NIGHT WATCH-Skittish Civil War Novel on the Outskirts of VA Disappoints`

Jayneanne Phillips Civil War novel NIGHT WATCH won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction (2004) although I found it a disappointing melodrama. The novel blends historical fiction along with romance and psychological mystery that misses being engaging on all flanks. The story jumps between the last year of the Civil War to a decade later set in the mountains of W VA and within an insane asylum in Alexandria. The casualties of war are borne on the battlefronts as well as the home fronts for those left behind in its wake. The story is first set atop the highest ridges in western VA which sided with the Union. Here we meet Eliza and her young daughter, ConaLee and their closest  neighbor, Dearbhla. Learning how the three managed to sustain themselves was the most interesting part of the novel. This provided an insight into the difficulties endured by those left behind by loved ones who fought on the battlefields. There is a shroud of mystery regarding the man Dearbhla raised from infancy who enlists with the Union Army. The father to the infants Eliza gives birth to during the war and then turns over to nearby widows remains nebulous. In fact, the storytelling tended to be oblique and confusing. The isolation and stark existence noted was not without its joys and unity amongst Eliza, ConaLee and Dearbhla. However, their safety is destroyed by a straggler who finds their shelters. He demanded to be called Papa while he invaded their home and held them captive. Several years after the war and years of abuse, Eliza' withdrew into a catatonic state. "Papa" took everything of value from them and abandons Eliza and ConaLee outside the sanatorium in Alexandria. The historical asylum and physician are factual but this trajectory takes an insane plot turn that draws estranged parties into an unrealistic reunion that borders on ridiculous. The far superior novel COLD MOUNTAIN told an engrossing story of women managing on their land during the Civil War years. NIGHT WATCH was solely compelling when describing the scant existence during and just after the war. Although ambitious in broaching life inside the newly established Asylum, it made light of the conditions and treatments rendered. The Asylum was merely an ambush for a preposterous plot twist. NIGHT WATCH left the mountaintop too soon, spent too much time in the Asylum and the fatal encounter inside its walls was inane.  Why this won the Pulitzer is a mystery and travesty. Phillips missed the opportunity for writing historical fiction with relevancy.