A review by northstar
The Lady Matador's Hotel by Cristina García

4.0

I love Cristina Garcia's novels and I loved this one. She alternates among six characters at a hotel in an unnamed Central American city: a female bullfighter, a Korean businessman with a teenage lover, a Cuban poet seeking to adopt a baby, a colonel who committed war crimes, an ex-guerrilla who wants to avenge her brother's murder and an attorney who arranges the adoption of local babies. Garcia's touch is perfect; she never shares too much information about her characters but picks details that get you into their hearts and motives. Her chapters end with local news reports that add both depth and levity to the events of the book.

I would give this 4.5 stars if I could. I am not willing to go up to 5 only because a couple of the characters felt a little flat to me as the novel wound down. Still, this is a captivating short novel with enough adventure for three times as many pages.