Waiting for Sunrise

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Lysander’s mother, Anna, killed herself by walking into the sea. She left behind a letter explaining that she felt Lysander was putting himself in harm’s way trying to protect her. He recalls Wolfram’s declaration that he would have committed suicide— Selbstmord—if he had been found guilty. When Lysander tells Bensimon what has happened, the psychoanalyst admits that it was quite normal in Vienna. Lysander asks whether the psychoanalyst had ever met Alwyn Munro and Bensimon answers carefully, explaining that Munro was a patient. An evocative mix of sex, spies, and psychoanalysis. . . . Fans of the author will love and recognize all the hallmarks of Boyd’s best books.”— CNN.com 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 Waiting for Sunrise begins on a clear day in Vienna in 1913. Lysander Ulrich Rief is an Englishman who has given up his future plans and has invested his savings in a move to Vienna. Lysander has come to see Dr. J. Bensimon, a psychoanalyst trained by Sigmund Freud. In his rush and anxiety to meet with Bensimon for the first time, Lysander forgets his boater hat on a park bench. Instead of returning to retrieve it, he carries on to his appointment. Along the way, he sees a poster of a woman, barely clothed. He cannot make out what she is doing because the poster has been torn down, presumably due to its indecency. Lysander wonders what it might have been about and speculates that it might be related to some Greek myth.

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 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 An evocative mix of sex, spies, and psychoanalysis. . . . Fans of the author will love and recognize all the hallmarks of Boyd’s best books. CNN.comRose, Rose, I Love You - Ma Belle Marguerite - The World is Waiting for the Sunrise - A Fine Romanc…

Always a smooth and expert storyteller, Boyd effortlessly combines historical detail with a sexy, galloping narrative that proves irresistible. People (4 stars) 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.Boyd retrofits a genre full of familiar devices and character types with finer textures and deeper psychology than it typically boasts. . . . Waiting for Sunrise manages to conjure an atmosphere of genuine disorientation that most spy novels gesture toward and few, if any, attain.”— Laura Miller, Salon

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

Boyd retrofits a genre full of familiar devices and character types with finer textures and deeper psychology than it typically boasts. . . . Waiting for Sunrise manages to conjure an atmosphere of genuine disorientation that most spy novels gesture toward and few, if any, attain. Laura Miller The narrative in this novel is almost seamless. . . . This atmospheric novel is elegantly crafted by a London writer who serves up a rich portrayal of human psychology and a plot that is both engaging and imaginative.”— The Tucson Citizen

The affair continues over several months, during which time Wolfram leaves the pension. The couple takes great care to prevent Udo Hoff from discovering them. They leave messages for each other at a café and then meet in hotels. During this time, he learns that Hettie has been injecting Coca to control her mood. Lysander is guilty about his betrayal of his fiancée and writes to her to break off their relationship, claiming that it will take him too long to be cured to be fair to her. However, he soon receives a reply from Blanche, who declares that she will stand by him. She refuses to hear any talk of breaking off their engagement. Hettie invites Lysander to a New Year’s Eve party at Hoff’s. Though they are nearly caught together, the drunk painter does not appear suspicious. 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 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 InquirerLysander 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. 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