The Little Hotel
by Stead, Christina
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Nice copy
- Seller
-
MELBOURNE, Victoria, Australia
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: Angus & Robertson, 1973. 1st edition. Nice copy. octavo.. hardback with dust jacket 191pp.,
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
- Andrew Barnes Booksellers (AU)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- K307250
- Title
- The Little Hotel
- Author
- Stead, Christina
- Book Condition
- Used - Nice copy
- Edition
- 1st edition
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Angus & Robertson
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1973
- Size
- octavo.
- Keywords
- Christina Stead
Terms of Sale
Andrew Barnes Booksellers
BOOKS MAY BE RETURNED FOR ANY REASON. POSTAGE REFUNDED IF IN THE VIEW OF BIBLIO BOOK WAS INACCURATELY DESCRIBED
About the Seller
Andrew Barnes Booksellers
Biblio member since 2006
MELBOURNE, Victoria
About Andrew Barnes Booksellers
We are a general, Internet only bookseller with 25 years experience, specialising in Military & Russian material. We have operated on-line for 9 years
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