In the days before 9/11, unrest is simmering in various geopolitical hotspots. Journalist Rita Das covers the stories and events that swirl around and within those hotspots, often finding herself in uncertain and dangerous situations. But she is accustomed to such uncertainty and even cultivates it. Now, as the United States faces terror and loss, Rita wrestles with her personal and professional relationships, her own fear and loss, and the options she sees for her future.

Devi S. Laskar’s third novel, MIDNIGHT, AT THE WAR, follows Rita as she crosses oceans and time zones in pursuit of the news while trying to outrun her own complicated feelings. 

"Laskar’s prose is timeless and understated.... Both broadly political and personally intimate, MIDNIGHT, AT THE WAR is a complex, brave and powerful novel that will not be forgotten any time soon."

Elena Keppler is professionally known as Rita Das, taking her familial nickname and mother’s maiden name as hers for work. Using it also symbolically distances her from her father, an enigmatic and cold parent who never seems to have embraced the Bengali culture that his wife and children belong to and cherish. The rift within the family has been growing for decades, ever since a trip to India in which they witnessed an extremely horrific violent act. And, more recently, Rita’s mother’s terminal illness has caused even more tension as Rita resists her father’s pleas to come home to see her mother. Rita and her brother, Adam, have many questions about their father’s family, but they may never get the answers they seek.

At work, Rita strives to uncover truths and shed light on confusion, corruption and injustice. Her efforts are often thwarted by editors and the instability of the situations in which she finds herself. There are kidnappings and bombings, subterfuge and terrorism, and the never-ending requests for assistance for those who want to come to the US. Still, her love life is never far from her mind as she mostly ignores her husband, Sebastian, in favor of her womanizing ex-partner and current lover, Ford.

It is messy indeed for Rita --- and things get messier by the page, with the September 11th attacks, the loss of her mother, finding herself pregnant and trying to hide it (not sure which of the two men in her life is the father) for as long as she can. From the Middle East to New York City, India and the American Midwest, Rita restlessly travels, searching for meaning in a chaotic and lonely world.

Laskar’s prose is timeless and understated. So much happens in this short novel, but it doesn’t really feel action-packed. The tumultuous world she depicts is one on the precipice of real and frightening change, which stands in for the change and turmoil her protagonist is feeling as well. At times Laskar defaults to telling, not showing, which in some ways connects the narrative to Rita’s voice. The result is an unusual and often compelling style moving this emotionally fraught and quite tense story forward. Expected literary themes of family, friendship, conflict, love and belonging take on interesting and immediate purpose here.

Both broadly political and personally intimate, MIDNIGHT, AT THE WAR is a complex, brave and powerful novel that will not be forgotten any time soon.