Reviews - Hotel du Lac | The StoryGraph

605 reviews for:

Hotel du Lac

Anita Brookner

3.54 AVERAGE

janefc's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

rrocheta's review against another edition

3.0

reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

jo_lafaith's review against another edition

4.5

“In real life, of course, it is the hare who wins. Every time.”

“I have taken the name of Virginia Woolf in vain, she thought.”

“You have no idea how promising the world begins to look once you have decided to have it all for yourself.”

“Are you not tired of being polite to rude people?”

A quick note: this was the winner of the 1984 Booker Prize

I could have shared 100 quotes and quips from this book! For 184 pages this was overflowing with hilarious little one liners, horrible insights and poignant critique of society— specifically in regards to marriage and women who chose a life of their own. I highly recommend this, it’s terrific. So, the pitch;

A 30-something woman, never married is sent on a “friendly” exile to the luxury Hotel du Lac after doing something “terrible”. It’s the off season and the hotel is sparsely inhabited by interesting characters with their own struggles, most of which are women. Edith, our main character, doesn’t spend a lot of time around women and isn’t particularly thrilled, at first, but she is enveloped into their gossip and idiosyncrasies, quickly, and forced to become aware of her own preconceptions. Much of the book feels like a person who is set in her ways coming to terms with why it’s okay to change. Even in her career as a romance writer she is hesitant to change with the times, where readers want more sex in their novels — which is funny because her standards for her books don’t necessarily reflect her own lifestyle. I really like Edith. She is truly her own person, but watching her realize that being confident in her resolve to be as she is doesn’t have to be at the expense of growing as a person. She is a good listener, even if she is resistant, and she can allow herself to learn lessons while rejecting others. A BIG part of the book is about marriage and the ways that being married provides individuals with a shield. Not just in a good way, but often in a way that allows them to act terribly, their life free of the scrutiny placed on unmarried women, specifically. An unmarried woman must be “good” but a married woman can be “bad” and never labeled as such. Why is that? I think this is still true today, in many circles, much more mainstream or even proclaimed progressive than we’d like to thinks. Edith also befriends a man there, Mr. Neville and he is a great rascal of a character. I really loved their talks. This was just great!

Who is publishing this novel NOW, I would love a new copy!