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The Curfew (novel)The Curfew is a 2011 novel by Jesse Ball. It was published by Vintage Books.

Plot
William Drysdale was a concert violinist before the City outlawed music and succumbed to chaos. He makes his living as an epitaphorist, writing epitaphs for the gravestones of the dead, as well as those expecting to die soon. His epitaphs are often fictional inventions to provide the deceased's loved ones with a sense of meaning. William has an eight-year-old daughter named Molly. Molly is mute, but extremely intelligent. William and Molly play a game of intricate riddles to keep their imaginations alive.

The City has an unofficial curfew, encouraged by cryptic and ominous slogans by the government, where no one is safe out of their homes after 10 p.m. When an old friend claims he has information about William's wife who mysteriously vanished years ago, William is forced to go out after the curfew. Molly is watched by kindly elderly neighbors, the Gibbons. William meets with his friend, and discovers a secret gathering of artists and intellectuals who each night drink and talk about a secret revolution that happens naturally and requires no conscious effort. William is disturbed by the group, and, after receiving a file with documents about his wife's disappearance, he leaves.

Travelling across the city late at night, William must hide in the shadows to avoid danger. Meanwhile, Molly puts on a puppet show with Mr. Gibbons. The show is the story of William and Molly's mother's love story from Molly's perspective with her inventing the details from before she was born. The show's story ultimately takes the form of William's struggle to return home.

In reality William is captured and murdered by mysterious men who are most likely government agents. Molly ends the show with a scene taken from real life where her father told her that eventually she would be alone, but that she would be strong enough to survive.

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