Hold Back the Night

From the Observer debut novelist of the year, comes a blistering, heart-wrenching new novel of complicity and atonement, delving into one nurse's experience of the little-known history of conversion therapy and the heart-breaking betrayal of the AIDS crisis.

March 2020. Annie is alone in her house as the world shuts down, only the ghosts of her memories for company. But then she receives a phone call which plunges her deeper into the past.

1959. Annie and Rita are student nurses at Fairlie Hall mental hospital. Working long, gruelling hours, they soon learn that the only way to appease their terrifying matron is to follow the rules unthinkingly. But what is happening in the hospital's hidden side wards? And at what point does following the rules turn into complicity - and betrayal?

1983. Annie is reeling from the loss of her husband and struggling to face raising her daughter alone. Following a chance encounter, she offers a sick young man a bed for the night, a good deed that soon leads to another. Before long, she finds herself entering a new life of service - her home a haven for those who are cruelly shunned. But can we ever really atone?

The powerful and captivating new novel from the celebrated author of Keeper and Young Women, Hold Back the Night is Jessica Moor's most powerful and commercial book to date. A darkly compelling character-led novel, drawing on themes of complicity and betrayal, it is bursting with talking points and absolutely perfect for reading groups.

Praise for Hold Back the Night and Jessica Moor:



'Absolutely incredible. Intricate, heart-breaking, with perfect prose and characterisation. This is an author stepping into her power and it is a privilege to behold' Kate Sawyer, Costa shortlisted author of The Stranding



'Beautifully written and authentic, this novel shines an unflinching light on the darkest episodes of recent medical history. Hold Back The Night will get under your skin and lodge itself in your heart' Erin Kelly

'Jessica Moor is a new young writer I believe in' Jeanette Winterson


'Ambitious and arresting' - Beth Underdown


'Vividly engaging' - Winnie M. Li


'Brilliantly written' - Kate Sawyer


'Painfully real' - Hanna Jameson


'Provocative, thought-provoking' - Bexy Cameron


'Visceral' - Stylist


'A timely read' - Prima


'A slick cautionary tale' - Sunday Times


'Utterly engrossing' Louise Nealon'


'Beautifully written and authentic, this novel shines an unflinching light on the darkest episodes of recent medical history. Hold Back The Night will get under your skin and lodge itself in your heart.' - Erin Kelly

'Absolutely incredible. Intricate, heart-breaking, with perfect prose and characterisation. This is an author stepping into her power and it is a privilege to behold.' - Kate Sawyer, Costa shortlisted author of The Stranding

'Jessica Moor is a new young writer I believe in.' - Jeanette Winterson

Jessica Moor studied English at Cambridge before completing a Creative Writing MA at Manchester University. Moor was selected as one of the Observer's debut novelists of 2020, and her first novel, Keeper was chosen by the Sunday Times, Independent and Cosmopolitan as one of their top debuts of the year. Keeper was nominated for the Desmond Elliott Prize and an Edgar Award. Young Women is her second novel.

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