by Kazuo Ishiguro.

A life lived. In pre-WWII England future Nazi’s gather at Darlington Hall. Downton Abbey meets Brideshead Revisited. Stevens the Butler has little curiosity about that but rather focuses on what makes a butler great. How does one measure one’s value in this world? Dignity. Loyalty.

In the early 1950’s, on a seven-day sojourn away from the Hall after decades of service, Stevens discovers what he’s missed. Or does he? A flat aspect characterizes this man’s inability to connect on an intimate level and the ability to turn a blind eye to a most politically charged milieu as he recalls his waning career in search of the meaning of it all.

A dense rich read.