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History Keeps Me Awake at Night
Margit is at the point in life when things should have cohered. She's married; she's got a degree; she's got friends who throw good parties; and yet she's still adrift, moving from one precarious job to the next. One day, a picture of some Mexican students catches her eye in a newspaper. The group of 43 had been ambushed by police in 2014 while traveling on a bus and disappeared without a trace. And so begins Margit's obsession with the "desaparecidos." As she heads off down the rabbit holes and culs-de-sac of Google Maps, her idiosyncratic quest to uncover the truth of what happened begins to eclipse pretty much everything else. From a sharp and singular new literary voice, History Keeps Me Awake at Night captures the texture of life in a friction-less city with drop-pin accuracy while asking: Is it possible to recover what is lost without losing oneself?
- GenresFictionContemporary
231 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 2, 2023
13 people are currently reading
403 people want to read
About the author
Christy Edwall
1 book1 followerChristy Edwall was born in South Africa in 1985. She has a DPhil in English Literature from New College, Oxford. Her short fiction has been published by Granta and The Stinging Fly, and is forthcoming in The Southern Review. She lives in West Sussex.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 24, 2022
Although I was completely absorbed by Christy Edwall’s dense, ambitious debut, I’m not entirely sure what to make of it. Narrated in the first person by Margit, a former student of art history and journalism, it’s centred on disappearances, both personal and internal and public and physical. Ever since her childhood Margit’s been a fan of unsolved true crimes that involve some form of vanishing like the Lord Lucan case. Now married to the increasingly-successful Nat, Margit’s stuck in a dead-end job, rootless and dissatisfied she’s part of a circle of friends and acquaintances who seem enviably certain of themselves and their surroundings. Margit’s also fixated on the work of Roberto Bolano, in particular 2666 which she keeps with her like some kind of talisman. Her latest obsession stems from her reading of Bolano and a chance encounter with an article concerning the possible fate of the Ayotzinapa 43, the real-life Mexican students who disappeared, or rather were disappeared, in 2014 - since the subject of numerous articles, forensic reconstructions, and extensive speculation. Margit steeps herself in the known facts of the case, retracing the students’ last hours via Google and starts to view herself as a unique type of amateur detective, whose inexperience and idiosyncratic methods may enable her to uncover angles others have missed – she even consults a psychic in the hope of contacting the 43 beyond the grave. But her quest is also tied to her fascination with the nature or potential of modern art – hinted at in the title which is taken from an iconic David Wojnarowicz piece. For Margit her fascination with the “desaparecidos” feels like the basis for an artwork. The kind she associates with Sophie Calle’s particular brand of art as part actual, part existential, detection, a process through which the artist may uncover as much about their own identity as they do their subjects.
Edwall blends historical fact with fragments of art history to explore difficult questions about art and the act of seeing, perception versus voyeurism, and the ways in which the suffering of others can become a spurious source of identification and vicarious pleasures. But she’s also, explicitly building on Bolano and Mariana Enriquez here, attempting an examination of storytelling itself, fiction as reflection, fiction as a means of thinking about the world. However, typically for a first novel, Edwall has a tendency to throw too much into the mix: anecdotes from literary and art history; comments on gender and imagination; questions of cultural appropriation and the ethics of writing about incidents from which the writer’s both ethnically and geographically removed. Edwall’s ideas and preoccupations flow thick and fast. Margit too is a puzzling character. I really wasn’t sure what Edwall expected readers to make of her, she’s neither classically unlikeable and unreliable nor is she straightforwardly sympathetic; her tendency to trivialise the brutal circumstances of the disappearance of the Ayotzinapa 43 by using their case to pinpoint aspects of her own discontent, the loss of desire in her relationship, a growing longing to disappear, could be grating and uncomfortable. These kinds of uneven, politically dubious comparisons surface at various points in Margit’s narrative, so that her observations about art, and the detailed accounts of the Mexican students and what may have happened to them sometimes felt awkwardly grafted onto a more conventional, “zeitgeisty” lifestyle/relationship novel. Although there were instances where the juxtaposition could also be unexpectedly fertile. My thoughts about the style of the piece were similarly mixed, at various points this flowed really well, with arresting imagery, moments of biting humour, and extremely entertaining digs at various London literary and artistic subcultures; but at other points the characters were too stock and the imagery too forced or annoyingly overblown. Yet despite the flaws, and my reservations, I still found it intelligent and consistently intriguing.
Thanks to Netgalley UK and Granta Publications for an ARC
Rating: 3/3.5 rounded up
Edwall blends historical fact with fragments of art history to explore difficult questions about art and the act of seeing, perception versus voyeurism, and the ways in which the suffering of others can become a spurious source of identification and vicarious pleasures. But she’s also, explicitly building on Bolano and Mariana Enriquez here, attempting an examination of storytelling itself, fiction as reflection, fiction as a means of thinking about the world. However, typically for a first novel, Edwall has a tendency to throw too much into the mix: anecdotes from literary and art history; comments on gender and imagination; questions of cultural appropriation and the ethics of writing about incidents from which the writer’s both ethnically and geographically removed. Edwall’s ideas and preoccupations flow thick and fast. Margit too is a puzzling character. I really wasn’t sure what Edwall expected readers to make of her, she’s neither classically unlikeable and unreliable nor is she straightforwardly sympathetic; her tendency to trivialise the brutal circumstances of the disappearance of the Ayotzinapa 43 by using their case to pinpoint aspects of her own discontent, the loss of desire in her relationship, a growing longing to disappear, could be grating and uncomfortable. These kinds of uneven, politically dubious comparisons surface at various points in Margit’s narrative, so that her observations about art, and the detailed accounts of the Mexican students and what may have happened to them sometimes felt awkwardly grafted onto a more conventional, “zeitgeisty” lifestyle/relationship novel. Although there were instances where the juxtaposition could also be unexpectedly fertile. My thoughts about the style of the piece were similarly mixed, at various points this flowed really well, with arresting imagery, moments of biting humour, and extremely entertaining digs at various London literary and artistic subcultures; but at other points the characters were too stock and the imagery too forced or annoyingly overblown. Yet despite the flaws, and my reservations, I still found it intelligent and consistently intriguing.
Thanks to Netgalley UK and Granta Publications for an ARC
Rating: 3/3.5 rounded up
November 15, 2022
2.5 rounded up
Reading this novel felt to me like looking at some kind of abstract contemporary art: whilst I could admire the skill and technical know-how to create it, I felt all deeper meaning it wanted to convey was utterly lost on me. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the ride - the writing was accomplished and it accurately pinpointed how it feels to be a lost millennial post-university - but I'm not sure what to take away from the novel (particularly Margit's obsession with the 'desaparecidos').
Thank you Netgalley and Gramta for the advance copy, which was provided in exchange for an honest review.
Reading this novel felt to me like looking at some kind of abstract contemporary art: whilst I could admire the skill and technical know-how to create it, I felt all deeper meaning it wanted to convey was utterly lost on me. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the ride - the writing was accomplished and it accurately pinpointed how it feels to be a lost millennial post-university - but I'm not sure what to take away from the novel (particularly Margit's obsession with the 'desaparecidos').
Thank you Netgalley and Gramta for the advance copy, which was provided in exchange for an honest review.
October 30, 2022
this book is simultaneously all and none of the things it's been described as. i loved it almost instantly, read it all in one feverish sitting.
"There's a kind of recognition that comes from meeting in life what you know from books, a form of déjà vu which deserves its own name [...] That day I felt a jolt, an electric charge, the jagged shimmer that comes before an ocular migraine."
"There's a kind of recognition that comes from meeting in life what you know from books, a form of déjà vu which deserves its own name [...] That day I felt a jolt, an electric charge, the jagged shimmer that comes before an ocular migraine."
December 22, 2022
Another reviewer on Goodreads wrote: "this book is simultaneously all and none of the things it's been described as" - which sums up my thoughts exactly. I don't know how else to phrase it.
Its a fabulous title and a beautifully written character study, which definitely falls into the literary fiction genre - rather than squarely into crime or thriller as you may expect from the synopsis. Margit's childhood and study of art are woven into the story as she becomes increasingly more obsessed with looking at the case of the missing 43 students (a real case). Ultimately, it is more about Margit's obsession with the case than her attempt to look at it from a different perspective or get to the bottom of it.
It felt like A LOT was thrown into the mix - there are many strands, some of which don't feel like they are quite pulled out enough - a bit like the fevered board that Margit makes to track her notes about the crime. It's complex and intelligent - there were moments where I probably lost a number of references, but on the whole, enjoyable and compelling.
Its a fabulous title and a beautifully written character study, which definitely falls into the literary fiction genre - rather than squarely into crime or thriller as you may expect from the synopsis. Margit's childhood and study of art are woven into the story as she becomes increasingly more obsessed with looking at the case of the missing 43 students (a real case). Ultimately, it is more about Margit's obsession with the case than her attempt to look at it from a different perspective or get to the bottom of it.
It felt like A LOT was thrown into the mix - there are many strands, some of which don't feel like they are quite pulled out enough - a bit like the fevered board that Margit makes to track her notes about the crime. It's complex and intelligent - there were moments where I probably lost a number of references, but on the whole, enjoyable and compelling.
April 1, 2023
The Chilean novelist Bolaño’s (posthumously) published novel “2666” (2004) focuses on the fictional (still largely unsolved) murders – femicides – that occurred over many years in the fictional town of Santa Teresa in Mexico, and on the quest by four academics to find a mysterious, elusive German writer, Benno von Archimboldi.
The novel has two overriding themes, both about the distortions of human life evident in post-WW II late capitalism, with its globalized markets and labour, mass consumption, and flows of capital, goods, and people. One, that much – perhaps most – of the world remain trapped in poverty, exploited by local mafia, cartels, corrupt politicians and police. The second theme is that human psyche has become distorted, leading to a search for meaning. Displaced, lost selves and identities are exemplified by Bolaño’s four academics caught up in the system, trapped. The academics have a ridiculous obsession with Archimboldi and their individual personalities become effaced. The peer review system of academia and the need to present at conferences ensures that they monitor each other and acts as a system of control – at no cost to the state (no police salaries to pay).
Enter Christy Edwall. Powerfully impacted by Bolaño’s “2666,” Dr. Edwall deploys “2666” as the trigger for her narrator, London-based Margit, who has read “2666” and becomes ridiculously obsessed with the 2014 abduction and murder of 43 male students in southwestern Mexico, in which a local drug cartel and Federal and state authorities have been implicated.
Margit has some background characteristics shared with Dr. Edwall – she was born in South Africa and lives in the UK. How can any novel not be, to a degree, autobiographical? As with the four academics in “2666,” Margit’s search for the truth is a story about the displacement in her own life – she has worked in dead-end jobs but is married to Nat, a young, ambitious barrister. A host of other characters are introduced, mostly friends of Margit, all of whom seem lost, or displaced – not on the career treadmill and drifting from one precarious job to another. The desperate search by Magrit for her missing friend Regan in the UK runs parallel to other elements missing in Magrit’s life, as well to the London-based search among connected clues to the 43 male students.
These are two similarities between the books, “2666” and “History Keeps Me Awake at Night”: lost or displaced characters (the four academics; Margit and her friends, respectively) and the brutality of late capitalism at the end of the global value chain in countries such as Mexico (the femicides; the 43 male students, respectively).
I do not criticize Dr. Edwall for drawing on Bolaño’s “2666;” after all, most published books are indebted in significant ways to the literary canon – from Shakespeare to Jane Austen. Here is refreshing honesty. But some readers may wish Dr. Edwall had, in “History Keeps Me Awake at Night,” further developed Bolaño’s plot. I found some of the characters and relationships seem underdeveloped – the relationship between Nat and Margit is an unsolved puzzle. The reader cannot understand how this couple stays together as the ties that (should) bind remain elusive. Characters such as Regan could feature more strongly, instead of having her disappear for much of the book.
I particularly enjoyed Dr. Edwall’s descriptive narrative, and its subtle humor. Dr. Edwall clearly dislikes some of her characters, but writes very well by not letting her descriptive humor descend into sarcasm. Here are three tasters.
“I had disliked Martha then, and her oyster-like way of sitting in her chair. She had seemed like a woman with no give. But seeing her now, in her apron and her bare feet, with her braided coronet, pouring double cream into a bowl and taking up her whisk, I wondered if it had been her way of refusing to join the circus without forbidding the circus its existence…” (p. 193).
“All Nat’s nagging uncertainties, his doubts, his private insecurities about his value to chambers, those conversations from the day before that he replayed to shake out all their possible meanings like crumbs from a napkin, all of this had kept him himself. But he was losing his uncertainty, losing all doubt, growing deaf to second and third interpretations when they disturbed his dinner, standing confidently among his colleagues, with equal solvency and ambitions never wholly sedated, becoming more and more like this species, and leaving the race we had formed together, the clan of two, to the evolutionary past.” (pp. 180-181).
“Then again, clearly, [Patty] was a woman whose inner coastline hid secluded sea caves. She liked the idea of pathways cut off by the tide, she liked the idea of the private beach, the drowned grotto, the stone steps that lead down to the sheer edge.” (p. 202).
Dr. Edwall writes beautifully which pushes me up to 4* in my rating.
The novel has two overriding themes, both about the distortions of human life evident in post-WW II late capitalism, with its globalized markets and labour, mass consumption, and flows of capital, goods, and people. One, that much – perhaps most – of the world remain trapped in poverty, exploited by local mafia, cartels, corrupt politicians and police. The second theme is that human psyche has become distorted, leading to a search for meaning. Displaced, lost selves and identities are exemplified by Bolaño’s four academics caught up in the system, trapped. The academics have a ridiculous obsession with Archimboldi and their individual personalities become effaced. The peer review system of academia and the need to present at conferences ensures that they monitor each other and acts as a system of control – at no cost to the state (no police salaries to pay).
Enter Christy Edwall. Powerfully impacted by Bolaño’s “2666,” Dr. Edwall deploys “2666” as the trigger for her narrator, London-based Margit, who has read “2666” and becomes ridiculously obsessed with the 2014 abduction and murder of 43 male students in southwestern Mexico, in which a local drug cartel and Federal and state authorities have been implicated.
Margit has some background characteristics shared with Dr. Edwall – she was born in South Africa and lives in the UK. How can any novel not be, to a degree, autobiographical? As with the four academics in “2666,” Margit’s search for the truth is a story about the displacement in her own life – she has worked in dead-end jobs but is married to Nat, a young, ambitious barrister. A host of other characters are introduced, mostly friends of Margit, all of whom seem lost, or displaced – not on the career treadmill and drifting from one precarious job to another. The desperate search by Magrit for her missing friend Regan in the UK runs parallel to other elements missing in Magrit’s life, as well to the London-based search among connected clues to the 43 male students.
These are two similarities between the books, “2666” and “History Keeps Me Awake at Night”: lost or displaced characters (the four academics; Margit and her friends, respectively) and the brutality of late capitalism at the end of the global value chain in countries such as Mexico (the femicides; the 43 male students, respectively).
I do not criticize Dr. Edwall for drawing on Bolaño’s “2666;” after all, most published books are indebted in significant ways to the literary canon – from Shakespeare to Jane Austen. Here is refreshing honesty. But some readers may wish Dr. Edwall had, in “History Keeps Me Awake at Night,” further developed Bolaño’s plot. I found some of the characters and relationships seem underdeveloped – the relationship between Nat and Margit is an unsolved puzzle. The reader cannot understand how this couple stays together as the ties that (should) bind remain elusive. Characters such as Regan could feature more strongly, instead of having her disappear for much of the book.
I particularly enjoyed Dr. Edwall’s descriptive narrative, and its subtle humor. Dr. Edwall clearly dislikes some of her characters, but writes very well by not letting her descriptive humor descend into sarcasm. Here are three tasters.
“I had disliked Martha then, and her oyster-like way of sitting in her chair. She had seemed like a woman with no give. But seeing her now, in her apron and her bare feet, with her braided coronet, pouring double cream into a bowl and taking up her whisk, I wondered if it had been her way of refusing to join the circus without forbidding the circus its existence…” (p. 193).
“All Nat’s nagging uncertainties, his doubts, his private insecurities about his value to chambers, those conversations from the day before that he replayed to shake out all their possible meanings like crumbs from a napkin, all of this had kept him himself. But he was losing his uncertainty, losing all doubt, growing deaf to second and third interpretations when they disturbed his dinner, standing confidently among his colleagues, with equal solvency and ambitions never wholly sedated, becoming more and more like this species, and leaving the race we had formed together, the clan of two, to the evolutionary past.” (pp. 180-181).
“Then again, clearly, [Patty] was a woman whose inner coastline hid secluded sea caves. She liked the idea of pathways cut off by the tide, she liked the idea of the private beach, the drowned grotto, the stone steps that lead down to the sheer edge.” (p. 202).
Dr. Edwall writes beautifully which pushes me up to 4* in my rating.
October 8, 2024
2.5/5
White girl gets obsessed with Mexico… bleh good writing here and there but not worth to read imo. Amazing title for a book though I will give it that.
White girl gets obsessed with Mexico… bleh good writing here and there but not worth to read imo. Amazing title for a book though I will give it that.
February 23, 2023
As a fellow Bolaño obsessive, much respect to Edwall for this good work. At the very least it’s an impressive artifact of working through the effects of having your perspective altered by Roberto B. If not all the pieces end up vibrating in quite the occult symphony I’d hoped, still, there is much here to appreciate.
Well done.
Well done.
November 6, 2022
When you pick up a book titled History Keeps Me Awake At Night, you know right from the outset that this is going to be some unapologetically literary fiction.
The story riffs off art criticism (particularly Berger's Ways of Seeing), playing with the idea of perspective. It's a bold debut, unafraid of dense symbolism, stark metaphors and the odd bit of deliberately aimless posturing. Sometimes it could have benefitted from a bit more narrative grounding. The characters are a little too transparent (more figurative than fully-realised human beings), and several of the scenes lack subtlety. It needs just a little bit more real to balance out the cerebral.
Caustic and complex, History Keeps Me Awake At Night is an ambitious literary debut that's almost too smart for its own good.
*Thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review*
The story riffs off art criticism (particularly Berger's Ways of Seeing), playing with the idea of perspective. It's a bold debut, unafraid of dense symbolism, stark metaphors and the odd bit of deliberately aimless posturing. Sometimes it could have benefitted from a bit more narrative grounding. The characters are a little too transparent (more figurative than fully-realised human beings), and several of the scenes lack subtlety. It needs just a little bit more real to balance out the cerebral.
Caustic and complex, History Keeps Me Awake At Night is an ambitious literary debut that's almost too smart for its own good.
*Thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review*
June 18, 2023
Utterly gorgeous style of writing that consistently provides the novel's greatest achievement and enjoyment. Edwall constructs a fascinating narrative whose introspection into the fabric of fulfillment and direction provide a deep emotional connection to the struggles of the characters. Praise is especially warranted for the sense of vivacity and creative use of location/geography employed.Margit and her relationship with Nat in particular remain the biggest unsolved mystery and are perhaps underutilized in the narrative's aim as a whole. The only barrier to perfection is the sheer amount that the novel attempts to do, with the ending feeling cut short and not fully conclusive. Overall a marvelous novel from a writer who is set to become a firm favourite!
March 24, 2024
A very intriguing book with lots of potential. I picked it up after being drawn in by the cover when I was desperate for something to read on the train and after finishing it I can't help but wonder if the blurb is not doing it justice.
At the start of the book, Margit is a struggling art writer and her London haunts (also familiar to me) and academic friend group struck a cord with me. Some of the most interesting parts are simple conversations and interactions that occur throughout. I was left a bit cold by the main plot, and felt the author could have pushed Margit's "obsession" much further.
Despite being a short book, towards the middle I did find my attention drifting off and had to re-read a few passages.
For People that like "no plot all vibes"
At the start of the book, Margit is a struggling art writer and her London haunts (also familiar to me) and academic friend group struck a cord with me. Some of the most interesting parts are simple conversations and interactions that occur throughout. I was left a bit cold by the main plot, and felt the author could have pushed Margit's "obsession" much further.
Despite being a short book, towards the middle I did find my attention drifting off and had to re-read a few passages.
For People that like "no plot all vibes"
July 4, 2024
I loved the journey I was on. (Her first book!) it was beautiful at time I did feel lost with the references and the vocabulary and the passive way of Christy’s writing.
But I think it was brilliant and had some originality to it.
But I think it was brilliant and had some originality to it.
May 30, 2023
A flight of imagination and soo readable. I loved it
February 25, 2024
3.5 rounded up.
Not sure how I feel about this one? RTC.
Not sure how I feel about this one? RTC.
May 26, 2025
Hmm, slightly strange and unhinged but not quite unhinged enough
October 9, 2025
felt fun and relatable but constantly waiting for it to build to something more that never really came.
August 22, 2023
**Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC. This was in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.**
This was a bizarre book that follows a young woman who becomes obsessed with a crime that happened in Mexico in the past. The style reminded me of Rooney and Dolan, in the vein of apathetic young women who move like ghost through their own lives.
Nothing happens in this book, so don't expect a plot-heavy book, but rather one centred on portraying a cast of characters, connections and lifestyle of the early 21st century. The protagonist is with a man she's not sure she likes and is friends with people she isn't sure she liked either, so it was difficult to care at times.
All she cared about was this crime, with this she has no connections and yet is obsessed with. It felt absurd at times, but I liked that there was criticism of this obsession and by the end the author and protagonist seem to run with that. Don't know what to really think of it: it was an easy read that won't leave its mark.
This was a bizarre book that follows a young woman who becomes obsessed with a crime that happened in Mexico in the past. The style reminded me of Rooney and Dolan, in the vein of apathetic young women who move like ghost through their own lives.
Nothing happens in this book, so don't expect a plot-heavy book, but rather one centred on portraying a cast of characters, connections and lifestyle of the early 21st century. The protagonist is with a man she's not sure she likes and is friends with people she isn't sure she liked either, so it was difficult to care at times.
All she cared about was this crime, with this she has no connections and yet is obsessed with. It felt absurd at times, but I liked that there was criticism of this obsession and by the end the author and protagonist seem to run with that. Don't know what to really think of it: it was an easy read that won't leave its mark.
October 26, 2024
hmmmmmmm
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