I'll Go to Bed at Noon (2004), is a book by author Gerard Woodward. It was shortlisted for Booker Prize (2004).
Set in the north London suburb of Palmers Green in the 1970s, the story opens with Colette Jones attending the funeral of her elder brother's wife, followed by her failed attempts to save him from excessive drinking. Alcoholism also destroys the life of Colette's son, a talented pianist, whom she tries to exile from her house.
It seems likely that the title was inspired by the William Shakespeare play King Lear. "And I'll go to bed at noon" is the last line spoken by the Fool.
Famous quotes containing the words bed and/or noon:
“For a long time, I went to bed early. Sometimes, my candle barely put out, my eyes closed so quickly that I did not have the time to say to myself: “I am falling asleep”.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)
“To the virtuous man, the universe is the only sanctum sanctorum, and the penetralia of the temple are the broad noon of his existence.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)