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The Pink Hotel by Anna Stothard (view source)
Revision as of 08:50, 8 October 2020
, 08:50, 8 October 2020no edit summary
The author also displays a fair amount of courage, for she has created a central character with no name. I stopped myself describing the heroine as 'anonymous' because she's far from that. As the reader travels with her, they learn more and more about her as she takes us into her confidence but we never know her name. There isn't even a clue from those around her; she's referred to by third parties via nicknames and endearments. However, this doesn't get in the way, in fact it adds to the intimacy. She doesn't have to tell us her name because it's almost as if we know her already. Also a name equates to an identity and that's something that, in her view, is still undefined.
The story is, indeed, totally from our 17 -year -old travel companion's viewpoint. The current action is interspersed with chapters acquainting us with her background in random order rather than chronologically systematic. Again this heightens the reality; she retells episodes from her past as they come to mind, not in the order they happened. And what episodes! There are moments of humour and great poignancy as it becomes apparent that, whilst looking through her mother's life, she is also searching for something of herself. The landscape in which she's searching is populated by people who are perhaps even more loveless than she feels, filling their lives with diversions to distract them from the void.
There are readers who will run a mile from any book that hints of being based on emotional relationships. If they even break into a canter in the opposite direction from this one, they'll be missing a treat. ''The Pink Hotel'' isn't just about a search and the examination of a short life, there's also the undercurrent of a thriller as she tries to shake off those who would steal back the little she's discovered. Reading ''The Pink Hotel'' and sharing this girl's journey was a lot of things – sad, funny, exciting, wistful, addictive, but, most of all, it was satisfying. It would be a shame to miss out on a journey like that.
If you've enjoyed this and would like to try another quirky tale set in LA, try [[Radiance by Louis B Jones]]. We also have a review of Stothard's [[The Art of Leaving by Anna Stothard|The Art of Leaving]].
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