The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O’Neill 4/5 Français: Hôtel Lonely Hearts OU Les enfants de cœur. Pourquoi deux titres pour le même livre en français? Excellente question à laquelle je ne peux répondre… Awards: Women’s Prize for Fiction Nominee for Longlist (2017), Reading Women Award Nominee for Fiction (2017) *Trigger warning for rape, child abuse, violence, incest, sex and much more. This is definitely not PG and I would only recommend it to 16+. Synopsis Two babies are abandoned in a Montreal orphanage in the winter of 1910. Before long, their talents emerge: Pierrot is a piano prodigy; Rose lights up even the dreariest room with her dancing and comedy. As they travel around the city performing clown routines, the children fall in love with each other and dream up a plan for the most extraordinary and seductive circus show the world has ever seen. My thoughts This is one of those books where I had to cut down the summary in half. On top of spoiling half of the book, The Lonely Hearts Hotelis one of those stories that does not require a lot of context. You should dive in with little idea of what it is going to be about and let yourself be surprised by the whimsically tragic storyline. The Lonely Hearts Hotel is a magic show and, believe me, you do not want to know the trick in advance. That being said, it is definitely a dark and depressing spectacle. The amount of abuse and violence, both physically and mentally, that Pierrot and Rose suffer (or even make others suffer), is astonishing and quite rare for a novel. It is not for the faint of heart. Based mostly during the 1930s and the Great Depression, we come full frontal with the grim reality of one of modern history's harshest period. As the Roaring 20s come to a drastic end, there is nothing left to do but survive, and to do so, the weakest get pushed under the bus. We all analyze the causes of the crash of 1929 in school, but we are not thought about its effect of daily lives other than the subsequent unemployment crisis and exponential rise in poverty. The Great Depression made many women turn to prostitution or pornography as a career. The money was quick but rarely sufficient and, in a time where protection was rarely used, it only worsened the conditions for many. The number of addicts also increased as people were just seeking for something to make the pain and hunger to go away for a moment. Those in charge of the drug trades grew immensely rich and thus deepening the level of inequality. This is the world where our two main protagonists, Pierrot and Rose, evolve. A sad, desperate and unkind time.
Yet, there is beauty in darkness. From the time they are children, Pierrot and Rose could bring a smile to children’s faces. Together, they are a duo that nothing could break apart, not time nor space. Both of them are superbly well constructed and therein lies the strength of the novel. Pierrot is the naïve, joyful and easily lovable. Even though he goes through the hardest of times, he somehow always manages to find wonder where others only see despair. Sometimes, I wish we could all be a little more like Pierrot. His position is not enviable by any means, but I do admire and respect him. Rose’s character, on the other hand, goes through such a phenomenal character development plot that I really wish I could talk about, but it is better than you discover by yourself. She is a layered cake personified. Who does not love eating more and more layers of cake, but as you go on, it makes you feel sick and twists your guts because too much of a good thing never turns out quite as you imagined. While both characters are great individually, together they are even better. They are truly partners in crime. As they grow older, Pierrot becomes the soft creative force that he was raised to be. Rose is much more calculated and understands business. When they come together, it is like watching an explosion: they are so full of hurt, but so grand at the same time. The violence of the 30s may be brutal, but so is Pierrot and Rose's love story. While the plot sometimes stagnates occasionally, all the elements are still there to make for a riveting story. O’Neill did talk a lot about sex to the point where it felt sensationalist. It slowed down the pace of the novel and, while some scenes were important to the larger story, a lot of it felt repetitive and unnecessary. It seems like a little editing work could have improved the book by a lot. However, even when there are some dead points, the characters are strong enough to make you push through. As for the writing style, I am a tad bit conflicted. O’Neill definitely has enormous talent and I would absolutely read some of her work again, but here is my issue. O’Neill knows how to make her readers feel things. “Things” is the only way to describe it as I do not really know how I was feeling. You begin the story with a knot in your stomach as she mentions incest offhandedly and it just gets worse. But you keep reading because you just want more and maybe you hope that it will get better. While her style makes you feel uneasy and emotionally distraught for almost the entirety of the story, some of her imagery could use some work. Some moments were slightly cliché like Pierrot giving Rose roses. In no way does this dominate the storyline, but there were just enough to be noticeable and make you purse your lips when you come across them. The rest of the novel is so dark and hard to read that it just clashed. Overall, The Lonely Hearts Hotel is a rollercoaster ride. I reiterate that it is not for those that are looking for a cute love story or a historical romance. The blurb compares it to The Night Circus, but I strongly disagree (as many other readers do). The Night Circus is a fantastic book, but it is much more lighthearted and magical than The Lonely Hearts Hotel. To publishers: not all books featuring circuses are alike. If you enjoy dark reads with a heavy romance and historical trauma, this is up your alley, but, beware,The Lonely Hearts Hotel will highjack your heart and mind so get ready for a wild ride. If you liked The Lonely Hearts Hotel, you will love… Le palais des mirages by Hervé Jubert Marina by Carlos Ruiz Zafón Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
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