Waiting for Sunrise

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verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ Boyd is a born story teller whose clear, taut prose never gets in the way of his characters and their unpredictable fates.”— The Wall Street Journal Sex, psychiatry and Vienna on the eve of World War I - those are promising ingredients for a novel. And William Boyd makes the most of them. . . . Boyd’s narrative moves briskly, and his local color is deftly done.”— The Seattle Times

Lysander seems to have been cured of his anorgasmia. He even meets Sigmund Freud at a café and claims that Bensimon cured him using parallelism. Freud prefers not to comment on parallelism, but he congratulates Lysander nevertheless. Now, however, Lysander is running out of money, and he regularly writes to his mother for additional funds. He has no income, and Hettie relies entirely on Hoff, who is surprisingly wealthy. A thoughtfully plotted story, whose twists and turns reveal the price its characters pay in trust. . . . Boyd is a nimble and entertaining writer.”— The Philadelphia Inquirer At Dr. Bensimon’s office, he meets Miss Bull, an Englishwoman. She asks Lysander for a cigarette and takes two from him. When Bensimon and a man exit the doctor’s office, Miss Bull “barges” the queue to see the doctor. Alwyn Munro introduces himself and suggests that he and Lysander might have met before, as the latter looks so familiar. When Lysander mentions that Bull cadged two of his cigarettes, Munro warns him that she looks dangerous.

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Dr. Bensimon has begun to work on a theory called “parallelism.” Parallelism suggests that the world is “gaunt” until people cover it with details and context. For example, people might find the world around them ugly when they are in a bad mood, but when in a better mood, they might see beauty in all things. Therefore, people’s past is an aggregate of the fictions they create. Bensimon believes that this approach may cure Lysander of his anorgasmia. Lysander is hypnotized and Bensimon inserts a new memory in Lysander’s consciousness. In it, he fell asleep but nothing embarrassing happened. When Lysander awakes, he can recall the second memory, and Bensimon encourages him to rely on it. Powerfully entertaining. . . . Boyd’s ability to evoke a sense of time and place is unmatched. . . . He has been perfecting the craft of globetrotting entertainment for the past three decades.”— The Richmond Times-Dispatch

Fans of previous Boyd novels will find themselves on gratifyingly familiar ground in Waiting for Sunrise. . . . Few contemporary writers are able to evoke the ambiance and drama of our recent past as forcefully as Boyd. . . . Boyd’s prose is often radiant.”— The Washington Post Book World A tantalizing, fast-paced spy novel. . . . As seductive as it is, Waiting for Sunrise is no bodice-ripper. It’s a brainteaser, charged with uncertainty and danger, electric with restraint.”— The New York Times Book Review Boyd is a born story teller whose clear, taut prose never gets in the way of his characters and their unpredictable fates. The Wall Street Journal Sex, psychiatry and Vienna on the eve of World War I - those are promising ingredients for a novel. And William Boyd makes the most of them. . . . Boyd’s narrative moves briskly, and his local color is deftly done. The Seattle Times This is the sort of novel you finish, then begin again to revisit your favourite bits. . . . More than anything Waiting for Sunrise is a gleeful celebration of storytelling — sly, clever, frequently hilarious, always involving. . . . This is the literary event of the year.”— The Times (UK)Always a smooth and expert storyteller, Boyd effortlessly combines historical detail with a sexy, galloping narrative that proves irresistible.”— People (4 stars) In 1913 Vienna, young English actor Lysander Rief is accused of rape after launching a passionate affair and escapes with the help of two dodgy British diplomats, who promptly enlist his help in a dangerous mission. Costa/Whitbread Award winner Boyd turns in what looks to be a layered and atmospheric work; even strictly literary sorts might consider Library Journal