AT THE EDGE OF THE NIGHT

With a flair for dramatic dialogue and intense, unsettling imagery, narrator Jot Davies accentuates the vivid dreamlike qualities of this 1933 novel by the openly gay German author Friedo Lampe. At a river's edge on a single warm summer's evening, a group of characters ranging from sailors to students to lovers and a father-son magic act interact in this early example of magic realism. Davies expertly keeps the focus on the rapport between the characters as the story gently wanders into the taboo--homoerotic relationships and interracial romance. The book was soon banned by the Nazis, mostly likely because it was too sublime, too dangerous, and too beautiful to ignore. An extraordinary narration of a rare, extraordinary literary find. B.P. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2024]