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The Night Always Comes: A Novel Paperback – May 17, 2022
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“Willy Vlautin is not known for happy endings, but there’s something here that defies the downward pull. In the end, Lynette is pure life force: fierce and canny and blazing through a city that no longer has space for her, and it’s all Portland’s loss.”—Portland Monthly Magazine
Award-winning author Willy Vlautin explores the impact of trickle-down greed and opportunism of gentrification on ordinary lives in this scorching novel that captures the plight of a young woman pushed to the edge as she fights to secure a stable future for herself and her family.
Barely thirty, Lynette is exhausted. Saddled with bad credit and juggling multiple jobs, some illegally, she’s been diligently working to buy the house she lives in with her mother and developmentally disabled brother Kenny. Portland’s housing prices have nearly quadrupled in fifteen years, and the owner is giving them a good deal. Lynette knows it’s their last best chance to own their own home—and obtain the security they’ve never had. While she has enough for the down payment, she needs her mother to cover the rest of the asking price. But a week before they’re set to sign the loan papers, her mother gets cold feet and reneges on her promise, pushing Lynette to her limits to find the money they need.
Set over two days and two nights, The Night Always Comes follows Lynette’s frantic search—an odyssey of hope and anguish that will bring her face to face with greedy rich men and ambitious hustlers, those benefiting and those left behind by a city in the throes of a transformative boom. As her desperation builds and her pleas for help go unanswered, Lynette makes a dangerous choice that sets her on a precarious, frenzied spiral. In trying to save her family’s future, she is plunged into the darkness of her past, and forced to confront the reality of her life.
A heart wrenching portrait of a woman hungry for security and a home in a rapidly changing city, The Night Always Comes raises the difficult questions we are often too afraid to ask ourselves: What is the price of gentrification, and how far are we really prepared to go to achieve the American Dream? Is the American dream even attainable for those living at the edges? Or for too many of us, is it only a hollow promise?
- Print length240 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarper Perennial
- Publication dateMay 17, 2022
- Dimensions5.31 x 0.54 x 8 inches
- ISBN-10006303509X
- ISBN-13978-0063035096
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“Vlautin offers a stunning, heartbreaking study of one woman’s struggle against fate and circumstance in an America that’s left her behind… This gritty page-turner sings with pitch-perfect prose, and [protagonist] Lynette’s desperation is palpable. Vlautin has achieved a brilliant synthesis of Raymond Carver and Jim Thompson.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“The trick to writing a great thriller is both simple and very, very difficult: make us care about the person whose life is in jeopardy. I can’t remember the last time I worried myself sick about a fictional character the way I did about Lynette in Willy Vlautin’s terrific, big-hearted new novel The Night Always Comes. You won’t soon forget either her or the fraught world she so courageously navigates.” — Richard Russo, Author of Empire Falls and Chances Are…
“If throwing down roots in a place can change a person for the better, The Night Always Comes asks what happens to people who never get the chance to do it. Vlautin doesn't offer answers, but he does end the book on an optimistic note, suggesting hope is out there somewhere—and, in the meantime, he paints a recognizable, sometimes harrowing portrait of a city in flux.” — Williamette Week
“Willy Vlautin’s The Night Always Comes is a tear-struck revelation—both epic and timely, intimate and clear-eyed. Only Vlautin could cross the harrowing emotional richness of A Woman Under the Influence with the breakneck desperation of the greatest of film noir. Lynette will have you from the first page and put you to the test a hundred times before the last. You’ll finish knowing you’ll never forget her.” — Megan Abbott, Author of Give Me Your Hand and You Will Know Me
"Remarkable, real, and tender, The Night Always Comes is a story of America, of the disenfranchised and the still hopeful, of a world littered with artifacts and so little opportunity. Willy Vlautin's characters blaze with honesty, fighting for their slim chance at the American dream, leaving us to wonder if it was all a charade. An amazing achievement." — Rene Denfeld, Author of The Butterfly Girl and The Child Finder
“I finished reading this novel dripping with admiration for Willy Vlautin and the tough wonder he has brought forth. The Night Always Comes hits the high-water mark; there is skillful and beautiful objectivity to the writing, characters so real that when they bleed you get a few drops on your sleeve, and a story of economic want and desperation and heart.” — Daniel Woodrell, Author of Winter’s Bone and The Maid’s Version
"The story resonates, with characters we come to feel we know and dialogue that is so natural we hear it, not just read it....This is literary art that will keep readers in their seats until the last page."
— Library Journal (starred review)
"He is as far reaching as he is precise. He writes hard, delicate stories about things that are true. His characters cut me so close to the bone, I feel like they peel a layer of skin off me and I walk around after reading Willy Vlautin, more vulnerable, more open than I was before. And all the tougher for it." — Kae Tempest, Author of On Connection
"The Night Always Comes is a masterclass of scope and scale - a nail-biting thriller of everyday survival. Relatable, terrifying, impassioned, and compassionate, Vlautin's latest will elevate you on one page and tear your heart out on the next. A marvelous novel that bleeds real, cuts deep, and offers just the right dose of hope." — Ivy Pochoda, Author of These Girls and Visitation Street
“Emotionally wrenching.… 'You never give up and you've got a good heart, a damaged heart, but a good heart.’ We concur, of course, and race to the end to see if good hearts can maybe, just this once, make a difference. With Vlautin, you never know for sure.” — Booklist (starred review)
“[Vlautin’s] book plays out like a modern noir take on a Tennessee Williams play, its desperate characters harboring old resentments, its hard-luck heroine settling scores throughout a long, bloody night in her hometown of Portland, Oregon…. Vlautin has written a soulful thriller for the age of soulless gentrification.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“This is a fast and worthy read that you may end up devouring in a few sittings — it's that propulsive. " — AARP
“Willy Vlautin is not known for happy endings, but there’s something here that defies the downward pull. In the end, Lynette is pure life force: fierce and canny and blazing through a city that no longer has space for her, and it’s all Portland’s loss. Read it and weep.” — Portland Monthly Magazine
“Vlautin’s sixth novel rewards fans of his slow, careful style in an intense story about gentrification in Portland, Ore.” — Washington Post
“[An] unflinching, humane noir." — Vanity Fair
“Anyone who’s scrambled within the confines of poverty may relate to Lynette’s quest for agency over her own fate. With “The Night Alway Comes,” Vlautin chronicles the downfall of a city. As Lynette’s story illustrates, it’s an undoing that is deeply personal, too.” — New York Times Book Review
“The pressures of poverty give [Vlautin’s book] its vivid unpredictability… The Night Always Comes is a taut, action-packed production with a memorable protagonist who never abandons her sense of moral truth amid the Darwinian scramble for cash.” — Wall Street Journal
[Vlautin’s] best work yet…. The Night Always Comes is a rare example of art that matters… heartbreaking, but also a combative condemnation of American injustice, while also a love letter to the beleaguered working class, and still damn fun to read." — Crimereads.com
'Vlautin’s finest work to date, marrying his typical deep empathy for troubled characters with a robust and dynamic plot reminiscent of classic American noir crime fiction ... All of this is done with a prose style that sings with simple clarity, like an arrow straight at the reader’s heart. Extraordinary stuff.' — Big Issue
'[Vlautin] has particular eye for setpieces . . . his hardscrabble characters and their vanishing dreams have the tang of authenticity.' — Daily Mail (UK)
“[Vlautin] is one of the great chroniclers of working-class American life.” — The Herald Magazine (Scotland)
“The Night Always Comes is another fine entry in Willy Vlautin’s well-chiseled portraits of the working class—both men and women, sometimes youthful, sometimes hardened—and their real-life choices in search of hope. By Vlautin standards, the ending of The Night Always Comes is practically upbeat. But be forewarned, it will break your heart.”
— New York Journal of Books
“The Night Always Comes is both intimately heartbreaking and cautiously hopeful, as Lynette quickly adapts to pursue a new dream, one that may or may not be as elusive as the rapidly fading American dream of homeownership.” — Bookreporter
About the Author
Willy Vlautin is the author of the novels The Motel Life, Northline, Lean on Pete, The Free, Don’t Skip Out on Me, and The Night Always Comes. He is the founding member of the bands Richmond Fontaine and The Delines.
Product details
- Publisher : Harper Perennial (May 17, 2022)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 240 pages
- ISBN-10 : 006303509X
- ISBN-13 : 978-0063035096
- Item Weight : 6.4 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.31 x 0.54 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #671,867 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #9,886 in Family Life Fiction (Books)
- #14,690 in Contemporary Women Fiction
- #31,798 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Willy Vlautin has published five novels, THE MOTEL LIFE, NORTHLINE, LEAN ON PETE, THE FREE, and DON’T SKIP OUT ON ME. THE MOTEL LIFE was turned into a major motion picture starring Kris Kristofferson and Emile Hirsh in 2012. The movie version of LEAN ON PETE will be released this spring starring Charlie Plummer and Steve Buscemi. Vlautin lives outside of Portland, Oregon and is the founding member of the bands Richmond Fontaine and The Delines.
Customer reviews
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Top reviews from the United States
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The protagonist is a young female living in distressed circumstances. Her life seems to be a struggle for any version of quality of life. Many of her friends and even relatives are ultimately ruthless. This struggle at times seems to turn to a struggle for actual survival. At times the novel was a complete page turner for me and I made a point of not reading parts of the story near bedtime.
The author is male. The protagonist is female. I purchased an audiobook and the narrator is female. I read and listened simultaneously. The female narrator did a very professional job and added to my personal reading experience. The narrator is Christine Lakin.
I do not travel in intellectual circles and I do not have the opportunity to speak with individuals who have a great interest in reading. Therefore my personal experience may be skewed. However I am beginning to feel that Willie Vlautin is one of the best modern American writers of fiction that I NEVER hear anyone speak about. I accidentally came upon him when reading a novel by George Pelecanos, “The Man Who Came Uptown”.
This novel is set in the area of Portland, Oregan. “Northlline” is set in Nevada. As a resident of Pennsylvania, I really enjoy reading stories set in the modern American West.
I am a retired police officer. Among my many assignments, I did a stint working undercover. Much of that work was unnerving and I was glad to put it behind me as I transitioned to traditional criminal investigation. This novel actually caused me to have flashbacks to numerous experiences. For me it was very realistic. I used to think of it as the modern American sociological version of the Serengeti Plain. Either eat or be on the menu.
In summary I really like this novel and this author. The story is not a light fun read. It is the kind of story that I find addictive, but very intense. I read novels like this and then I need to take a break and try something lighter. Thank You for taking the time to read this review.
This story is two days in the life of Lynette. Inching towards thirty years old she is still living with her mother and mentally disabled brother. Not that she hasn't lived elsewhere, but due to her own mental instability she ended back up at home.
Lynette is striving toward home ownership. She works herself crazy - in addition to being the main caregiver for Kenny her older brother, while her mother spends mostly idle hours laying on the couch watching TV and smoking.
Expecting her mother to carry the most of a loan to buy the house they are currently in, things begin to fall apart. Lynette takes major chances, not all of them legal, to acquire the $80,000 down payment, only to find out that there is more pressing problems ahead.
I really enjoyed this short book. It read well and was easy to like the protagonist, and just as easy to dislike a portion of the characters. The story was well balanced and plot driven. The ending was great - however not what you really expected. This was my first Vlautin book, but probably not my last.
It's two days and two nights in the life of Lynette. She works two jobs and then some, dreaming of buying the house she rents and shares with her mother and brother. It's about hope, despair and the broken american dream. It's excellent!
In a neighborhood that once was labeled as a poor urban area, has been changed through gentrification. A very controversial topic with the influx of more affluent residents and businesses changing the facade of the area and displacing many of the ones that were already having a difficult time surviving.
Depression sets in as her world becomes bleak with desperation to make unwise decisions. She could settle for less than safe neighborhoods she could afford, but not what they want to do. With a fine line drawn in the community with poverty and criminalization, some find themselves crossing it just to survive. This book captures her bleak life and the working people and their economic struggles.
"You cease to distinguish between right and wrong. You can no longer see clearly what is good and what is bad."
Good job, Willy Vlautin. I can't do this book justice.
Top reviews from other countries
This is an easy , though sometimes gruelling read , because it touches so well on characters ground down and disillusioned with a wearisome life they can't escape from , no matter how hard they work or try.
Lynette , a 30 year old is holding down several jobs , whilst also looking after her disabled brother .Her mother , meanwhile , has little time for either of them , and to add insult to injury she buys an expensive car with money intended to help them buy the dilapidated rental property they live in .
Lynette's troubles start from there...