This extraordinary debut novel from Whiting Writers’ Award winner John Wray is a poetic portrait of a life redeemed at one of the darkest moments in world history.
Twenty years after deserting the army in the first world war, Oskar Voxlauer returns to the village of his youth. Haunted by his past, he finds an uneasy peace in the mountains–but it is 1938 and Oskar cannot escape from the rising tide of Nazi influence in town. He attempts to retreat to the woods, only to be drawn back by his own conscience and the chilling realization that the woman whose love might finally save him is bound to the local SS commander. Morally complex, brilliantly plotted, and heartbreakingly realized, The Right Hand of Sleepmarks the beginning of an important literary career.
About the Author
John Wray lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Praise For…
“Extraordinary; haunting.” –The New York Times Book Review
“Brilliant. . . . . A truly arresting work of fiction. . . . Is it really possible, the reader will wonder, for a young American to have written such a book?” –The New York Times Book Review
“Elegantly written, hypnotic.”–The Washington Post Book Review
“Studded with precise, exquisite descriptions. . . . Wray is capable of writing with almost painful tenderness....The Right Hand of Sleep make[s] another time seem astonishingly alive.” –Chicago Tribune
“[Wray] writes with an assurance that makes his [hero] both complex and compelling.” –Los Angeles Times Book Review
“One of the most gratifying events of the literary year . . . [The Right Hand of Sleep] satisfies on the deepest level of which fiction is capable.” –Memphis Commercial Appeal “A taut, searing portrait.” –Literary Review [UK]
“Stark and evocativeÉ A finely drawn portrait of a man who finds peace with himself at a time when the rest of the world is falling apart.” –Time Out
