The Other Side Of Midnight (1975) - Plot & Excerpts
Though Sidney Shedon's "Stranger in the Mirror" affects me more strongly than any of the other books in his magnificent canon I would introduce "The Other Side of Midnight" as a flagship example to explain why Sidney Sheldon was one of the great story-tellers of the twentieth century. There are four protagonists with diverse backgrounds, and Sheldon puts them in his crucible - what emerges is a spectacularly textured epic that lifts and plunges us through the highs and lows of life.Sheldon said in his autobiography that of all the artforms he was involved in -plays, movies,TV serials- he loved writing novels the best as he could do anything he wanted in them. In O.S.M ,we are thrust into the center of a thrillingly constructed courtroom drama which rivets international attention, Marseille in France pitches in with the smell of fish and scheming townfolk, we become voyeurs in the life of a young woman whose fantastic beauty is matched by her mental strength, soar into the skies where WWII planes zoom in a dance of death, peer into the colossal mind of a business tycoon who will not admit defeat, breeze past the glamour and riches of the super-wealthy and into a charmingly presented tour of the cities and countryside of Greece that is beautifully woven into the storyline. Sheldon can do anything, go anywhere and we are the beneficiaries of his largesse.Noelle Page is an exquisitely beautiful young woman from Marseilles who is repeatedly hurt to the point of transforming her driven character. Though not born into royalty,she is inexorable in ultimately making herself a young empress by dint of own achievement. Severe trauma in her early life darkens her soul and cripples her kindness, and she coldly uses important men to advance her acting and modelling career while ascending to the ultimate international pedestal . Her alchemical transformation in a hotel room in Vienne, the teasing but superb psychodynamics between her and another man in Amsterdam,and sledgehammer verdicts in Greece are some of her saga's highlights .Her story also hints at that crazy thing called true romantic love. Larry Douglas is an elite American pilot whose handsomeness and charm are as great as his flaws.He romances countless women before before marriage. But we realize more and more that Larry, for all of his gifts, is a man for whom there is no guarantee of stability even if he is given the greatest love of his life. His constant joy only lies in constant movement and the question looms -what is the price for that?Catherine is a delightful young lady who hails from an unstable childhood. She is about to enter into a life of guaranteed security with a good prosperous man, when the force of "love" assails her. The narration is excellent in revealing her winsome nature, sparkling sense of humour, and the thankless nature of her fate in this story.Constantin Demiris is a Greek business titan -amongst the richest men in the world- who rises with his supreme mind to conquer the physical world. Starting off as a stevedore in Piraeus,a stroke of coaxed luck is enough into propel him towards exponentially expanding business acquisitions. We see that he destroys pusillanimity while constantly nurturing his giant will-power. Noelle Page enters into his orbit- they both seem to make a perfect pair in terms of almost every quality that mortals could hope to have, but they lack that crucial something which can make even poor mortals noble. One of the book's great strengths lies in immersing us in the dizzying power that these individuals generate, and in reminding us that we are only limited by the boundaries that we draw in our own minds. Readers would have noted that there are ample references to 'love' here. But Sheldon is also a specialist in the physical aspect of it, and it is great fun to experience the sexual adventures of Noelle. She thrills and astonishes her carefully chosen partners before meeting her shamelessly audacious equal. When it comes to romps by other characters too, the author has this knack for building excitement and cascade of sensations while surging towards explosive climaxes and spent sated states. But sex is also used in conjunction with the characters' other talents in service of bigger aims- the episode in which Noelle wins over Armand Gautier in their first sustained meeting, is a little masterpiece by itself.As an exercise in the myriad powers of the author, Sheldon also devises cunningly constucted courtroom victories and intrigues (cf. Rage of Angels). For this he creates the remarkable character of Napolean Chotas - a top criminal lawyer whose cunning behaviour and stealthy strategies are a joy to witness. Sheldon is well-known for making readers deeply care about his characters. I have sometimes wondered that if Noelle Page had been ushered unscarred into marriage with a boy she liked in the backwaters of Marseille, would she have subsumed her faculties into maintaining small-town family life, or would she still have found ways to break big? On another note, I am also impressed with how secondary characters are given such filling brush-strokes. Only for a few pages at the start of the novel, we are let into life of a Greek inspector who has a matronly wife and sweet young mistress. That ephemeral track is whipped up with such skill and investment of interest that it is enough to construct a whole petite novella. Sheldon can create magic from day-to-day life and he does not need magic realism for that. Sheldon wrote this book early in his fifties, and early in his novel-writing career after the disapppointing "Naked Face", and what he achieves here is tantamount to winning the World Cup after stumbling in the leagues.The Other Side of Midnight has a satisfying follow-up act too, in the form of Part II- Memories of Midnight, but the first book does not need something to fill it out. It stands complete as a sprawling masterwork from which I emerged spent, asking for nothing more. This is entertainment for the Gods.
When I was fourteen, my mother checked this book out for me at the library and said, "Have at it." It is the only book my mother recommended to me, seeing as how she's never been much of a reader, but it left an impression on her and she wanted to share that with me. It may have been the first adult book I ever read. And eleven years later, I came across it at a book fair and had to buy it for nostalgia's sake. I began flipping through it, and wound up reading it all over again, and loving it even more now that I could understand more of its adult themes. I love the juxtaposition between Catherine and Noelle, one painfully awkward, the other compulsively vain and selfish. Both are as flawed as they are intriguing; even though I can't say I truly liked either of them, I found myself taking sides with every perspective switch. It's a unique story of two strangers who ultimately collide with a catastrophic boom.
What do You think about The Other Side Of Midnight (1975)?
This is the first book I read of this author. It doesn't happen often when I'm in awe with an author's writing skill more than the story and characters he created in a book. Absolutely brilliant and clever writer. The summary of the story may seem simple but do not let it deceive you as it is as complex as it can get. Because the characters have more layers of depth under the surface that you will not be able to write them off simply as good and bad. The author kept me on edge the whole time and tricking me with the turn of events in the story. I look forward to read more of his books.
—Bookish
My first Sidney Sheldon and perhaps not the last. The whole story is set on 1940's set during the world war scenario in the glittering world of glamour and grandeur of theatre, fashion and business.It revolves around three characters involved in a love triangle where a new and a powerful character jumps in and has quite an impact which gives the book a perfect and unpredictable ending. A crude, memorable and a glamorous story with a beautiful parallel development of characters. At times, it seemed as if women women were only interested in money and glamour men would provide them and men were more than happy to keep mistresses in spite of being married. Mr. Sheldon does a good job bringing out the crudeness on this matter. The first 150 pages weren't exactly a page-turner and had daft comparisons like:'She tried to make her voice throaty like Jean Arthur in Calamity Jane.''She tried to make her voice sound like Katherine Hepburn in Alice Adams.' which was quite unnecessary.I was going to give it a three but the epilogue was splendid which gave the story a memorable ending and quite an unexpected one which made me give it a four.
—Ritwik
So I inherited a lot of books from my mom and among them were about 10 Sidney Sheldon novels. I had read a couple of his years ago and while I thought they were pretty good, I wasn't compelled to go out of my way to aquire more of them. So I went into this one with a certain hopefulness but not expecting to be blown out of the water.But I was...blown out of the water, I mean. Written in the '70s, it takes place during and shortly after WWII. But it's not "about" WWII but rather about three main characters who happen to interact during that time period. This novel is intrigue to the max, featuring numerous sordid affairs, rags to riches storylines, power-grabs, glamour, backstabbing plotlines, etc. Definitely a page-turner and suprisingly (at least to me) risque for the time it was written. It is the only Sheldon novel I know that has a sequel, Memories of Midnight and I am looking forward to that one with relish. Highly recommended.
—Benjamin Thomas
