The Watch That Ends the Night is a novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 by Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 and academic Hugh MacLennan

Hugh MacLennan

John Hugh MacLennan, CC, CQ was a Canadian author and professor of English at McGill University. He won five Governor General's Awards and a Royal Bank Award.-Family and childhood:...

. The title refers to a line in Isaac Watts

Isaac Watts

Isaac Watts was an English hymnwriter, theologian and logician. A prolific and popular hymnwriter, he was recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", credited with some 750 hymns...

' interpretation of Psalm 90

Psalm 90

Psalm 90 is the 90th psalm from the Book of Psalms. According to its title, it is attributed to Moses.-Judaism:*Is recited during the Pesukei Dezimra during Shabbat, Yom Tov, and Hoshana Rabbah....

. It was first published in 1959

1959 in literature

The year 1959 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*April 30 - Theatrical première of Bertolt Brecht's Saint Joan of the Stockyards, originally performed on radio in 1932....

 by Macmillan of Canada

Macmillan of Canada

Macmillan of Canada was a Canadian publishing house.The company was founded in 1905 as the Canadian arm of the English publisher Macmillan. At that time it was known as the "Macmillan Company of Canada Ltd." In the course of its existence the name changed to "Macmillan of Canada" and "Macmillan...

.

The novel, which earned MacLennan the Canadian Governor General's Award

1959 Governor General's Awards

In Canada, the 1959 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit saw a major change from previous awards. Instead of five categories in English the awards were now presented in two categories in English and two in French...

 for literature, was a sort of catharsis

Catharsis

Catharsis or katharsis is a Greek word meaning "cleansing" or "purging". It is derived from the verb καθαίρειν, kathairein, "to purify, purge," and it is related to the adjective καθαρός, katharos, "pure or clean."-Dramatic uses:...

 for MacLennan, whose first wife Dorothy Duncan was dying as he wrote it. The female protagonist

Protagonist

A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...

, Catherine, who suffers from a rheumatic heart, was inspired by MacLennan's wife. Another major character, Jerome Martell, is generally thought to have been inspired by Norman Bethune

Norman Bethune

Henry Norman Bethune was a Canadian physician and medical innovator. Bethune is best known for his service in war time medical units during the Spanish Civil War and with the Communist Eighth Route Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War...

, a claim the author denied. Maclennan's biographer, Elspeth Cameron

Elspeth Cameron

Elspeth MacGregor Cameron is a Canadian writer known for her biographies of noted Canadian literary figures such as Irving Layton and Earle Birney. Her biography of Hugh MacLennan, Hugh MacLennan: A Writer's Life, was nominated for a Governor General's Award. She has also published a volume of...

, points to F. R. Scott

F. R. Scott

Francis Reginald Scott, CC commonly known as Frank Scott or F.R. Scott, was a Canadian poet, intellectual and constitutional expert. He helped found the first Canadian social democratic party, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, and its successor, the New Democratic Party...

 and Samuel MacLennan, the author's father, as models for Martell.

Trivia

• A passage from the book was adapted for use in the song "Courage (for Hugh MacLennan)
  Courage (for Hugh MacLennan)
  "Courage" is a song by The Tragically Hip, released as the third single from their 1992 album Fully Completely. The song's bracketed title references the late author Hugh MacLennan, particularly his 1959 novel The Watch That Ends the Night which is paraphrased in the song's lyrics.The song was...
  
  " by Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip
  The Tragically Hip
  The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as The Hip, is a Canadian rock band from Kingston, Ontario, consisting of Gordon Downie , Paul Langlois , Rob Baker , Gord Sinclair and Johnny Fay . Since their formation in 1983 they have released 12 studio albums, two live albums, and 46 singles...
  
  .