It is 1913 in Vienna, and Lysander Rief, a young English actor, has come seeking psychotherapy. He sees Dr. Bensimon, a student of Freud, and through the application of Bensimon's "Parallelism" technique, he is cured. Bensimon teaches Lysander that when something bad has caused us to become neurotic, we simply revisit that event and change the script. (Freud makes a cameo, in which he discredits Bensimon's theory--which Boyd has made up out of whole cloth.)
Lysander meets Hettie, a beautiful, enigmatic, high-strung sculptor, at Bensimon's office and begins an affair with her. She is living with an artist; when he finds out about Hettie's infidelity, she accuses Lysander of rape. The charge is taken seriously, Lysander is jailed and the real story begins.
Lysander is spirited out of jail and back to England by mysterious British diplomats who offer him an opportunity to repay his debt by engaging in espionage. The scenario appeals to his actorly persona, but the labyrinthine plot thickens considerably until Lysander does not know who is on which side. Hettie suddenly appears, telling him that he has a son and that she "forgives" him for leaving her. How she got to England, and what she's doing there, is another mystery.
In this mesmerizing book, Boyd (Any Human Heart; Brazzaville Beach) creates Vienna on the page--its look, sound, fashion, cuisine and ambience--then moves the reader seamlessly to England and the First World War. Waiting for Sunrise is a tour de force that keeps the reader guessing and enjoying the game. --Valerie Ryan, Cannon Beach Book Company, Ore.