โ Scribed by Olafsson, Olaf
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
As butler to William Randolph Hearst at San Simeon castle, Christian Benediktsson lives quietly, almost invisibly. He completes his tasks efficiently and with aplomb, catering to the whims of the volatile Chief and overseeing the running of the hectic household. Privy to the goings-on of the celebrity guests who visit as well as to Hearsts intimate relationship with his mistress, the actress Marion Davies, he is the picture of discretion. An extremely private man, those around him know nothing of him or his life. And so it is in his thoughts and in unsent letters to his wife back in Iceland that we witness the unraveling of his former life, which began when he abandoned her and their children for an actress in New York City. Once a successful businessman, he erases his past and himself after a sudden tragic death and his financial ruin, the result of a jilted lovers vengeance. Walking into the Night is a stunning portrait of a man wrestling with guilt and secret passions.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
The lavish California home of William Randolph Hearst is impeccably managed by butler Christian Benediktson, a tall, quiet man who keeps to himself and runs a no-nonsense operation. His past, however, continues to haunt him, and it slowly unfolds in a series of unsent letters to his wife, whom he left, along with his Icelandic home, 20 years before. Christian married above his station and inherited a fishing business in his native Iceland. After turning it into a lucrative exporting business, he began an affair with a Swedish vaudeville star in New York. After quietly leaving his wife, and after the affair self-destructed, he fled New York and all of his business contacts, and entered the service of Hearst. His guilt-ridden letters home to his wife explain his motives in a moving, introspective way. This fascinating novel is loosely based on Hearst's real-life butler, and Olafsson marvelously brings to life the isolation and small-town flavor of Iceland, pre-Depression New York, and the lavish parties of Hearst's mansion, all seen through the sad eyes of one man. Michael Spinella
Copyright American Library Association. All rights reserved
Stunning. . . . Pitch-perfect. . . . Beautifully rendered. . . . The novels effect is the same [as that of] Ishiguros The Remains of the Day. Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Memorable. . . . Olafsson is a master puppeteer, violently pulling the strings of memory, desire and fate, even as the words flow calmly and sensuously from his pen. Los Angeles Times Book Review
Quietly moving. . . . An evocative tale of grief and hope. *The New York Times Book Review
Sublime. . . . Olafsson is a gifted dramatist. The Denver Post
Exquisite. . . . Olafsson delivers the story like our minds deliver memoryin stretches of calm, in flashes of intensity, with jagged edges of remorse, in self-protective remove. . . . We turn the pages because we are entranced by the pristine quality of the prose. Chicago Tribune
Profound and moving. . . . Unforgettable. . . . The beauty of this novel is the questions it poses as it traverses the landscape of the human heart, making sense of the senselessness and rendering sympathetic a very human character caught in a web not entirely of his own making. The Advocate
Poignant. . . . Engaging. . . . Olafsson is a sensitive, old-fashioned novelist. The Washington Post Book World
From the Trade Paperback edition.
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