Strange Hotel

A woman enters an Avignon hotel room, caught between check-in and check-out, and negotiates with memory, men, and what it means to return home. The novel is emotionally enchanting and gets deep under the skin.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 160 pages
Publication date: 18 February 2021
Publisher: Faber & Faber

From the winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction comes a powerful and captivating novel that truly comes to life. The Financial Times praises McBride's exceptional writing, describing her as "on blistering form." Sinéad Gleeson adds that nothing else feels as fresh and radically new as McBride's work. Garth Greenwell praises the novel for its emotionally enchanting qualities, stating that it gets deep under the skin. Dazed magazine describes the book as an "emotionally enchanting novel that gets deep under the skin."

The story begins with a woman entering an Avignon hotel room. Although she has been here before, she is now a different person. Forever caught between check-in and check-out, she occupies various hotel rooms in different locations, from Prague to Oslo, Auckland to Austin, each as anonymous as the last. Amid the open suitcases, matchbooks, cigarettes, keys, and room-service wine, she negotiates with memory, the men she sometimes meets, and the idea of returning home.

McBride's novel explores the complexities of identity, memory, and the search for connection in a transient world. Through the experiences of the unnamed woman, she examines the ways in which we leave our pasts behind and create new identities for ourselves, often at the expense of our true selves. The hotel rooms serve as a metaphor for the transient nature of life, where we are constantly moving between different stages and phases, never staying in one place for too long.

The writing is vivid and evocative, drawing the reader into the woman's world and immersing them in her emotions and struggles. McBride's use of language is masterful, with each sentence carefully crafted to convey the sense of isolation and dislocation that the woman experiences. The novel also explores the themes of love, loss, and the complexities of human relationships. Through her interactions with the men she meets in the hotel rooms, the woman begins to question the nature of love and the possibility of finding true connection in a world that is often fragmented and superficial.

Overall, "The Hotel Room" is a stunning and thought-provoking novel that showcases McBride's exceptional talent as a writer. It is a powerful exploration of the human experience, filled with emotion, depth, and insight. Whether you are a fan of literary fiction or simply looking for a novel that will engage and inspire you, this book is a must-read.

Weight: 134g
Dimension: 129 x 196 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780571355150
Edition number: Main