It is 1966. Erneste works in a grand hotel in Switzerland. He is
the 'perfect waiter', a model of order in every way. But inwardly
this polite, withdrawn man has been caught in the grip of an
overwhelming passion that began in the summer of 1935. Going down
to the lakeside back then to meet new staff members off the boat,
Erneste sees a tall young man, Jakob, and falls hopelessly in love.
For Jakob the affair is just a fling, but for Erneste it is true
love. When the great German writer Julius Klinger arrives at the
hotel, seeking sanctuary from Hitler's Germany, his gaze, too,
lights on Jakob.
One morning, three decades later, Erneste receives a letter with a
US postmark from Jakob asking for help. It is a call that forces
Erneste to engage with the world again and risk discovering the
truth behind his memories of the great love of his youth. Shifting
skilfully between two eras, Sulzer's tense, moving and elegantly
written novel is a small masterpiece about the joy and pain of
love.
