Errors of Night

About: Using interior monologues from each of its five characters, Errors of Night explores the regret of a former Nazi general, the self-doubt of a speechless and disabled Italian Marchesa, the deep resentments of an elderly Italian partisan, the choices of a mid-life caregiver, and the questions of a Benedictine priest. Stewart's book ventures deep into the souls of each with insights that will bring readers to the edges of their own self discovery.

Excerpt: Dani made that painting while we sat at the edge of the grotto where the leaves of the giant bay bathed yellow in the morning sun. The other children played. He would not look at me; he was too shy. He hummed while he drew. A strange image I could not recognize lifted from the paper as he worked, and it did not matter if I did not recognize the image, because to me it was all exceptionally beautiful. I enjoyed his way of working. He heard colors, a genius. Dani was a genius. His drawing of me was not a normal child’s work but full of suggestion and meaning. I dream of the sounds associated with the various colors. It takes a dream to discover the association. When I am awake, I cannot link a certain sound with a certain color. I am not good at sounds. I have a love of silence. It takes silence to hear. Mother says the mere squeals of children, such as when they bolt into a room and find their grandmother knitting skeins of colored thread, can be delightfully complete expressions. She credits Virginia Woolf; it sounds like something she would say. Is this what Dani heard when he saw the colors? Gleeful little squeals of life?

    The finished drawing is lodged in my mind, but sometimes when I am tired from a long day of work, I suspect I do not properly remember it. Then when I wake, maybe after dreaming, I see the image as I lie face up, my eyes closed against the daylight prying from behind the shutters.

ISBN: 0996544127