For Auld Lang Syne: Books Set on New Year’s Eve

High noon. Midnight. When a novel or movie is set at one of those precipitous times, the conflict is built right into the story. The reader instantly knows something is ending, and something is beginning. And to put the focus of action right at that pivotal moment is a laser focus — it gets all the attention, and a signal to readers that this is the moment of showdown. 

Setting something with built-in before-and-after is a structural gift — whether we write novels or short stories or screenplays, or if we happily read them, we know the narrative thrust must move relentlessly forward. And the perfect engine of a compelling story is a ticking clock.  

We know that moment, that turning point, is where part of the story ends, and the new part begins. And after which nothing will ever be the same.

New Year’s Eve is the classic point of no return. At the stroke of midnight, the magic happens. For better or for worse. And readers cannot wait to find out.

For instance, did you know in that in The Poseidon Adventure, the wave slams into the boat on New Year’s Eve? So perfect. 

In The Godfather Part 2, at a boisterous gathering in Havana, Michael Corleone realizes that it was Fredo who was behind the plot to… well, no spoilers, but Fredo’s life will never be the same, just saying.

In fact, cinematically, New Year’s Eve is a slam dunk.  People are either gathered with others, or are pitifully (or happily, they think) alone on New Year’s Eve, and readers are eager to explore the heightened emotions and plot twists they know are about to ensue.

Harry and Sally first realized they had feelings for each other on New Year’s Eve, remember that? And 30 years or so later, when did they get back together, and realize it was meant to be? Exactly. For Auld Lang Syne.

Longing or loneliness, being forlorn in a crowd, or reveling with champagne-soused deely- bopper wearing carousers. All those are reliable — and useful — tropes.  Legions of fictional loneyhearts hope to find their true loves on New Year’s Eve, or fear not having a date for the big night.  if you’re writing a turn-of-the-year story, those fears are traditionally (and relatably) cataclysmic.

Bridget Jones Diary — perfect. Diaries provide the textbook New Year’s Eve structure, because they are designed to end on New Year’s Eve, and begin again the next day.  The brilliant Helen Hielding gave us a relatable and hilarious look at longing and hope during a pivotal slice of contemporary time — and leaves us with inspiration, and a truly memorable voice. 

And how many proposals have taken place on New Year’s Eve, at the stroke of midnight? Where the music swells, and noisemakers hoot and crackle, and tears of joy from the betrothed reflect the fireworks in the distance? Got to happen.

And come on, who doesn’t grasp their heart and sigh when Cary Grant comes back to Deborah Kerr on New Year’s Eve in An Affair to Remember, and when, on that pivotal night, Tom Hanks finally makes it to the top of the Empire State Building?

If your New Year’s Eve plans include curling up with a good book, you could make it meta by reading some of these.

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

Exquisitely written, completely alluring, and absolutely irresistible, the story of Katie Kontent who meets Tinker Grey on New Year’s Eve on the last night of 1937. Everyone’s lives are changed in this lyrical and atmospheric Gatsby-and-Wharton adjacent (a compliment!) commentary on wealth and privilege and the brevity of everything. This is quality storytelling in every way. And incomparably written.

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

Nostalgia curdles into resentment at a posh hunting lodge where a college reunion of sorts, on New Year’s Eve, gives new meaning to the word hunting. So. Everyone is gathered, and it’s New Year’s Eve, and emotions are high … and then, blam, there’s also a raging impenetrable blizzard. And as the New Year’s sky clears … Dun dun dun.

A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby

As cinematic as it gets. Four characters, strangers, meet by chance on a London rooftop known as a spot for suicides. Hey, it’s New Year’s Eve, and this is as poignant a gathering as there could be. Every party has its ups and downs, and Hornby captures both the precipitous moment in time and the precipitous place in a touching and captivating way.

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore

Might as well go all out, and this clever time travel story takes Oona to a whole raft of different New Year’s Eves! Again, touching, because New Year’s Eve is all about that night when we consider fate and free will, and how everything that happens to us results in something else happening — and sometimes it’s in our control, and sometimes it isn’t.