> Skip to content
Play sample
  • Published: 2 February 2021
  • ISBN: 9781473590076
  • Imprint: Cornerstone Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 256

A Bright Ray of Darkness





A startling story of love, fame and heartbreak by one of the greatest creatives of our times

'Riveting work' Patti Smith
'Vivid . . . it communicates a real power' Sunday Times
'A wild ride of a book' Metro

Actor William Harding has been caught cheating on his rock star wife and the press have descended upon him. Amid the headlines and worldwide disdain towards him, he takes on the part in Henry IV. He must examine himself, and who he has become, under the brightest of lights and the keenest of eyes.

'A considered meditation on the evil of celebrity and the demanding yet restorative power of theatre' New Statesman
'An emotional ode to theatre as medicine for heartbreak, and an interesting meditation on fame' Radio Times
'A witty, wise heartfelt novel' Washington Post

  • Published: 2 February 2021
  • ISBN: 9781473590076
  • Imprint: Cornerstone Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 256

About the author

Ethan Hawke

A four-time Academy Award nominee, twice for writing and twice for acting, ETHAN HAWKE has starred in the films Dead Poets Society, Reality Bites, Gattaca and Training Day, as well as Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise trilogy and Boyhood. He is the author of Rules for a Knight, The Hottest State and Ash Wednesday. He lives in Brooklyn with his four children and his wife.

Also by Ethan Hawke

See all

Praise for A Bright Ray of Darkness

A thumpingly accomplished novel about art, the heart, the Way of the Actor and scandal in the social media age. Whip smart and dripping with one-liners, A BRIGHT RAY OF DARKNESS is an urbane, uplifting blast of a write-what-you-know novel.

David Mitchell