Description
Winner of the Icelandic Literary Prize, Hotel Silence is a delightful and heartwarming new novel from Au ur Ava lafsd ttir, a writer who "upends expectations" (New York Times). Told with grace, insight, and humor, this is the story of one man's surprising mid-life adventure of self-discovery that leads him to find a new reason for being.
J nas Ebeneser is a handy DIY kind of man with a compulsion to fix things, but he can't seem to fix his own life. On the cusp of turning fifty, divorced, adrift, he's recently discovered he is not the biological father of his daughter, Gudrun Waterlily, and he has sunk into an existential crisis, losing all will to live. As he visits his senile mother in a nursing home, he secretly muses on how, when, and where to put himself out of his misery.
To prevent his only daughter from discovering his body, J nas decides it's best to die abroad. Armed with little more than his toolbox and a change of clothes, he flies to an unnamed country where the fumes of war still hover in the air. He books a room at the sparsely occupied Hotel Silence, in a small town riddled with landmines and the aftershocks of violence, and there he comes to understand the depths of other people's scars while beginning to see his wounds in a new light.
A celebration of life's infinite possibilities, of transformations and second chances, Hotel Silence is a rousing story of a man, a community, and a path toward regeneration from the depths of despair.
About the Author
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir was born in Iceland in 1958, studied art history in Paris and has lectured in the history of art. She has published a poetry collection and several novels, including Butterflies in November, which was longlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, and The Greenhouse, which was translated into twenty-two languages, won the DV Culture Award for Literature, and was a finalist for the Nordic Council Literature Award. She currently lives and works in Reykjavik as the director of the University of Iceland's Art Museum.
Reviews
PRAISE FOR HOTEL SILENCE "
Hotel Silence is one of the most human books I've read in a while. It reminds me of
The Clown by Heinrich Boll. I loved it." --
Daniel Wallace, author of
Extraordinary Adventures and
Big Fish "Jónas Ebeneser leaves his home in Iceland for a city thousands of miles away pummeled by war and violence, now at tentative peace. He brings with him only his toolbox, scars, and grief. While he plans his suicide, the people of the town draw him out with their endless list of broken items to be fixed. With humor and simple, heart-piercing prose,
Hotel Silence tells the story of a man and his past, and the community where he finds himself. Ólafsdóttir's world is full of surprise, sadness, love, and transformation. I didn't want it to end." --
Bethany Ball, author of
What To Do About The Solomons "Witty, soulful, lighthearted, and tender, this charming and immersive new work from the award-winning author of
Butterflies in November is a great choice for book discussion groups." --
Library Journal (starred review)
"Told in surreal, almost Kafkaesque prose, Ólafsdóttir's stunning story is about one man's unexpected reawakening. An engaging and surprising tale of transformation." --
Kirkus Reviews "
Hotel Silence is a beautifully spare and insightful tale of redemption." --
Booklist
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