Join us in welcoming author Benedict Wells to discuss his recently translated novel
The End of Loneliness.
Jules Moreau’s childhood is shattered after the sudden death of his parents. Enrolled in boarding school where he and his siblings, Marty and Liz, are forced to live apart, the once vivacious and fearless Jules retreats inward, preferring to live within his memories – until he meets Alva, a kindred soul caught in her own grief. Fifteen years pass and the siblings remain strangers to one another, bound by tragedy and struggling to recover the family they once were. Jules, still adrift, is anchored only by his desires to be a writer and to reunite with Alva, who turned her back on their friendship on the precipice of it becoming more. But, just as it seems they can make amends for time wasted, invisible forces – whether fate or chance – intervene.
“With a surprising maturity [. . .] Benedict Wells
has found a voice to describe, neither cruelly nor over-sensitively, human fragility, failure and
ageing.” – Nicolas Weill /
Le Monde, Paris
“A tear-jerker [...] it is impossible to look away
from it.” – Paula Cocozza /
The Guardian, London
© Bogenberger
Benedict Wells, born in Munich in 1984, moved to Berlin after completing school in 2003. He decided against university to concentrate on his writing, earning a living with various jobs. His widely praised debut Beck’s
Last Summer was published in 2008 and adapted into a film in 2015. His fourth novel,
The End of Loneliness, spent more than a year and a half on the Spiegel bestseller list and was awarded the 2016 European Union Prize for Literature, among other awards. Wells lives in Berlin and Bavaria. His books have been published in 34 languages.
This event is in partnership with BOOKS FIRST / Goethe-Institut and Brazos Bookstore.
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