Ethan Hawke's 'A Bright Ray of Darkness' Novel Will Hit Shelves on February 2

A new book from Ethan Hawke is on the way in 2021. Penguin Random House will release his latest novel, A Bright Ray of Darkness, on February 2.

The blistering story of a young man making his Broadway debut in Henry IV just as his marriage implodes-an utterly transfixing book about art and love, fame and heartbreak from the acclaimed actor/writer/director.

Hawke's first novel in nearly twenty years is a bracing meditation on fame and celebrity, and the redemptive, healing power of art; a portrait of the ravages of disappointment and divorce; a poignant consideration of the rites of fatherhood and manhood; a novel soaked in rage and sex, longing and despair; and a passionate love letter to the world of theater. A Bright Ray of Darkness showcases Ethan Hawke's gifts as a novelist as never before.

Hawke's narrator is a young man in torment, disgusted with himself after the collapse of his marriage, still half-hoping for a reconciliation that would allow him to forgive himself and move on as he clumsily, and sometimes hilariously, tries to manage the wreckage of his personal life with whiskey and sex. What saves him is theater: in particular, the challenge of performing the role of Hotspur in a production of Henry IV under the leadership of a brilliant director, helmed by one of the most electrifying-and narcissistic-Falstaff's of all time. Searing and raw, A Bright Ray of Darkness is a novel about shame and beauty and faith, and the moral power of art.

Ethan Hawke is a four-time Academy Award nominated actor, filmmaker, and author, and is currently the executive producer, co-writer and star of the new Showtime mini-series The Good Lord Bird, in which he portrays the abolitionist John Brown, a character who appears in the pages of Gilead. Hawke's film acting credits include Boyhood, Training Day, Before Sunset, Dead Poets Society, Reality Bites and many others. His directing credits include Blaze and Seymour: An Introduction, among others. He is also the author of Rules For A Knight, The Hottest State, Ash Wednesday, and the graphic novel Indeh.