What Happens at Night

SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY MARTIN SCORSESE, STARRING LEONARDO DICAPRIO AND JENNIFER LAWRENCE A Spectator and a Refinery29 Best Book of the Year "Like a Kafka story and a Wes Anderson movie combined."―LiteraryHub A couple find themselves at a fading, grand European hotel full of eccentric and sometimes unsettling patrons in this allegorical story that examines the significance of shifting desires and the uncertainty of reality An unnamed American couple travels to a strange, snowy European city to adopt a baby. It’s a difficult journey that leaves the wife, who is struggling with cancer, desperately weak, and her husband worries that her illness will prevent the orphanage from releasing their child. On arrival, the couple checks into the cavernous and eerily deserted Borgarfjaroasysla Grand Imperial Hotel where the bar is always open and the lobby populated with an enigmatic cast of characters ranging from an ancient, flamboyant chanteuse to a debauched businessman to an enigmatic faith healer. Nothing is as it seems in this baffling, frozen world, and the more the couple struggles to claim their baby, the less they seem to know about their marriage, themselves, and life itself.

SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY MARTIN SCORSESE, STARRING LEONARDO DICAPRIO AND JENNIFER LAWRENCE A Spectator and a Refinery29 Best Book of the Year "Like a Kafka story and a Wes Anderson movie combined."―LiteraryHub A couple find themselves at a fading, grand European hotel full of eccentric and sometimes unsettling patrons in this allegorical story that examines the significance of shifting desires and the uncertainty of reality An unnamed American couple travels to a strange, snowy European city to adopt a baby. It’s a difficult journey that leaves the wife, who is struggling with cancer, desperately weak, and her husband worries that her illness will prevent the orphanage from releasing their child. On arrival, the couple checks into the cavernous and eerily deserted Borgarfjaroasysla Grand Imperial Hotel where the bar is always open and the lobby populated with an enigmatic cast of characters ranging from an ancient, flamboyant chanteuse to a debauched businessman to an enigmatic faith healer. Nothing is as it seems in this baffling, frozen world, and the more the couple struggles to claim their baby, the less they seem to know about their marriage, themselves, and life itself.

A couple find themselves at a fading, grand European hotel full of eccentric and sometimes unsettling patrons in this faultlessly elegant and quietly menacing allegorical story that examines the significance of shifting desires and the uncertainty of reality (Garth Greenwell, author of Cleanness ). An American couple travel to a strange, snowy European city to adopt a baby, who they hope will resurrect their failing marriage. This difficult journey leaves the wife, who is struggling with cancer, desperately weak, and her husband worries that her apparent illness will prevent the orphanage from releasing their child. The couple check into the cavernous and eerily deserted Borgarfjaroasysla Grand Imperial Hotel where the bar is always open and the restaurant serves thirteen-course dinners from centuries past. Their attempt to claim their baby is both helped and hampered by the people they encounter: an ancient, flamboyant chanteuse, a debauched businessman, an enigmatic faith healer, and a stoic bartender who dispenses an addictive, lichen-flavored schnapps. Nothing is as it seems in this mysterious, frozen world, and the longer the couple endure the punishing cold the less they seem to know about their marriage, themselves, and life itself. What Happens at Night is a masterpiece (Edmund White) poised on the cusp of reality, told by an elegantly acute and mysteriously beguiling writer (Richard Eder, The Boston Globe ).

A couple find themselves at a fading, grand European hotel full of eccentric and sometimes unsettling patrons in this faultlessly elegant and quietly menacing allegorical story that examines the significance of shifting desires and the uncertainty of reality (Garth Greenwell, author of Cleanness ). An American couple travel to a strange, snowy European city to adopt a baby, who they hope will resurrect their failing marriage. This difficult journey leaves the wife, who is struggling with cancer, desperately weak, and her husband worries that her apparent illness will prevent the orphanage from releasing their child. The couple check into the cavernous and eerily deserted Borgarfjaroasysla Grand Imperial Hotel where the bar is always open and the restaurant serves thirteen-course dinners from centuries past. Their attempt to claim their baby is both helped and hampered by the people they encounter: an ancient, flamboyant chanteuse, a debauched businessman, an enigmatic faith healer, and a stoic bartender who dispenses an addictive, lichen-flavored schnapps. Nothing is as it seems in this mysterious, frozen world, and the longer the couple endure the punishing cold the less they seem to know about their marriage, themselves, and life itself. What Happens at Night is a masterpiece (Edmund White) poised on the cusp of reality, told by an elegantly acute and mysteriously beguiling writer (Richard Eder, The Boston Globe ).