Dar Al Adab has released an Arabic translation of "Hotel Silence," a novel by Icelandic novelist Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir.
Translated by Hussam Mousalli, the novel revolves around a broken man, who goes out to the world holding a drill to fix everything that comes in his way pushed by an irresistible motivation.
The main character is Jónas Ebeneser, a divorced man in his late 40s, who finds out he is not the biological father of his daughter. So, he drowns in existential crisis and loses the will to live.
The plot of the novel raises a fundamental question: Could anyone heal from the fact that he is born? The book explores the potential of a man to restore himself and rediscover the meaning of life from the depths of despair.
"Hotel Silence" won the Nordic Council's Literature Prize, and the Best Icelandic Novel Award.
It was also selected by The Independent as one of the best 10 international novels in 2018.
