The Little Hotel.
by STEAD, Christina
- Used
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Tamworth, Ontario, Canada
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, (1975). Third printing. Near fine in a price-clipped dust jacket, with a small tear and light crease to the rear panel..
Reviews
On Nov 5 2016, CloggieDownunder said:
3.5 stars
The Little Hotel is the tenth novel published by Australian author, Christina Stead. This edition is published under the Text Classics banner and sports a gorgeous colourful cover by the talented W H Chong, as well as an introduction by poet and author, Lisa Gorton. While it was not published until 1973, Stead began writing it, or some version of it, in the early 1950s, based on her diaries of her time in Europe with her partner, communist sympathiser, William Blake, in the fifties.
Mme Selda Bonnard runs Hotel Swiss-Touring with her husband, Roger and their multi-cultural staff. Their guests are equally diverse, and Selda's observations about them and of their interactions form the bulk of this novel. It's just a few years after the end of World War Two, and Swiss-Touring is a cheap lake-shore hotel that caters to tourists as well as longer-term residents.
Against a backdrop of paranoia about the possible Russian invasion and the difficulties of retrieving funds from their native lands, the hotel's guests, past and present, are described in potted histories and anecdotes; their petty crises and domestic dramas are filled with snobbery, racism, jealousy and insecurity. Many of the guests are eccentric; one turns out to be crazy; others may even be dangerous.
Stead evokes post-war Europe with consummate ease, firmly establishing the era with both her characters' ideas, opinions and dilemmas, and the political and financial situation. This neat little volume will appeal to readers who enjoy historical fiction with a good dose of satire. Classic fiction from an award-winning Australian author.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Robert Wright Books, ABAC / ILAB (CA)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 08059
- Title
- The Little Hotel.
- Author
- STEAD, Christina
- Book Condition
- Used
- Publisher
- New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, (1975). Third printing.
Terms of Sale
Robert Wright Books, ABAC / ILAB
Payment with order only, except for institutions which may request billing. We accept payment by Visa, MasterCard, Canadian or US cheque. Canadian customers will be billed 5% GST on books and 13% HST on all other items (photographs; autograph letters, maps, prints, ephemera et al).
About the Seller
Robert Wright Books, ABAC / ILAB
Biblio member since 2006
Tamworth, Ontario
About Robert Wright Books, ABAC / ILAB
We operate an open bookshop in Tamworth, Ontario. The shop is open daily in July and August from 11 am - 4 pm. We also maintain a general Antiquarian stock available online or by appointment only. Most of our online stock is not in the bookshop. If you wish to visit to see an item listed online, please call or email in advance of your visit so that we may arrange to have the item available in our bookshop for you to see.
Glossary
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