Good Morning, Midnight

by Lily Brooks-Dalton

For fans of STATION ELEVEN and THE MARTIAN

'A remarkable and gifted debut novel' Colson Whitehead, author of THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

'What does it mean to be isolated from the ordinariness of the everyday world, yet to find the extraordinariness of being close to another human being?' Yiyun Li, PEN/Hemingway Award winner

There is a particular beauty in silence, in being cut off from the world. Augustine is a brilliant, ageing scientist, consumed by the stars. Isolated in the cold but electrifying beauty of an Arctic Circle research base, he scans the universe, trying to find the origins of time itself.

Mission Specialist Sullivan, a divorced astronaut and mother, is aboard the Aether, on its return flight from Jupiter. When all communication goes silent, she is left wondering what she will be returning to.

As the silence expands, these two character begin to understand their place in the world, and what gives their life meaning. For only in the silence can we find out who we truly are.

GOOD MORNING MIDNIGHT is an extraordinarily beautiful and poignant novel about what is to be human - what is means to have experienced ambition, loss, grief, what it means to love and be loved.

'A beautifully written, sparse post-apocalyptic novel that explores memory, loss and identity ... Fans of Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven and Kim Stanley Robinson's Aurora will appreciate the Brooks-Dalton's exquisite exploration of relationships in extreme environments.' Washington Post

• ISBN10: 1474600581
• ISBN13: 9781474600583
• Publish Date: 11 August 2016 (first published 9 August 2016)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 5 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
• Imprint: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 272
• Language: English

Reviews

[jamiereadthis]

By the end, I’m not sure which one was aggravating me more, the Augustine parts or the Sully parts. It could have been so good too— the ingredients were there. If the story hadn’t found the big reveals necessary. Or had so much repetition within so few pages. Or if just one person on The Aether had a personality. It did almost give me a panic attack about being stuck in space with those people, so well done on that score.

Some of that fault lies with me; I was spoiling for a story instead of a meditative parable, so I should have picked a different book.

[lisacee]

I listened to this book because I couldn't find anything to read from my tbr list. The description said it was named one of the best books of the year by Shelf Awareness, so I gave it a go.

I lucked out, finding it to be a hauntingly beautiful story about family and the end of the world.

[cornerfolds]

Read more of my reviews at Cornerfolds.com!

*Review to come!*

[Artemis]

Follow the The Artemis Reader for more reviews!

Good Morning, Midnight was a genuine surprise. Drawn in my the cover and the premise, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect out of this apocalyptic tale. Dalton weaves the story through two characters, Augustine and Sully who both experience the uncertainty of the end of the world. If you are looking for a unique perspective on the apocalypse genre, look no further than this book.

Augustine, an aging astronomer who refuses to be evacuated from the Arctic complex, remains and discovers a young girl left behind int he wake – Iris. Through his time with Iris, Augustine reflects on his life and the opportunities he’s missed out on. Sully who shares a similar disinterest in relationships and has left behind an ex-husband and daughter to pursue her dream. The characters started off a little slow and you are not a fan of long descriptive prose then you might feel a little bogged down in the details. But it’s in the details where this true character expose becomes a very strong story. How the world came to a “catastrophic end” doesn’t ever come into play, but the story is so rich with Augie and Sully’s character reflections that you almost forget you don’t know all the details.

Good Morning, Midnight is a slow moving, highly descriptive story told through two people who are not only physically distanced from the end of the world but have also emotionally already separated themselves from humanity. Dalton manages to capture the beauty of a silent world. The resolution was handled well, and all-in-all I feel the story has been fulfilled. This book definitely isn’t for everyone, but is worth a shot if you’ve got the time.