Summer Light, and Then Comes the Night

A Novel

By: Jon Kalman Stefansson

Narrated by: Ulf Bjorklund

A NEW YORK TIMES GLOBETROTTING PICK!

Sometimes, in small places, life becomes bigger.

SUMMER LIGHT AND THEN COMES THE NIGHT is a profound and playful masterwork from one of Iceland’s most beloved authors that explores the dreams and desires of ordinary people in a rural town.

In a village of only four hundred inhabitants, life could seem unremarkable. Yet in this remote town, a new road to the city has change on everyone’s minds.

There is the beautiful, elusive Elisabet who cuts a surprisingly svelte path at The Knitting Company. Neighbors Kristin and Kjartan who seem…normal, but for their explosive passion that bewilders even themselves (and ignites the spectacular revenge of Kjartan’s wife). And then the most successful businessman in town decides to ditch his Range Rover and glamorous wife in exchange for Latin books and stargazing.

Unexpected, warm, and humorous, Stefansson explores the dreams and desires of these everyday people, and reveals the magic of life in all of its progress, its complacency, its ugliness and, ultimately, beauty.

AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER AND WINNER OF THE ICELANDIC LITERATURE PRIZE

I just kept listening…

…hoping it would get better…until I realized I wasn’t even hearing it anymore. I was within 30 minutes of finishing and I just couldn’t. There are nuggets of insight and wisdom throughout this book, if you can stay focused enough to catch them. The narrator does an amazing job. He’s probably the biggest reason I kept trying to enjoy it.