The Glass Hotel: A novel
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“The perfect novel. . . . Freshly mysterious.” —The Washington Post
From the award-winning author of Station Eleven, an exhilarating novel set at the glittering intersection of two seemingly disparate events—the exposure of a massive criminal enterprise and the mysterious disappearance of a woman from a ship at sea.
Vincent is a bartender at the Hotel Caiette, a five-star lodging on the northernmost tip of Vancouver Island. On the night she meets Jonathan Alkaitis, a hooded figure scrawls a message on the lobby's glass wall: Why don’t you swallow broken glass. High above Manhattan, a greater crime is committed: Alkaitis's billion-dollar business is really nothing more than a game of smoke and mirrors. When his scheme collapses, it obliterates countless fortunes and devastates lives. Vincent, who had been posing as Jonathan’s wife, walks away into the night. Years later, a victim of the fraud is hired to investigate a strange occurrence: a woman has seemingly vanished from the deck of a container ship between ports of call.
In this captivating story of crisis and survival, Emily St. John Mandel takes readers through often hidden landscapes: campgrounds for the near-homeless, underground electronica clubs, service in luxury hotels, and life in a federal prison. Rife with unexpected beauty, The Glass Hotel is a captivating portrait of greed and guilt, love and delusion, ghosts and unintended consequences, and the infinite ways we search for meaning in our lives.
“Compulsively readable.” —Chicago Review of Books
Reviews (177)
A haunting nexus to Station Eleven
Station Eleven is a hard act to follow, a stunning post-apocalyptic novel (being turned into a series) that stands on my shelf as arguably one of the best books of the decade. The staying power of art, music, and performance and the nuanced exploration of memories are just some of the story’s refined themes. “Survival is insufficient” is a standout line, however banal on the surface. The story explores the aftermath of a flu epidemic that killed off most of the population. In The Glass Hotel (also being made into a series), a Ponzi scheme is the juncture of catastrophe--financial death instead of death by disease. There’s a bit of meta- in this new novel, as there’s a line referring to that flu pandemic (that hasn’t yet come) and even a minor character from SE that becomes a major character here. And both books begin at an end. “Begin at the end” are the first words of The Glass Hotel. But as St. John Mandel demonstrates, time is fluid, and the author once again nimbly links her characters’ lives and fates. Some find purpose after disaster, and others distinctly deteriorate. Still others navigate a borderless future and welcome the “sense of being outside of time and space.” The most compelling character is Vincent, a young woman that became the trophy girlfriend of the Ponzi schemer, posing as his wife. There’s nothing fragile about Vincent, who is inextricably hewn to her half-brother, Paul, whom she rarely sees. Their coiled fate is subtly and powerfully drawn with a gradual and contextual force. She’s affected by the death of her mother, but Paul is ruined by the “idea” of Vincent. “I’ve only ever hated Vincent’s incredible good fortune at being Vincent instead of being me…” He envies her natural creativity and strength of survival, which he eternally strives for and fails, even when he is successful. His core is hollow. While SE is set in the near future, Hotel takes place in the past. St. John Mandel consistently pens lucid, haunting and moody prose. Both novels tackle crisis; our personal ghosts; borders; memory, and the nature of time. I’m not going to rehash the plot; I’m more interested in the similarities and differences of both books, like bookends with completely different stories. The author purposely linked the two herself, which adds to my fascination. SE is exuberant and optimistic, eclipsing collapse with creativity. GH is stark, lean, angular, shadowy but just as keen. More profiteering than propheteering. Eclipsing creativity with collapse. But there’s doomed beauty in GH, glittering like faint stars after a storm. There’s paradoxically a sense of walls between people and places, and yet a conflux of connections and lands distant to each other—NYC, British Columbia, and the Toronto faraway Hotel Caiette, inaccessible except by boat. Both books are elegant, mosaic-like, but GH’s complexity is often latent or distant. The schemer, Jonathan Alkaitis, summons a “counterlife” to survive. Vincent’s counterlife is admirable—she takes on various roles like skin, and she isn’t a thief like Paul or Jonathan. My only complaint was that, unlike the warmth of SE, The Ghost Hotel felt remote, whereas Station Eleven was spirited. The characters in Hotel were predominantly unknown to me, even when they became familiar. Perhaps St. John Mandel wanted them to be unknowable. I spent much of the book trying to reach out emotionally to the story and its people, but I kept sliding backwards into the gully of murk. Although I assigned this one 4 stars instead of the 5 I gave to SE, it didn’t disappoint. The Glass Hotel just didn’t embrace me the same way. I did enjoy choosing my favorite characters, though. Vincent, her anti-hero blend of shrugs and grace, and Walter, the loner who feels at home at the isolated hotel. None of the characters came across as archetypes, which is genius! Sorry about my lengthy review, nobody likes a long review. I’m enchanted with Emily St. John Mandel’s haunting style of writing, her brilliant themes, and her clarity of prose. If you are already a fan of her writing, it’s a no-brainer--get thee to a bookstore. If you’ve never read her work, read both these novels--I think of them as a whole, these bookends. But SE is 2/3 and GH is a necessary 1/3 bond to the latter, there’s a connective tissue. Her work will echo in my heart for years to come.
Most depressing book ever!
Don't read this book during the corona virus isolation. It is so depressing. Terrible story line and all the characters are very unlikeable. I saw a review for this book on Good Morning America and the reporter said it was a great book to read what you are in quarantine. I will never listen to him again. I wish I could get my money back and all the time I spent reading this rubbish.
A story about Ponzi schemes that packs an emotional wallop
So I just watched this amazing film that came out this year that nobody seems to have heard of, and it's called The Laundromat. Meryl Streep and Antonio Banderas are in it. The movie, through a series of seemingly disconnected vignettes, tells the story of shell corporations, fraud, and corruption, on a global scale. While reading THE GLASS HOTEL, in all of its haunting glory, I thought of The Laundromat because at its heart, it is also a story of corruption. The main characters of this book are a brother and sister, the trophy girlfriend of a rich man, and the ringleader of a multi-billlion dollar Ponzi scheme. Their roles sometimes overlap, and the story is told in many different timelines which all converge, showing how they relate to each other-- and why. If you're reading this expecting a lot to happen, it's not particularly action-packed. THE GLASS HOTEL is more of a character-driven story, showing people with all of their toxic idiosyncracies. This works for me when done well, but I know it's not everyone's cup of tea to sit around and watch people exist. I liked it-- particularly because it has a lot of cutting remarks on what it means to be rich, poor, desperate, callous, self-serving, selfish, and cruel. All written in beautiful language, too. Someone should hire this author to deliver the news with her eloquent punditry; I like my devastation to be pretty. As if all that weren't enough, I think there's a bit of a magic-realism element in here towards the end, too, which makes the story extra strange. The author's other book, STATION ELEVEN, was also strange. If you like strange, haunting books, you'll love THE GLASS HOTEL. It's not a particularly happy book, but it's definitely interesting; and I'll take interesting over happy if the payoff is good. P.S. Go watch The Laundromat. You'll thank me. Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review! 4 out of 5 stars
Huh?
I have liked other books by this author so tried this one, but it doesn't work for me. The main character, and all the other ones, don't take on much solidity (or likability). The most solid plot centers mostly on a fictionalized version of the Bernie Madoff ponzi scandal, but the weaving in and out of story characters and more ethereal themes never gel. I did make it all the way through; Mandel has a nice style, but the whole thing just never comes together.
A Hauntingly Beautiful Tale
The Glass Hotel tells the story of two siblings inextricably caught up in the life of a Bernie Madoff type swindler. As the fate of the two protagonists unfolds the reader is treated to a large supporting cast whose lives, however tangentially, are also mixed up in this web of illusion. Despite being loosely based on real events, Mandel is able to create original and powerfully drawn characters. She uses them to explore themes like the roles we play when interacting with others, the feeling of living while being watched—either by servants or ghosts—and the slim walls that divide the land of money from the world off the grid. In fact, in this work, the same permeability separates the the land of the dead from those still living. It all is written in simple yet elegant prose which makes the book easy to read while still containing surprising depths. It’s the ideal book club book: accessible to all readers but in no way simplistic or obvious. Though the action is minimal, the exploration of themes through these characters is so hauntingly drawn that I could barely put it down. In short, highly recommended.
Boring, disjointed, a huge let down for Station Eleven fans!
Station Eleven is one of my favorite books, and I was very excited for this and was completely let down. The story is essentially pointless and disjointed. There is no real narrative. It starts out pretty good, but then there are 100 pages in the middle about a Ponzi scheme that seems to have not much to do with the main story, there are tons of characters introduced for seemingly no reason, and we abandon Vincent, the main character and barely ever come back to her. This felt like two different books, one decent, one awful. Neither really worth reading. I expected a lot more from this author. I usually don't even take the time to write reviews, but felt the need to since I was so let down. You never connect with the characters or the plot. The writing is forced and disjointed. Such a disappointment. I do not recommend.
People Who Live in Glass Houses...
Like countless others, I’m a big fan of Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel’s breakthrough novel, so I was very eager for her follow-up. When I read the publicity blurb and saw a reference to “ghosts,” I was all in. But, rather surprisingly, this isn’t another piece of genre fiction and, while ghosts do make an appearance, they’re more metaphorical than actual. While I love a well told apocalypse story, I have to say I think I enjoyed this book more than her first. In brief, it’s the story of Jonathan Alkaitis, a Bernie Madoff-like man who lives a life of unimaginable wealth from swindling a host of investors out of their life savings. As Alkaitis’ downfall unfolds, we follow the lives of several people who he’s impacted in some way. Principal among the large cast of characters are Vincent, his youthful paramour (posing as his wife), her brother Paul, a reformed drug addict, two of the ruined investors – Ella and Leon, as well as various elite employees of Alkaitis’ firm. While there’s little doubt of Alkaitis criminality, the author cleverly reveals how easy it is for any one of us to slide down that slippery slope into calculated ignorance, silent complicity or outright collusion if there’s something to be gained or something at stake. As the story rolls on, I’d say just about none of the characters come out untainted by transgression. I normally avoid this sort of subject matter. Novels about high finance and the folks who make a living at it are a yawn. But this isn’t really about a Ponzi Scheme. It's about a group of flawed human beings, flawlessly told. I felt emotionally involved from the very first page and, despite (or perhaps because of) their weaknesses, I empathized with just about all the characters completely. This deserves all the plaudits and attention that Station Eleven received…and more.
I don't understand all the great reviews
I wanted to read a really good book during the COVID19 lockdown. This was not it. Uninteresting characters and way too many of them. The stories told through the characters were even less interesting. I just wanted it to end, but I kept hoping it would get better and it didn't. Oh well, onto the next good read!
In the end, not worth the read...
I had high hopes for this book. Esp. after reading her prior work. And I'll be honest, I was really into the book, having a hard time putting it down. Yet, so many characters, so many stories, and while there was so much potential for this to be an incredible book... it fell flat in the end. I literally said out loud, "What?" as I finished the last page. Ultimately, I was truly disappointed.
A unique reading experience!
You won’t be able to understand the first chapter until you finish the book - and then it’s worthwhile to go back and read it again. This is an unusual novel about people. Although there is May-December relationship as part - it isn’t a romance. Although there is a hotel ‘way out in the hinterlands of Canada and we hear a lot from folks who are deceased, it is not a ghost story, and although there is a very successful Ponzi Scheme which succeeds as they all do until they crash, taking many lives with them, it is not a crime story. Finally, as there is a disappearance, it is not a murder mystery with the usual sleuthing for bodies or truth or even blame. It is the story of a unique assortment of folks who are brought together in a set of circumstances that changes their lives forever. The writing is some of the best I’ve read. It takes a bit to get used to the author’s technique of introducing us to a character and the life he is living today, and then in the next paragraph, taking us back to give us a peek at his background, and the event that explains what we just read about him. Does this make sense? It does as you grow accustomed to it. You get to know the characters well and it becomes necessary to find out how their lives are going, considering what they have been through. For me, this kept the pages turning like a thriller. Just when you got wrapped up in one character, he/she would disappear for a while, and you would be compelled to read faster to be there for their return! This novel is a different reading experience and if you crave a creative approach to storytelling, as I did - this will more than satisfy that need! I enjoyed The Glass Hotel, and will now search for Station Eleven. I have a new favorite author!
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