Night by night

by Jane Messer

‘Awake in the night, the heart pounds faster, deeper. It plummets, it lifts again. I could be in love or I could be dying.’ Night by Night explores the world of an insomniac bookseller as she negotiates the territories of her longings and curiosities — and the pragmatics of selling books. Lover of Seth for ten years, with her father borrowing money every second week, Lena suddenly finds herself on the edge of being in love with her young friend Fe. From the beginning, Fe’s charm is mysterious and unreadable. And when Lena finds herself being threatened anonymously by someone who doesn’t like her or the books she sells, she begins to wonder whether there are links between the harasser’s threats and her friendship with Fe.

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

I'm a writer of fiction and creative nonfiction, with novels, radio plays and other works published over the years. Coming out in 2026: Raven Mother, a memoir and social history, with NewSouth Publishing.
I'm also a teacher of creative writing, and which is very much a vocation for me. I've been teaching since the early 1990s and headed up the Creative Writing programs at Macquarie University for many years. These days I mentor individual writers and run Masterclasses. And in 2025, I launched StorySALOON: Short Stories, Centre stage, a live show and podcast devoted to growing the audience for Australian short stories (read by some of our brilliant actors).
My most recent novel is Hopscotch (Picador 2015). The past few years while writing Raven Mother, I've been writing short stories. I don't have any plans for a new novel, or not yet anyway!
I'm a passionate reader of Australian and world literature including literature in translation, and love popular genre lit including YA, Speculative and fantasy.
I live in Sydney.

Reviews

[Nathalie Bilinsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read, very sexy. I could really see and feel the characters.