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review 2020-03-11 00:11
The Lonely Hearts Hotel - Heather O'Neill

I heard about this book because the author was part of a panel about the arts in Montreal on a BBC Arts and Culture show. The book traces the lives of two orphans in the Montreal of the turn of the century and depression.


O’Neill’s two central characters are Rose and Pierrot, both of who’s birth is less than wanted By rights, both should have died. By tracing their lives, O’Neill looks at how gender can affect the outcome of life. At first, it seems that Pierrot is going to have the easier life but, well things change.


O’Neill’s novel is blunt, very blunt, when it comes to describing sex, and the blunt non-romantic passages contrast with the almost fairy tale quality of the novel. O’Neill transforms Montreal of the 1900s-1930s to an almost magical place with the description. There are some beautiful passages –like the Montreal rat worrying about New York rats.
It is O’Neill’s use of language and humor that carries the book. The magic that Rose and Pierrot install in their audience is what O’Neill does to the reader. The book makes the real world feel fake. It is like reading a slight less gothic Angela Carter book. The language draws the reader into the story and keeps the reader imprisoned. And it isn’t a bad imprisonment.


The book is something like a fairy tale and something like a fable. There is magic but it is the magic of life.

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review 2018-02-22 02:56
The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O'Neill
The Lonely Hearts Hotel - Heather O'Neill

Set in the early part of the 20th century, between the first and second World War, this novel is part love story, part feminist novel.  It also sometimes feels like a fairy tale with parts of the story told in such a lyrical way, there should be a musical accompaniment.

 

In the winter of 1914 in Montreal, two babies are abandoned by their teenage mothers and end up in the same orphanage.  Rose and Pierrot are both gifted entertainers and from a young age, use their talents to captivate their fellow orphans.  Eventually, people outside the orphanage notice their talent and Rose and Pierrot are paraded through the parlours of the rich to generate funds for the orphanage.  Not unexpectedly, none of the funds actually benefit the orphans but rather make the nuns’ lives - a cruel and perverse group - more comfortable.

 

Separated as teenagers, Rose finds herself sent to a rich home as a tutor for unruly children.  Little do the parents know that Rose is not much better than an unruly child herself.  Pierrot also finds himself in a rich household as a companion to an eccentric and elderly man who is estranged from his family.  While neither situation teach Rose and Pierrot the skills they need to support themselves in depression-era Montreal, it becomes evident quickly that Rose is the pragmatic survivor while Pierrot remains the  whimsical artist.

 

Reconnecting again as adults, Rose and Pierrot renew their love for each other and for the talent and quirkiness that connected them as young children.  They work together to build a life and to make their childhood dream of becoming stage performers come true.  The story is heart breaking and gritty, with even the happiest of moments shadowed by the harshness life at that time.

 

The writing in this book is wonderful.  Experiences that I have never - in many cases, thankfully - had in my life are made so real through Heather O’Neill’s unique use of words. 

 

A train trip to New York is described as follows:

 

“They went through a series of old, crotchety mountains.  They were so old they didn’t look dangerous anymore.  Occasionally a big boulder rolled off them into the middle of a road or landed on top of a deer, but on the whole they had found their place in the world.  The rain had worn their peaks down, one argument at a time.”

 

This story makes a particularly moving statement on women and the struggles they face daily simply to be respected.

 

“Men were taught to have so much pride, to go out into the world and make something of themselves.  This Depression was deeply humiliating.  Since women were taught that they were worthless, they took poverty and hardship less personally.”

 

Or even more of a direct statement that as a woman,

 

“You were often only an ethical question away from being a prostitute.”

 

If I have a criticism of the story, I did find that it took a frustratingly long time for Rose and Pierrot to reconnect as adults.  I understand that building suspense is necessary however, I felt that I had to suspend disbelief in order to accept the number of times that Rose and Pierrot crossed paths but didn’t actually meet each other.  At one point, Pierrot exited by the front door of a room while Rose was entering through the back door.

 

That said, this book is simply captivating.  It was difficult to climb out of the story and go back to regular life - I so desperately wanted Rose and Pierrot to escape the orphanage, find each other again, become rich and successful and live happily ever after!  This book is a more realistic than that of course but you won’t be able to stop rooting for Rose and Pierrot.

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review 2016-12-21 22:24
Dark, perverted tale
The Lonely Hearts Hotel - Heather O'Neill

This story takes place in 1914. Rose and Pierrot are the children of poor, unwed teenagers and both end up at the same orphanage when they’re abandoned by their mothers.  There’s a strong bond between these two children as they face their loveless days with the nuns.  The nuns are determined to keep Rose and Pierrot apart and to thwart their love and happiness in any way they can.  But this is a love that can’t be beat down, even when Pierrot is sent to live with a wealthy man and Rose is sent to work as a governess.

 

Rose and Pierrot are very imaginative characters and their journey through life is written much like a fairy tale, with dancing bears and magic at every turn. But it’s a truly tragic story, filled with child rape, child abuse, animal abuse, drugs, prostitution, etc., etc., etc.  It’s very profane, blunt and sexually graphic, which I felt was done in a way that seemed to be specifically for shock effect, though I’ve read where others have thought it lyrical.  The writing consists of far too many metaphors, though some of the metaphors are quite beautiful.  On one hand, the book can be seen as a story of two entrancing characters trying their best to struggle through a depraved world.  On the other hand, it’s just a perverted, tragic mess, with one atrocity following another.  I just wanted the book to be over so I could escape the horrendous world created by the author.

 

Sorry, but I can’t recommend this one. I was caught up in the comparison to “The Night Circus” but this is a much different type of book.  This book was given to me by the publisher in return for an honest review.

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