Anita Brookner
Winner of the 1984 Man Booker Prize, Hotel Du Lac by Anita Brookner is a quiet, meditative, and exquisite novel that packs a powerful punch. It tells the story of Edith Hope, a writer of romance novels. Although only in her thirties, Edith dresses like an older woman with her cardigans and carefully pinned-up hair. She has been told she looks like Virginia Woolf, and she acts the part. She is philosophical, introspective, and observant.
The novel opens with Edith unceremoniously shipped off to a Swiss hotel by her outraged friends. She has been instructed to have a good think about the consequences of her actions. Exactly what Edith has done to deserve this exile is not revealed until later in the novel. She finds herself thrust in a traditional Swiss hotel at the tail end of the tourist season. Initially, she mopes around, struggles to find the words to her next novel, but is positively effusive when writing letters to a mystery man named David—letters which, she later reveals, she never sends.
Through her flashbacks and revelations, we learn David is Edith’s married lover. Quiet, unassuming, mild-mannered Edith has conducted her clandestine affair with such discretion that not even her friends know about the relationship. She recalls how she had waited for David’s phone calls and visits; how she cooked for him, catered to his needs, and watched longingly from the window as he waltzed back to his wife and children. She reveals exactly what she did that caused her to be packed off to Switzerland with marching orders to sort herself out. It seems Edith’s great crime was her refusal to acquiesce to societal expectations by marrying a respectable man who would doubtless be a dull but good provider.
Back at Hotel du Lac, Edith familiarizes herself with the routines of the hotel and with its residents who provide a much-needed distraction. She is befriended by Mrs. Pusey, an over-bearing, self-centered, and affluent elderly woman traveling with her devoted daughter. Other residents include a lithe, elegant young woman with her dog; and Mr. Neville, a meticulously-dressed gentleman in his mid-fifties who proposes a marriage of convenience to Edith with his terms and conditions clearly stipulated.
Edith’s state of mind improves as she begins to appreciate the rhythms of the hotel and its staff. She develops a realistic assessment of the residents, recognizing the vacuous life-style of the Mrs. Puseys of this world. She rejects Neville’s marriage proposal, unwilling to participate in the pretext of a respectable marriage to a seemingly loyal and devoted husband. She accepts that a solitary life, even that of a lonely, mild-mannered English spinster like herself, is not the tragedy her friends make it out to be.
This is a character-driven novel in which little happens. What holds the reader’s attention is the elegant quality of the writing. The rhythm of hotel’s daily routine is captured in precise detail. And through carefully-chosen particulars of clothing, mannerisms, and speech, the characters emerge as well-rounded and realistic. Edith is portrayed as sensitive, intelligent, and introspective. Beneath her quiet, unassuming exterior lies a dogged determination to live life on her own terms.