Night over the waters

Nacht über den Wassern (original title: Night Over Water , published 1991) is a novel by the English writer Ken Follett that was published in 1992 by Gustav-Lübbe-Verlag . It was translated by Gabriele Conrad and Lore Straßl and provided with book art works by Achim Kiel. Follett's novel is ostensibly a thriller, but the actual crime story takes up only a small part of the book. It serves as a red thread that holds the various storylines together. Follett changes the narrative perspective several times. There is no such thing as a neutral narrator, the plot is alternately portrayed from the perspective of different people.

content

characters

One of the first flights of the Flying Clippers from Pan American assembles a motley crew of passengers who all have a reason to Britain on September 3, 1939 to leave the day of the declaration of war against the German Reich:

Eddie Deakin, the flight engineer,
Peter Black, manager of an American shoe factory,
Nat Ridgeway, a competitor and prospective buyer,
Diana Lovesey, English, ran away with
Mark Alder, American journalist,
Princess Lavinia, Russian nobleman,
Lulu Bell, American actress,
Frank Gordon, Mafioso,
Ollis Field, FBI agent, extradites Gordon to the USA,
Baron Gabon, French banker, Jew, escape helper from,
Carl Hartmann, German atomic physicist, also a Jew,
Lord Oxenford, British fascist, must therefore leave Great Britain
Lady Oxenford, his American wife,
Percy Oxenford, his bright son, 15 years old,
Margaret Oxenford, his daughter, 19 years old, wants to fight the Germans,
Harry Marks, English jewel thief,
Clive Membury, Scotland Yard Official ,
Tom Luther, British businessman, owes gangsters a favor,
Mervyn Lovesey, British entrepreneur, manufacturer of propellers,
Nancy Lenehan, sister and partner in Peter Black, widowed.

There are also numerous crew members.

action

Before takeoff, Eddie Deakin learns that his wife has been kidnapped and that he will be given instructions during the flight. Luther gives him the coordinates at which the plane should land. Deakin assumes that Gordon should be freed and insists on an exchange with his local wife. Upon reaching the specified location off the American coast, he lets two engines fail and forces the captain to land. However, the gangsters want to capture Hartmann, who is supposed to return to Germany. Due to a courageous appearance by Percy, they fail and are arrested. Membury dies in the process. The alleged gangster turns out to be an FBI agent . The real Gordino travels by ship. The "flyover" only served as a diversionary maneuver.

Margaret Oxenford falls in love with Harry Marks. After she failed to leave her family in England, she will now do so in America and live with Harry, who has long dreamed of building a "civil" existence. In the general confusion of overcoming the gangsters, Harry steals the money Luther was supposed to use to pay the criminals, and the two flee from the ship.

Nancy Lenehan does everything she can to reach the clipper in Ireland to prevent her brother Peter Black from flying to the USA without her and selling the joint shoe company in her absence. She meets Mervyn Lovesey, who wants to bring his wife back. On the plane, both have to share the honeymoon suite and get closer in the stormy night. In the course of the flight, the Loveseys realize that their relationship is over and separate. Nancy fails to fight her brother, who lures her into a boat shed on the stopover in Newfoundland and locks her there. Only thanks to Lovesey does she come back on board. She eventually enters into a deal with Ridgeway to go to England with Lovesey.

Henry Faber, the “ needle ”, has a brief appearance at the beginning . Anyone familiar with this book would doubt Deakin's theory that Gordon should be freed from the start.

Flight route

Southampton , England
Foynes , Ireland
Botwood, Newfoundland
Shediac, St. Lawrence River
planned: New York, instead emergency landing off the coast of Maine

literature

Ken Follett: Night on the Waters, ISBN 978-3404121687