wish the glossary would have been footnotes, as I found myself going back and forth to the glossary as I was reading so I would have an understanding at that time.
Fascinated by Jewish well as other cultures/ beliefs would possibly made this a more succinct reading.
It is a novel I might actually read again (like Poison wood Bible, Red Tent) will check out other novels by this author.
Fascinated by Jewish well as other cultures/ beliefs would possibly made this a more succinct reading.
It is a novel I might actually read again (like Poison wood Bible, Red Tent) will check out other novels by this author.
July 14, 2019
Beautifully written, engaging novel on a subject close to my heart, bringing me closer to my own Eastern European Jewish roots. Plot-wise, however, reading the same events retold from different characters' perspectives in the second half of the novel felt monotonous and tiresome. The most problematic sub-plot of all was the treatment of one character's rape and resulting pregnancy: having the rapist's backstory almost feels as if we are meant to see the rapist as a victim in his own right, and therefore more sympathetic.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 28, 2019
I really enjoyed the characters and the way the story was sort of braided together. I'm a little confused because there were elements that didn't fit with Judaism as I understand it, but I also understand that this could be different understandings of Judaism or me misunderstanding something. The almost-casual mix of mundane reality and the supernatural was more interesting than I would've guessed I'd find it.
abandoned
August 12, 2022I am not finishing this book right now and also don't feel I can rate it, because it feels like it just isn't for me at this point in time. The writing is good and she paints a vivid picture of late 19th century shtetl life, but the story is slow-moving. It is a novel that requires a kind of reading patience that I don't have right now. I think I would enjoy it more as an audiobook, but there doesn't seem to be one.
November 17, 2018
This was a brilliant, beautiful book. Nattel presents the stories of the villagers in turn, each covering the same time period, so that readers can see the village and its residents from multiple perspectives, gradually uncovering the meaning behind events that occurred in passing in previous chapters.
January 6, 2021
Interesting Jewish novel about the inhabitants of a polish shetl in 1897. Drags in the middle when the same events are rehashed from a different perspective for the ninth or tenth time. Lots of Yiddish and hebrew words I didn’t know made it a bit hard to follow, but there is a glossary I didn’t see until the end. 2021 reading challenge-a book with a monochromatic cover
November 26, 2023
the description didn't quite fit the book - was way more rambling and varied than the premise of "single woman pregnant, friends and woman must figure out what happens next" that the book promised. A lot of details left open ended that i personally would have liked to be more concrete. Might like it more on a reread.
July 15, 2017
Rarely would I use the word brilliant for an author, but there is no other way to describe this author. seamlessly written with the intertwining of lives, times and situations. It was also a fascinating look at Jewish life in a small Polish village. A debut novel? Wow- give us more.
October 21, 2021
This is an engrossing story of Jewish village life in the late 19th century. It has a detailed, lively, and authenic feel. Sometimes I felt it sacrificed style and flair for accuracy. When it became tedious and repetitive in places I found it hard to finish.
June 29, 2022
I like the way the story was told from multiple perspectives and going back and forth in time. There were some aspects that confused me and that I felt weren’t necessary to the story, but overall I liked the book.
August 7, 2022
It took me about three characters in to finally figure out the time line. The time line is the same, but it is approached by a different character each time. The story was interesting, but what I enjoyed most was learning about this part of Polish history and the Jewish traditions and customs.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 129 reviews