The Night Always Comes

Lynette’s life has been one struggle after another, but finally she sees a light at the end of the tunnel: after three years working two jobs, she has saved enough money to join her mother in buying the house they currently rent. Stability is a top concern, especially due to the care needs of Lynette’s developmentally disabled brother Kenny. But then her mother backs out of the deal, setting Lynette off on a manic attempt to amass more funds of her own. Over the course of one long night she tracks down previous “benefactors”, demands repayment of loans made to friends, and tries to make money off of a couple of unexpected finds. Each encounter reveals more of Lynette’s back story, a tale of family instability, financial show more hardship, and mental illness. As the night wears on Lynette becomes increasingly desperate, putting herself in danger more than once.

Set in Portland, Oregon, Willy Vlautin shows the dark side of rapid gentrification: the displacement of an economic class that was already struggling. Survival requires working multiple jobs, some of which are illegal. Housing is substandard and living arrangements are often temporary, pieced together with friends or even mere acquaintances.

Although the pacing and suspense drew me in from the start, this book was by no means an easy read and left me with a lot to think about. show less

I hope Vlautin didn't have to live through this to write it! This is a harrowing story of survival in post-boom Portland, Oregon. At first, we side with the 30-year protagonist, saddled with a older brother with severe mental disabilities and a mother who seems to do nothing but smoke, complain, and buy stuff she can't afford. But then comes a scene between the mother and daughter where the truth about the daughter comes out. Wow. It's as good as the scene in Mike Leigh's movie Life is Sweet. The novel then takes a more melodramatic turn and lots of things happen that aren't so good, but the daughter doesn't give up as she struggles to overcome past failures and find a future for herself. This is powerful powerful stuff. Vlautin isn't show more just a musician who writes novels. He's a novelist of the first rank. show less

The Night Always Comes by Willy Vlautin is a very highly recommended, heartbreaking, working class drama of greed impacting the life of a young woman.

Lynette, 30, has been working three jobs for three years and is exhausted. She is trying to gather the money for a down payment on the dilapidated rental house she lives in with her mother, and her developmentally disabled brother Kenny in Portland, Oregon. The owner wants to sell the house and is going to give them a good deal if they want to buy it. Lynette has a bad credit rating, but if her mother can provide some of the down payment and cosign the loan, the three of them will have the security they have never had before and a chance to fix up the house. That was the plan, but at the show more last minute her mother backs out, putting money down on a new car instead, setting Lynette out to collect on the money she has loaned others in order to get the whole down payment on her own.

This brief novel is set over just two days and nights and follows Lynette's quest for the money they need. The night is a long, tortuous, violent, and desperate hunt that puts her in contact with greedy men, prostitution, hustlers, cons, abusers, users, and others who prey upon the vulnerable. As she is trying to gather the money she needs, she is also keeping track of how easily her car starts. As the night goes on flashbacks will tell Lynette's backstory which provides even more depth and understanding of what this young woman has endured.

Lynette is a character you will fiercely care about and worry over her safety. I can't remember a character whose story totally consumed me like Lynette's did. Obviously, to care so much about a fictional character clearly shows that this character is very well-developed. This is a novel of the working class and how the American Dream seems unattainable; for many people working two jobs and wearing yourself down is a daily fact of life.

The writing was absolutely flawless. As we follow Lynette in her search, The Night Always Comes seized my attention and evoke all the emotions. The ending was perfect and provided a measure of hope. Even though the plot seems simple, this is one of the best books I have read. It will certainly be on my list of top novels of the year and I will be seeking out and reading other novels by Vlautin.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2021/03/the-night-always-comes.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3878219008 show less

Set in Portland, Oregon and taking place over two days, this novel is heartbreaking from the start. Lynette is working from morning and through the night, cobbling together a savings from multiple jobs to secure a down payment for a house while also taking care of her developmentally disabled brother and taking verbal abuse from her mother.

Lynette comes home one night to see that her mother bought a new car, sabotaging any chances they have to purchase their home. She sees her only avenue for security slipping away amid rising home prices. Her mother tells her that she changed her mind and no longer wants the home or to live with Lynette.

Devastated, Lynette goes about trying to get back any money owed to her and sets out on a show more dangerous journey. As the stakes and risks get higher by the moment, Lynette recalls all of the experiences that led her to this situation. The abuse, mental illness, mistakes, and loneliness she has overcome in the past few years tumble back to her as she remains determined to make something good still happen.

This novel was fast-paced and tells much about the place and time it occurs. The stark contrast between the efforts put into a life and the outputs that are realized are exposed. It is a hard life and often little to hold onto. show less

Discovering Willy Vlautin’s books a couple of years ago was one of those fantastic things that makes you wonder how you did without him before. His latest book, The Night Always Comes (Faber) is a hard-hitting story of Lynette, who lives with her chain smoking in front of the TV mother and looks after her brother who is grown up but with the mental ability of a three year old. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel but it never seems within reach. It’s grim, occasionally shocking, but also uplifting in places with amazing resilience on show. As always, the author’s writing is wonderful and the tale totally absorbing. If you haven’t discovered Willy Vlautin yet, dive in!

I couldn't put this down! Picked it up around 8:30pm and finished it exactly at midnight, which of course I took as some sort of sign. This is the second of Vlautin's novels I've read and I loved both. His characters read so authentically: broken and just trying to make something out of their messes. The Night Always Comes should be made into a film, I'd pick the Safdie brothers to do it. It reads like Uncut Gems or Good Time.

This novel had the extra hook in me for being based in Portland, so many of the landmarks, roads, and neighborhoods are areas I know all too well. By the 5th chapter I was rooting for Lynette so hard, praying to God she outsmarted all the weird men in her life, and transcended her demons. 5 stars, can't recommend show more it enough. show less

Desperation seeps through the words of Vlautin’s work. Like so many growing urban areas, Portland Oregon’s working class is being forced out by gentrification. I felt like in a Tennessee Williams story not set in the south. Lynette, is trying to attend community college, care for her disabled older brother and pay the rent on their falling down house. Her mother seems to have given up and Lynette finds herself caught in a position where she can make the down payment on their and makes some either stupid or courageous decisions on how to get the money. And as the title indicates, this is not a happy story. At the end, the reader is left to decide what will happen to Lynette. Do you see her glass as half empty or half full? I listened show more to the audiobook narrated by Christine Lakin and highly recommend it, but I suggestion you choose a time when you can dedicate to listening to the book. Once started, the mental picture created by the narration and the author’s descriptions will make it hard to put down. show less