Hotel du Lac
Anita Brookner · 1928–2016 · England
Why it matters
Jilted romance novelist Edith Hope is packed off to an off-season Swiss hotel, where she watches fellow guests and weighs a loveless, comfortable marriage against her own solitude. Brookner's spare, exacting novel won the Booker over showier favorites.
At a glance
psychological novelromance
Difficulty 5/10slow pace184 pagesRestrained, interior prose privileges nuance and implication over incident.
Deep dive
Why the least dramatic proposal in the book is the one that finally forces Edith to say, if only to herself, what she actually wants from a life she's spent her career prettifying for other women.
Where to go next
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