Yield To The Night is a 1954 novel by English author Joan Henry, a debutante from an illustrious family who was jailed after passing bad checks. She served 8 of her 12 months sentence, mostly at Holloway Prison. She used her experiences in her most well-known novels.
"For the night is already at hand, and it is well to yield to the night."
Mary Hilton is on death row for the murder of her lover's preferred girlfriend. Sentenced to hanging, her last hope of reprieve from the Home Secretary now rejected, the date for execution set for three weeks time. At first she has no remorse for killing Lucy, and turns a blind eye to the actions of Jim, the one she could not live without. He puts her second to his romance with Lucy, whom he continually went back to. When he commits suicide, Mary kills Lucy in cold blooded anger for depriving her of Jim. Mary now lives in a cell where the lights are always on, visited by the chaplain and warden, minded by two female guards at all times. Her mother and brother visit, but she refuses to see them, not allowing their grief.
The entire novel is Mary's inner monologue as she gets to know the shift rotation of the guards and their habits, enduring the dull monotony of daily routines. As Mary recalls the events leading up to the murder, her thoughts slowly move from everything being pointless and wanting to die, to acceptance - and finally, a will to live when there is no time left. "...perhaps the day after I shall be told when it is to be - and then the ropes and cords that lie coiled in the back of my mind will uncurl themselves to make the noose that is to choke me... Did any of them know how afraid I really was?"
This is very well written, serious, and personal. The tone is quiet and the character shift over the last few weeks of her life is very subtle, the final page heartbreaking.
Henry co-wrote the BAFTA nominated screenplay for the 1956 film of the same name (titled Blonde Sinner in the US), starring Diana Dors, previously only considered for "blonde bombshell" roles this was her largest role to date. Diana shows her range as the emotionally conflicted Mary Hilton, stripped down and only in a brief flashback wearing any make-up. The film shines in its lack of artifice. For a fan of the film, it was hard not to hear Diana Dors voice narrate the continual observations of Mary Hilton.
Henry's earlier 1952 novel Who Lie In Gaol?, also a prison drama, was well received and filmed as The Weak and The Wicked in 1953 starring Glynis Johns.
1954 / Hardcover / 224 pages
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