Seems to be permanently reserved for women. This mild-looking, slightly bony woman in a long cardigan, distant, inoffensive, quite nice eyes, rather large hands and feet, meek neck, not wanting to go anywhere, but having given my word that I would stay away for a month until everyone decides that I am myself again. Hotel du Lac is set in a hotel by Lake Geneva, and we see it all through the eyes of romance novelist Edith Hope. So I shall judge merely Hotel du Lac I will not try and extrapolate beyond that to Brookner as a writer. Thomas did warn us several times that Hotel du Lac, although Brookner’s most famous novel, is not her best – and I did listen to him – but it felt expedient to read the novel I had on my shelves already. And so I duly took down her 1984 Booker Prize winning Hotel du Lac off my shelf, and have just finished reading it.Īnd oh dear, it is not in the spirit of the thing, but… this might be something of a lukewarm post. Having intended to read Brookner for a number of years, this seemed like the perfect time to give the old girl a whirl. Happy 83rd birthday, Anita Brookner, and Happy International Anita Brookner Day to the rest of you – surely the most publicised literary event of the past decade, courtesy of Thomas (and Simon is co-hosting).
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