Kathleen Eagle enters compelling new territory in this urban-set contemporary which focuses on three people--Angela Prescott, a woman starting completely over after escaping a bad relationship; Tommy T, a street-smart 10-year-old who needs someone to believe in; and Jesse Brown Wolf, a man tormented by grief and guilt who's leading a double life. Jesse is an especially fascinating figure: a simple repairman by day who becomes a superhero at night, taking guns away from street kids ... a phantom lover who whispers words of heart's ease into Angela's ear ... a man whose underground hideaway protects him from a world that's become too painful to face. Native American characters and folklore enrich this story of redemption, which takes readers through some dark terrain, but leaves them in a place of light. A bold, thought-provoking novel that asks some tough questions, from an award-winning writer. Note the lovely Swinburne poem.


From Library Journal
Jesse Brown Wolf, a mysterious handyman, lives underground to escape his disabling migraines and his equally disturbing past. Angela Prescott has fled her classroom and her home to hide from her abusive, powerful ex-lover. Drawn together by Tommy T, a precocious, homeless 12-year-old, Jesse and Angela find unexpected depths of heroism and love within themselves as they form an unlikely alliance to take a stand against crime on the mean streets of Minneapolis. Traditional Native American folklore and imagery counterbalance the harsh descriptions of survival in the inner city. Eagle, whose Sunrise Song (Avon, 1996) is a nominee for the this year's Janet Dailey Award, lives in the suburbs of Minneapolis. Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
A popular romance author delivers another pleasurable novel for her fans. Angela Prescott leaves her comfortable, middle-class life and her abusive boyfriend behind and heads for the relative anonymity of urban Minneapolis. Upon arriving in town, she takes a job as a waitress in a grimy diner and moves into a rundown apartment building. When she befriends a homeless young man, "Tommy T," and is drawn into the terrors of his violent lifestyle, she finds the inner strength she has been seeking. She also meets an enigmatic, secretive Native American repairman, who has been looking out for Tommy T and has the uncanny knack of suddenly appearing during a crisis to save the day. Could he be the mysterious phantom that appears to Angela, comforting her and whispering seductive secrets on lonely nights? Eagle's fans will enjoy the tall, dark, sensitive, mysterious stranger aspect of the story, and many will find this to be a slightly more satisfying read in that it also explores a number of serious social issues. Kathleen Hughes


From Kirkus Reviews
Three wounded, troubled people seek self-understanding and human connection in a city beset by social problems. To escape her stalker ex-boyfriend, schoolteacher Angela Prescott has moved to Minneapolis, a place she's chosen precisely because she has no ties there. Her first friend is half-Sioux Tommy T, a precocious 12-year-old comic-book artist who's been forced to live on his wits since his mother abandoned him and his older brother was seduced by gang life. Tommy helps Angela find work as a waitress; meanwhile, her obvious helplessness has attracted the notice of Jesse Brown Wolf, a Sioux repairman who often retreats to a cave in the river bluffs to escape a complicated past and nurse his incapacitating headaches. Tommy has stumbled onto Jesse's underground dwelling but has never seen his face. Returning home late from work one night, Angela inadvertently walks into the middle of a dogfight being staged by local gang members, who are so inflamed by the gore that they attack her. Tommy calls on his mysterious friend for help, and Jesse--wearing a hat and a high collar to conceal his face--comes to Angela's aid, commanding the gang's respect with his strange power to pacify the dogs. Subsequently, Jesse acquires multiple identities: To Tommy, he is Dark Dog, a real-life version of a comic-book superhero; to Angela, he is Jesse, the repairman who befriends her as he fixes up her apartment; by night, not showing his face, he is also the ghostly figure Angela calls Jewel Eyes, who follows her and comes to her rescue when she's in danger. Eventually, Angela finds a meaningful new life as she becomes a surrogate mother to Tommy and begins to fall in love with her mysterious night protector. Eagle's knowledge of Sioux folklore and her descriptions of Minneapolis's underworld add a little zip to what is otherwise a standard-issue, relentlessly uplifting romance. (First printing of 40,000) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Angela Prescott has pulled up stakes and moved halfway across the country, seeking refuge from a man who has made her life a nightmare. Starting over in an unfamiliar city, she's wary and keeps to herself, until she meets twelve-year-old Tommy T. Street-smart Tommy T knows how to keep secrets. He's told no one of the mysterious recluse living in an underground hideaway, whose face he's never seen. A gifted comic book artist with no place to live, Tommy T needs someone to believe in, and in this phantom stranger he finds the comic book superhero of his dreams. Jesse Brown Wolf's past has driven him underground in many ways. By day, he is a handsome repairman who fixes the plumbing in Angela's rooms. By night he lives in the shadows, acting with reckless bravery to make the streets safer for kids...and whispering into Angela's sleeping ear promises of comfort, security, and heart's ease. The Night Remembers is about finding heroes in unexpected places - in a neighborhood school, in a rundown apartment house, even in a dark hole of a riverbank. It is a novel about redemption: about a courageous woman who reaches out to make new connections; an irrepressible boy at risk who finds a family; a good man tormented by grief and guilt whose fragmented self is made whole through a woman's care.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

An unlikely union that rescues three lost souls is at the heart of Eagle's (Reason to Believe) disappointing new novel. Running from a controlling relationship, Angela Prescott finds herself in the Twin Cities, where she lands a waitressing job through the advice of Tommy T., a 12-year-old boy who has fled an unhappy life at a nearby Indian reservation. Tommy feels responsible when muggers attack Angela one evening after work, and takes her to a mysterious friend who lives in the park and never allows himself to be seen. "Dark Dog" transports Angela to his hidden refuge, attends to her injuries, romances her; after he returns Angela to her own home, he continues to visit and watch over her. After Dark Dog reveals his true identity and tragic past to Angela, disaster strikes, and the two must follow Tommy back to his reservation. There, Angela learns more about Dark Dog's past and decides what she wants for their future. Each character's history takes too long to unfold, and the perfunctory resolution of two important subplots is unsatisfying and anticlimactic. While Native American folklore somewhat enlivens the story, Eagle's hardcover debut is unexceptional. 40,000 first printing; author tour. (June)

Library Journal

Jesse Brown Wolf, a mysterious handyman, lives underground to escape his disabling migraines and his equally disturbing past. Angela Prescott has fled her classroom and her home to hide from her abusive, powerful ex-lover. Drawn together by Tommy T, a precocious, homeless 12-year-old, Jesse and Angela find unexpected depths of heroism and love within themselves as they form an unlikely alliance to take a stand against crime on the mean streets of Minneapolis. Traditional Native American folklore and imagery counterbalance the harsh descriptions of survival in the inner city. Eagle, whose Sunrise Song (Avon, 1996) is a nominee for the this year's Janet Dailey Award, lives in the suburbs of Minneapolis. (SM)

Kirkus Reviews

Three wounded, troubled people seek self-understanding and human connection in a city beset by social problems.

To escape her stalker ex-boyfriend, schoolteacher Angela Prescott has moved to Minneapolis, a place she's chosen precisely because she has no ties there. Her first friend is half-Sioux Tommy T, a precocious 12-year-old comic-book artist who's been forced to live on his wits since his mother abandoned him and his older brother was seduced by gang life. Tommy helps Angela find work as a waitress; meanwhile, her obvious helplessness has attracted the notice of Jesse Brown Wolf, a Sioux repairman who often retreats to a cave in the river bluffs to escape a complicated past and nurse his incapacitating headaches. Tommy has stumbled onto Jesse's underground dwelling but has never seen his face. Returning home late from work one night, Angela inadvertently walks into the middle of a dogfight being staged by local gang members, who are so inflamed by the gore that they attack her. Tommy calls on his mysterious friend for help, and Jesse—wearing a hat and a high collar to conceal his face—comes to Angela's aid, commanding the gang's respect with his strange power to pacify the dogs. Subsequently, Jesse acquires multiple identities: To Tommy, he is Dark Dog, a real-life version of a comic-book superhero; to Angela, he is Jesse, the repairman who befriends her as he fixes up her apartment; by night, not showing his face, he is also the ghostly figure Angela calls Jewel Eyes, who follows her and comes to her rescue when she's in danger. Eventually, Angela finds a meaningful new life as she becomes a surrogate mother to Tommy and begins to fall in love with her mysterious night protector.

Eagle's knowledge of Sioux folklore and her descriptions of Minneapolis's underworld add a little zip to what is otherwise a standard-issue, relentlessly uplifting romance.