On a mission to share more book love because it’s great for writers and readers alike, here is my book review on The Night of Many Endings by Melissa Payne. Or as I like to call it… The Book of One Weekend… because that’s how quickly I read it.
During our Thursday evening downtime, Joe wanted to read, so I (grudgingly) got my iPad to do the same. Spotting The Night of Many Endings by Melissa Payne in Prime Reading’s Lending Library, I made room on my bookshelf and started into it with a tired sigh. It’d been a long day… Did I really feel like reading? Um, no. But Payne hooked me by the third paragraph. And that ended up being my weekend. I finished the book (in tears) on Sunday and liked it so much I jotted ideas for a book review while it was fresh in my mind.
By the way… If you are a Prime Member, the lending library is a great way to read a variety of books and magazines for FREE! They change the titles often, and I usually find something that piques my interest. (And, yes, I get small kickbacks from Amazon if you click and buy via my blog, FYI… but I’d still tell you about these things, anyway).
The Night of Many Endings is best described in the Author’s Note: “…a small town, a snowstorm, and five strangers stranded at a library.”
I call it… a grown-up Breakfast Club but with more depth. It’s a feel-good story worth devoting a weekend to, and in that strange, cosmic way that often happens, it’s the book I needed.
Each character struggles in powerful, relatable ways. There’s Nora, the guilt-ridden librarian so committed to finding and saving her drug-addicted brother she has no life of her own.
Vlado, the library’s pacifist security guard whose academic dreams have been sidetracked for what’s “safe.”
Marlene, the grumpy older woman with zero filter, no friends, and a deep sadness.
Jasmine, the sweet but secretive teen trying to do her best for her little sister.
Lewis, the homeless drug addict ready to end his tragic, screwed-up life.
“Everyone has a story to share,” writes Payne in her Acknowledgments. And in their stories, I found pieces of me. I’ve been the do-gooder, the dreamer, the grump, the fearful, and the screw-up… sometimes in the same day. But there’s hope.
Marlene summarizes the book’s message by explaining to Nora that her purpose isn’t to save the world but “To be you.”
“I’m not sure I know who that is,” Nora whispered.
“Nobody does. That’s why we have each other.”
Anyone looking for a great weekend read that’ll have you smiling by Monday should give The Night of Many Endings a try.
Looking at a book review from a writer’s point of view, I find more positive takeaways.
Like the importance of setting…
I’m a sucker for stories set in bookstores or libraries. I also love stuck-in-place or wrong-place/wrong-time settings enough to post two blogs on the subject—15+ Stuck Story Setting Ideas and Plot Ideas: Store-in-Crisis. Something is charming and exciting about throwing a bunch of oddball characters into an inescapable situation. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman is another feel-good favorite like this.
And letting characters have their own voices…
I admire authors who pull off storytelling from multiple perspectives. Though mostly from Nora’s point of view, two others are featured—Marlene and Lewis. It’s a trick—maintaining the right voice for a character. Doing it for more than one is even more complicated. But Payne succeeds in making Marlene sound like Marlene and so on. One of my writerly aspirations is to pen a mystery from four perspectives, so I love seeing this done so well. Was it Faulkner who did this a lot?
I’ve enjoyed many multi-perspective stories lately: I’ll Be Your Blue Sky by Marisa de los Santos (currently reading), Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score, and The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain. So, if you’re into it, these are great examples.
And a side note about names…
There have been times when I’ve stared at my computer screen, fidgeting with writer-energy, ready to pump out a scene that’s as clear to me as if I’m living it, only to get hung up on ONE THING—a character’s name. You want it to be memorable but not outlandish. Common but not popular. You want it to fit the character but not too much (unless you’re Molly in The Maid—that worked). Anyway, sometimes they’re harder to decide on than the story itself.
In The Night of Many Endings, the names all worked–don’t get me wrong. But I’ve run into many fictional Nora’s lately. It could be a coincidence—surely it is. And it’s not a bad thing. I only wonder… Are there trends in characters’ names just like there are with people?
Two other standout Nora’s… Nora Seed from The Midnight Library by Matt Haig… also another library. Nora Stephens in Book Lovers by Emily Henry.
If character names become trends in books, then it’s something writers should consider. Egads… as if it needs to be harder. I used to keep a phonebook handy for this—if I got stuck on a name, I simply opened the book to a random page and pointed (and then did it three or four more times until I found one I liked). Alas, no more phone books. Baby name books (or internet searches) help, too. I keep a tattered name book from 1963 for more unique choices.
When playing the writer’s name game, it’s good to have resources like these.
So, what books have you devoured in a weekend? Share some book love with your recommendations below. Or say hello. Or offer up some character names… always on the hunt for those.
