Amaryllis Night and Day is a 2001 novel by Russell Hoban, incorporating elements of magic realism and romance.
Plot introduction Peter Diggs has a vivid dream in which he meets a woman called Amaryllis. When he later encounters the same woman in real life, he discovers that the two of them have the ability to enter each other's dreams. A cautious relationship is begun, half in the real world and half in dreams, in which both parties struggle to overcome the emotional effects of previous failed romances.
Characters Peter Diggs, the narrator of the novel, an artist in his early thirties Amaryllis, who has the power to ‘tune in’ to people's dreams Lenore, Peter's former girlfriend, an artist with emotional problems Ron Hastings, a student of Peter's who appears in his dreams and who may also know Amaryllis
Allusions/references to other works Many other writers and musicians are mentioned or quoted in the novel, including: Nelson Algren's A Walk on the Wild Side The Tom Waits song Walking Spanish Edward Hopper's painting Gas (which the characters enter during a dream) The Sleeping Beauty fairytale Brer Rabbit The Negro spiritual There is a Balm in Gilead Milton's Lycidas (which includes the line ‘to sport with Amaryllis in the shade’) The film Dreamscape The prisons etchings of Piranesi Thornton Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey Georg Christoph Lichtenberg The self-help ‘life coach’ Anthony Robbins Barbara Strozzi The 1930s song "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries" Oliver Onions's story "The Beckoning Fair One" Walter de la Mare's poem ‘Fare Well’ Melville's Moby-Dick
Adaptations According to fansites, the book has been optioned by Doppelganger Films.
Release details 2001, UK, Bloomsbury , trade paperback
References
External links Amaryllis Night and Day at the Russell Hoban website Description at The Head of Orpheus fansite