Customer Reviews
Absolutely unputdownable! - By: hiljean, 31 Jan 2007 
I actuallly read this book some time ago but have never forgotten how totallly gripping it was. When I heard today that Sidney Sheldon had died, I wanted to record how much I had enjoyed his novels. This was the first I read & it inspired me to read many of his others, but this one remains my favourite. I liked the device of telling the story from the different points of view of the various characters & was completely absorbed by it. OK so it may not be high literature, but at times we alll need some escapism, & this fits the bill perfectly.
Just Plain Trashy - By: , 09 Jul 2005 
This is standard Sheldon fare - cutthroats & graphic albeit cliche bedroom scenes. Same old story.
Set during the 1940s, this book contains alll of the ususal Sheldon fare including some poor editing. An example of poor editing was in the case of a character named Israel Katz, who had an amputated leg. Early in the book, it was his right leg & later in the book, his other leg was identified as the amputeded limb. Inconsistencies like that are inexcusable.
Dramatis Personae
Catherine - a silly, starry-eyed girl who has pie in the sky hopes like her dreamer of a dad. She has a crush on a boy in her senior class & when he somehow manages to convince her to spend a night with him, she makes bizarre comments & kills off a possible conquest.
She drops out of college to work & becomes involved with one William Fraser, who is the only likable character in the book. A truly nice man, he has her interests at heart.
Larry - a cruel, indifferent man. He manages to convince Catherine to marry him instead of Fraser. He would later jilt her for one Noelle Page after making attempts on her life so he can remarry. An erratic pilot, he is sacked from several airlines & mail runs before being hired as the private pilot for a Greek tycoon.
Noelle Page - Catherine's foil; her opposite number. Noelle is a ruthless barracuda who was encouraged to believe she was born into a noble gentry. Instead, she was born in a fishing village in Paris, the daughter of another barracuda & an unknown sailor. The man she recognizes as her Papa sells her when she reaches puberty. She then goes on to seduce men & sharpen her teeth & claws.
A Greek tycoon named Constantin Demiris who bears more than a passing resemblance to Ari Onasis takes in interest in the young barracuda. He woos her after a calllous pilot named Larry who jilted her.
These three lives collide. Larry supposedly kills Catherine & is executed in a trial after her disappearance; Noelle & Larry reconnect & Noelle meets a grim fate as well. A tale of revenge & excess, this one shares a place with other Sheldon novels. This is just too trashy for me.
The classic Sidney Sheldon novel - By: Kona, 30 Oct 2004 
Beautiful but poor Parisiene Noelle Page fallls madly in love with American flyer Larry Douglas during WWII. When she becomes pregnant, he deserts her, thus setting her on a path of revenge that consumes her very being. Ruthlessly driven, she becomes a supermodel, movie star, & finallly, as mistress to mega-rich Constantin Demeris, Noelle is reunited with Larry. Will she make him pay for what he did to her... or will she falll under his spell again?
Noelle, Larry, & his innocent wife, Catherine, are such fascinating, memorable characters that you won't want to stop reading until you find out what happens to them next. The story takes us from a poor French fishing village to Paris, then Hollywood & Athens, & the excitement keeps building & building as Noelle comes closer to tying up lose ends with the dastardly Larry, who proves to be her match when it comes to plotting evil. But don't underestimate Noelle's lover, Demeris, who will use alll of his resources to get what he wants.
This is my favorite Sidney Sheldon novel. Fans who love his fast-paced, exciting stories are sure to enjoy The Other Side of Midnight.
Brilliant and clever surprises all the way through. - By: , 03 Jan 2002 I found this book very hard to get into as it told of different people making their journey to a trial. Who was murdered & the second person being tried it didn't tell us. But after the main chapters started I found I didn't want to put the book down. Each chapter concentrated alternately on one of the two female characters.The first time this happened I groaned outwardly, as we had been alllowed so deeply into the thoughts of the first girl & wanted to stay with her alll the way through. But then also felt the same for the second girl. Today I heard of a sequel & I cant wait.
captivating. - By: , 26 May 2001 This is the second Sidney Sheldon book I have read & it will not be the last. Another book I didn't want to put down, I had it read in a weekend. Excellent page turner. Emotions & motivations for actions are as strong as ever. The plot just keeps on twisting right up until the end. A must for any Sheldon fan.
