Hotel Silence
ABOUT
THE BOOK
On the cusp of turning fifty and divorced, Jónas Ebeneser who has recently discovered he is not the biological father of his daughter, Gudrun Waterlily, 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, Jónas decides it’s best to die abroad. 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.
ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Brian
FitzGibbon
Brian FitzGibbon from Dublin currently resides in Iceland, where he works as a freelance writer and translator. Prior to moving to Iceland, he lived in Italy, working as a freelance translator for international organisations such as UNESCO. Much of his translation work is in the areas of stage plays, film scripts, and novels.
Brian FitzGibbon from Dublin currently resides in Iceland, where he works as a freelance writer and translator. Prior to moving to Iceland, he lived in Italy, working as a freelance translator for international organisations such as UNESCO. Much of his translation work is in the areas of stage plays, film scripts, and novels.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
A quiet but utterly engaging tale, told in Ólafsdóttir’s signature spare and brilliantly charming prose. Reykjavík City Library, Iceland