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What Happens at Night

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( 3,924 ratings, 543 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
What Happens at Night follows a middle-aged American couple who travel to a remote, snowy European city to adopt a baby. As they become ensnared in the eerie and mysterious atmosphere of their surroundings, the couple confronts their own strained relationship and personal desires in an unpredictable and surreal environment. This tense and haunting narrative explores themes of longing, uncertainty, and the search for meaning.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$2499
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this novel if you're drawn to atmospheric tales with a hint of mystery and the surreal. Set in a distant, wintry European hotel, the story explores themes of love, loss, and existential introspection, offering a haunting and introspective experience for fans of literary fiction.

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What Happens at Night

'Like a Kafka story and a Wes Anderson movie combined.' - Literary Hub

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A couple travel to a strange, snowy European city to adopt a baby, who they hope will resurrect their failing marriage. Their difficult journey leaves the wife 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 they are both helped and hampered by the people they encounter: an ancient, flamboyant chanteuse, a debauched businessman, an enigmatic faith healer, and a stoical bartender who dispenses an addictive, lichen-flavoured schnapps.

Nothing is as it seems in this baffling, frozen world, and the longer the couple endure the punishing cold, the less they seem to know about their marriage, themselves, and even life itself.

β€˜Terrifying, comic and heart-breaking.’ - Sigrid Nunez

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

What Happens at Night by Peter Cameron has been described as an intriguing and memorable book with a dreamlike and surreal quality. Blending elements of a Kafka-esque story with Wes Anderson's cinematic style, it is both terrifying and comic, filled with eeriness and eccentricity. The narrative captures the frustration and unease of a foreign environment and, amidst its suspenseful and menacing atmosphere, explores themes of grief, despair, longing, and love.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781787704244

Publisher: Europa Editions (UK) Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 29 September 2022

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Europa Editions (UK) Ltd

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 0g

Pages: 256

About the Author

Peter Cameron is the author of several novels, including Andorra, The Weekend, and Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You. His short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Rolling Stone, and many other literary journals. Merchant Ivory made a film based on his novel The City of Your Final Destination. He lives in New York City and Vermont.

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