The Glass Hotel

I began this book aware that it was inspired by one of the most striking scandals ever (no need to mention which). So, I can’t say that the pivotal twist came as a surprise. Quite the opposite—it felt a bit like starting an Agatha Christie thriller knowing that the butler did it.

However, I was completely captivated by the character of Vincent (who is, I can safely reveal, a woman) and the way the story is intricately crafted around her. I enjoyed every line of this tale, in which I found a brilliant example of how a plot can skillfully… show more.

My boyfriend turned me on to Mandel’s books when I was whining about not having a good fiction book to read. The Glass Hotel was right up my alley, with multiple characters intersecting in different times and spaces. Having been a big fan of A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, this book satiated my desire to follow the paths of intersecting storylines.

A mysterious hotel, relationships designed for their transactional nature, mysterious pasts, and the art world gravitated me night after night to the main characters, particularly the stormy and tormented Vincent.

I was in Paris when… show more.

Some mysteries are related more to character than plot, and sometimes figuring out ‘whodunnit’ is only half of the solution. Emily St. John Mandel’s terrific novel begins with a clear mystery setup: somebody has graffitied the words ‘Why don't you swallow broken glass’ onto the window of a hotel, triggering a series of events that have profound effects on a disparate group of people. The joy of reading this book is seeing how far away from this initial incident we can stray, whilst still retaining a desire to unravel the cause and effect.

I’m just going to say it, Station Eleven is one of the best sci-fi books of the century. I picked this up hoping for a repeat rush, but as a friend once cautioned me: ‘don’t chase that high.’ That’s not to say this isn’t a good read, it is, just that it’s dramatically different in both style and substance. The Glass House is a mystery novel, a ghost story, and a crime story. Mandel artfully explores an alternate take on the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme from the viewpoint of outsiders, a cast of artfully crafted characters. She eloquently explores ‘the… show more.