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The Lady Matador's Hotel
National Book Award finalist Cristina García delivers a powerful and gorgeous novel about the intertwining lives of the denizens of a luxurious hotel in an unnamed Central American capital in the midst of political turmoil.
The lives of six men and women converge over the course of one week. There is a Japanese-Mexican-American matadora in town for a bull-fighting competition; an ex-guerrilla now working as a waitress in the hotel coffee shop; a Korean manufacturer with an underage mistress ensconced in the honeymoon suite; an international adoption lawyer of German descent; a colonel who committed atrocities during his country’s long civil war; and a Cuban poet who has come with his American wife to adopt a local infant. With each day, their lives become further entangled, resulting in the unexpected—the clash of histories and the pull of revenge and desire.
Cristina García’s magnificent orchestration of politics, the intimacies of daily life, and the frailty of human nature unfolds in a moving, ambitious, often comic, and unforgettable tale.
The lives of six men and women converge over the course of one week. There is a Japanese-Mexican-American matadora in town for a bull-fighting competition; an ex-guerrilla now working as a waitress in the hotel coffee shop; a Korean manufacturer with an underage mistress ensconced in the honeymoon suite; an international adoption lawyer of German descent; a colonel who committed atrocities during his country’s long civil war; and a Cuban poet who has come with his American wife to adopt a local infant. With each day, their lives become further entangled, resulting in the unexpected—the clash of histories and the pull of revenge and desire.
Cristina García’s magnificent orchestration of politics, the intimacies of daily life, and the frailty of human nature unfolds in a moving, ambitious, often comic, and unforgettable tale.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
40 people are currently reading
1096 people want to read
About the author
Cristina García
122 books366 followersAfter working for Time Magazine as a researcher, reporter, and Miami bureau chief, García turned to writing fiction. Her first novel, Dreaming in Cuban (1992), received critical acclaim and was a finalist for the National Book Award. She has since published her novels The Agüero Sisters (1997) and Monkey Hunting (2003), and has edited books of Cuban and other Latin American literature. Her fourth novel, A Handbook to Luck, was released in hardcover in 2007 and came out in paperback in April 2008.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 157 reviews
December 25, 2024
Audiobook
November 26, 2012
Compared to Dreaming In Cuban, another book of Garcia's that I've read, The Lady Matador's Hotel is bizarre. Garcia likes to use ghosts and elements of magical realism in her writing, but The Lady Matador's Hotel only uses this in a few sections. Instead, Garcia relies on a large cast of characters, none of which the reader gets to know too well, but all with their own agendas and their own quirks.
The characters come from many different countries, different upbringings, and different careers, and each is tied to the group by the titular hotel. Garcia does not shy away from making each character seem horrible and beautiful at the same time. Each character is both sympathetic and demented, and the writing is straightforward enough to showcase this, but lyrical enough to take away the starkness of the contrast.
I love Garcia's writing, and I was a little disappointed to reach the end of this book, although I was satisfied with the way the ending of each chapter (which was written as newspaper clippings, or television transcripts) tied each to the main story, and the way the end of the book followed this trend.
Garcia also has fun in this book playing with gender roles. The Lady Matador, herself, garners a lot of attention for her profession, which is traditionally masculine, but all of the women in the book have masculine qualities and seem more powerful than the men in their lives. The main male characters, on the other hand, are pushed around by their mothers and wives, and have a gentleness about them, including the ex-military man who is vulnerable, at least in his sleep. None of the characters, however, seems unbelievable. As every person is both "feminine" and "masculine" each of the characters in Garcia's book is, too, in a way that most authors shy away from.
The characters come from many different countries, different upbringings, and different careers, and each is tied to the group by the titular hotel. Garcia does not shy away from making each character seem horrible and beautiful at the same time. Each character is both sympathetic and demented, and the writing is straightforward enough to showcase this, but lyrical enough to take away the starkness of the contrast.
I love Garcia's writing, and I was a little disappointed to reach the end of this book, although I was satisfied with the way the ending of each chapter (which was written as newspaper clippings, or television transcripts) tied each to the main story, and the way the end of the book followed this trend.
Garcia also has fun in this book playing with gender roles. The Lady Matador, herself, garners a lot of attention for her profession, which is traditionally masculine, but all of the women in the book have masculine qualities and seem more powerful than the men in their lives. The main male characters, on the other hand, are pushed around by their mothers and wives, and have a gentleness about them, including the ex-military man who is vulnerable, at least in his sleep. None of the characters, however, seems unbelievable. As every person is both "feminine" and "masculine" each of the characters in Garcia's book is, too, in a way that most authors shy away from.
November 21, 2010
Since I rather enjoyed Garcia's Dreaming in Cuban, I was disappointed in this novel. Although there were one or two beautiful passages, most notably the description of the Lady Matador's penultimate bullfight, and Garcia has the ability to turn a beautiful phrase (eg., "...vowels so elastic they felt like rubber bands in his mouth"), still: I simply never connected with any of the characters, never cared about what happened to any of them. I couldn't quite figure out what it was Garcia was trying to say with/about them.
Too bad, too, because the themes I think Garcia was trying to illuminate (genocide, transcendence, rationalization) are intriguing. Was she, with her milquetoast characters, playing with the post-modern idea that morality is relative? Hard to say, because I was so busy trying to give a damn about them. My biggest emotional response came from a memory: watching a bullfight in Mexico when I was a child, remembering the picadors doing their job.
In reading other GR reviews of this book, I saw a common thread: most of the feedback, whether pro or con, was for the story itself, which I admit wasn't a bad one just not that compelling to me. There was very little in the way of a critique of style or meaning. That disappoints me, because that is in large part what I am looking for in a book review. (As an aside: please, will someone tell everybody that a 'review' is not a 'plot summary'. Sheesh.)
The thing I did like about this novel was the element of magical realism; Aura's conversations with her dead brother were engaging, and I wish that Garcia had relied more on that device.
The ARC I read and reviewed here was provided to me by the publisher via my local Indie bookstore, and no money was exchanged.
Too bad, too, because the themes I think Garcia was trying to illuminate (genocide, transcendence, rationalization) are intriguing. Was she, with her milquetoast characters, playing with the post-modern idea that morality is relative? Hard to say, because I was so busy trying to give a damn about them. My biggest emotional response came from a memory: watching a bullfight in Mexico when I was a child, remembering the picadors doing their job.
In reading other GR reviews of this book, I saw a common thread: most of the feedback, whether pro or con, was for the story itself, which I admit wasn't a bad one just not that compelling to me. There was very little in the way of a critique of style or meaning. That disappoints me, because that is in large part what I am looking for in a book review. (As an aside: please, will someone tell everybody that a 'review' is not a 'plot summary'. Sheesh.)
The thing I did like about this novel was the element of magical realism; Aura's conversations with her dead brother were engaging, and I wish that Garcia had relied more on that device.
The ARC I read and reviewed here was provided to me by the publisher via my local Indie bookstore, and no money was exchanged.
April 3, 2024
The lives of characters; including a Japanese-Mexican-American lady matator, lawyer, Korean businessman, poet, ex-guerilla turned waitress, and colonel; interweve with each other during one week witin a luxary hotel in a unnamed Central American country. Themes explored include life and death, suicide, sex, fame, and grief.
This work is a character-driven novel with a touch of magical realism. I was drawn to the book's cover, which I thought was gorgeous in its illustration. The author's prose was sublime and easily read and digested. This short novel was simply beautiful in its execution.
This work is a character-driven novel with a touch of magical realism. I was drawn to the book's cover, which I thought was gorgeous in its illustration. The author's prose was sublime and easily read and digested. This short novel was simply beautiful in its execution.
September 8, 2010
Lady Matador's Hotel is written by Cristina Garcia, a new to me author. The novel is written in one of my favorite styles -- omniscient, third person narration. In this story the lives of six individuals become interwoven at a luxury hotel in an unnamed in Central America capital city. The entire story takes place at the Hotel Milaflor over a period of seven days.
Central to the story is the Lady Matador, Suki Palacios who is half-Mexican and half-Japanese. She has arrived at the Hotel Miliflor from Los Angeles for the First Battle of the Lady Matadors in the Americas. Men view her as an interloper, a "scandalous woman playing at being a man". For Suki, rituals are important to her; her father instilled this belief at an early age. Prior to a fight she slips a fifty dollar bill into the offering box at the cathedral and light fourteen candles -- one for every year that she and her mother were alive. Fourteen candles for her dead mother, pink stockings first, and one sliced pear. For extra luck, she has silent sex with a stranger two days before a fight. Then right before stepping into the ring she recites three words in Spanish and Japanese: arrogance, honor and death.
Suki also likes to tempt fate and test superstitions when she isn't fighting. She wears yellow, the color of accidents and bad omens, knowing that by doing this she will catch the attention of the journalists who can't wait to interview her. She is a woman who beats to her own drummer and is not interested in traditions or conforming to a certain image.
Another strong female character is Gertrudis Stuber, a German lawyer who specialized in adoptions, calling it her "export" business. Greedy, egotistical and just plain evil, a woman who refers to one of the birth mothers as her "best breeder mother", Gertrudis makes $30,000 for each adoption. The previous year, she processed (17) adoptions. In addition, she receives kickbacks from the hotel as prospective parents are required to stay at the expensive Hotel Milaflor.
The other (4) individuals consist of Won Kim, a Korean businessman, who is staying in the honeymoon suite with his pregnant mistress. All the while he is thinking about ending his life. Then there is the much hated, and arrogant Colonel Martin Abel who committed horrible acts during the country's civil war. The colonel has a romantic interest in the Lady Matador. Aura Estrada an ex-guerrilla, who is working a the hotel as a waitress, but is bent on revenge. The last two individuals are a Cuban poet and his American wife who are guests at the hotel, while waiting to adopt a baby. Each of these six individuals are dealing with ghosts of their past, and all the while the country is in political turmoil, a hurricane is looming out at sea, and things are heating up as lives are converging for these six hotel guests.
The third person narrator worked well, and I really enjoyed this story.The novel is extremely short, just over 200 pages, however, it leaves the reader with a lot to think about. Each of the characters were extremely well developed; they were also, for the most part, unlikeable. Despite their flawed character traits, I thought each individual was sympathetic in their own way, and for this reason, the author's talent was evident through and through. I'll be looking for more books by this author. RECOMMENDED
August 29, 2018
I'm grateful I didn't read this book of hers while Cristina Garcia was my professor because damn would I have been intimidated. The novel follows the different yet interwoven lives of one hotel's patrons in an unknown Central American capital. As the title suggests, a lady matador is one character (and what a character), but there's also a butterfly-collecting Korean expat, a Cuban poet who is adopting a local baby with his American wife, their ruthless adoption lawyer, an ex-guerilla-turned-waitress who speaks to the dead, and many more. The story, already intriguing with the tension of civil unrest and presidential elections about to take place in the city, only gathers up that tension and compounds it until the multiple climactic moments. The characters are multifaceted gems. And the writing is stunning: poetic but not all cloying and gross.
December 5, 2019
It been awhile since I have read any of Cristina Garcia's books, so it was wonderful to do so against n! I have to remember not to wait so long. My favourite book of hers is still Dreaming in Cuban, but everything she writes is excellent, highly readable and throughly enjoyable!
June 2, 2010
Suki Palacios has come to Central America to compete in a battle to determine the best female matador. Staying at the same hotel as other travelers to this country she is admired by most but remains aloof from them all. Each person at the hotel has a story. Their lives briefly touch each other’s but they remain separated by their stories--the lawyer who arranges adoptions to foreigners, the general who suppressed the rebel guerillas, the waitress who is an ex-guerilla, the Korean businessman with a soon-to-be 16-year old pregnant mistress, and the poet and his wife who have come to adopt a baby.
Cristina Garcia has written wonderful characters in The Lady Matador’s Hotel. While there is not an overall plot, each person’s story becomes his or her own plot. I was interested in all the stories. While Suki is the center of this tale each story adds a layer to this story. The Lady Matador’s Hotel is a character-driven tale.
The hotel hosts these people for a week. The lawyer and the poet’s stories touch. She is arranging an adoption by the poet and his wife. The poet is hoping adoption will rectify his leaving his first wife and baby daughter back in Cuba when he escaped Castro’s persecutions. The attorney must battle the authorities who are intent on tightening the adoption laws. She also struggles with lack of babies and surrogates who want to keep the babies she has promised to foreigners.
The general and the waitress also touch. The waitress remembers that it was the general who is responsible for the deaths of her brother and lover. As she is visited by her brother’s spirit she must choose whether to honor his request or live with her fear.
The Korean businessman, who runs his late father’s business in this Central American country, has a pregnant mistress who has not yet turned 16. He wants to die because his life has become unbearable. Through him humor is brought in The Lady Matador’s Hotel. He gets upset every time someone else dies because he cannot come close to being killed. He must deal with problems at his factory and with his mother’s soon-to-be death, as well as his mistress. It is more than he can handle.
Suki, while noticing the others, is focused on her upcoming contest against other female matadors. Each day she looks for a lover that will bring her good luck in the arena. She demonstrates her bull fighting skills while waiting for the other women to come. A few days before the contest she is injured and may not be able to compete. She must now decide what is important to her. I liked how Suki is portrayed. She is strong. There is beauty in the way she faces the bulls. The bull fighting scenes Cristina Garcia writes are beautiful as she shows the life and death struggle between the matador and bull. That she puts Suki’s thoughts on paper enhance those scenes.
Some stories have an ending. Others are left open for the reader to decide the ending. I give most of mine a happy ending. The Lady Matador’s Hotel is a well-written, realistic character study of people struggling to survive in less than perfect situations and surroundings.
Cristina Garcia has written wonderful characters in The Lady Matador’s Hotel. While there is not an overall plot, each person’s story becomes his or her own plot. I was interested in all the stories. While Suki is the center of this tale each story adds a layer to this story. The Lady Matador’s Hotel is a character-driven tale.
The hotel hosts these people for a week. The lawyer and the poet’s stories touch. She is arranging an adoption by the poet and his wife. The poet is hoping adoption will rectify his leaving his first wife and baby daughter back in Cuba when he escaped Castro’s persecutions. The attorney must battle the authorities who are intent on tightening the adoption laws. She also struggles with lack of babies and surrogates who want to keep the babies she has promised to foreigners.
The general and the waitress also touch. The waitress remembers that it was the general who is responsible for the deaths of her brother and lover. As she is visited by her brother’s spirit she must choose whether to honor his request or live with her fear.
The Korean businessman, who runs his late father’s business in this Central American country, has a pregnant mistress who has not yet turned 16. He wants to die because his life has become unbearable. Through him humor is brought in The Lady Matador’s Hotel. He gets upset every time someone else dies because he cannot come close to being killed. He must deal with problems at his factory and with his mother’s soon-to-be death, as well as his mistress. It is more than he can handle.
Suki, while noticing the others, is focused on her upcoming contest against other female matadors. Each day she looks for a lover that will bring her good luck in the arena. She demonstrates her bull fighting skills while waiting for the other women to come. A few days before the contest she is injured and may not be able to compete. She must now decide what is important to her. I liked how Suki is portrayed. She is strong. There is beauty in the way she faces the bulls. The bull fighting scenes Cristina Garcia writes are beautiful as she shows the life and death struggle between the matador and bull. That she puts Suki’s thoughts on paper enhance those scenes.
Some stories have an ending. Others are left open for the reader to decide the ending. I give most of mine a happy ending. The Lady Matador’s Hotel is a well-written, realistic character study of people struggling to survive in less than perfect situations and surroundings.
June 2, 2010
'The Lady Matador's Hotel' tells the story of one week in an unnamed Central American capital at the upscale Hotel Miraflor. A series of bullfights and political elections fill the city with excitement and tension, while a fickle hurricane dances across the Caribbean waters. Anything can happen in such a charged climate. Anything to anyone.
The Lady Matador, Suki Palacios, is a study of otherworldly beauty and poise, single-minded and distant as she enters the ring and faces down the most ferocious of bulls. Nothing can touch Suki, the master of the ring, until something does.
I consider 'The Lady Matador's Hotel' a cousin to the bullfighting chapters in Hemingway's 'The Sun Also Rises.' But whereas his characters were fun and imbibed and a little out of control, Cristina Garcia's characters are more simmering and introspective, fighting the ghosts of the past (sometimes literally) as they challenge a murky present. They are right-wing military officers, leftist revolutionaries, shady adoption lawyers, a poet dreamer and a suicidal industrialist. All are helpless, spiraling into one another, creating an intolerable mix and a horrific confrontation. Ms. Garcia's descriptiveness is unparalleled. The reader feels the sticky, stifling heat of equatorial America, the sudden refreshing cloudbursts. She descibes the intoxicating floral smell on one hand, but then the stench of poverty, garbage, and putrefaction on the other.
All of this wondrous novel, its sensuality and magical thinking, all of it and more, fall under the spell of the enchanting, inscrutable Lady Matador. Will Suki finally defeat the menacing bull, but who really wins if she does?
Pete Schulte
Tattered Cover Bookstores Denver, CO
The Lady Matador, Suki Palacios, is a study of otherworldly beauty and poise, single-minded and distant as she enters the ring and faces down the most ferocious of bulls. Nothing can touch Suki, the master of the ring, until something does.
I consider 'The Lady Matador's Hotel' a cousin to the bullfighting chapters in Hemingway's 'The Sun Also Rises.' But whereas his characters were fun and imbibed and a little out of control, Cristina Garcia's characters are more simmering and introspective, fighting the ghosts of the past (sometimes literally) as they challenge a murky present. They are right-wing military officers, leftist revolutionaries, shady adoption lawyers, a poet dreamer and a suicidal industrialist. All are helpless, spiraling into one another, creating an intolerable mix and a horrific confrontation. Ms. Garcia's descriptiveness is unparalleled. The reader feels the sticky, stifling heat of equatorial America, the sudden refreshing cloudbursts. She descibes the intoxicating floral smell on one hand, but then the stench of poverty, garbage, and putrefaction on the other.
All of this wondrous novel, its sensuality and magical thinking, all of it and more, fall under the spell of the enchanting, inscrutable Lady Matador. Will Suki finally defeat the menacing bull, but who really wins if she does?
Pete Schulte
Tattered Cover Bookstores Denver, CO
December 15, 2010
I enjoyed the book, which I grabbed at the library, but one of my favorite things about Cristina Garcia is her generational view, families moving through cultural changes, the flow of family history and dynamics. This story had a series of tangentially related and intertwined characters in a short time frame, and while it was a series of intriguing stories, it didn't jell for me in the same way as Dreaming in Cuban, The Aguero Sisters, and Monkey Hunting. Her language is beautiful as usual, and I was moved by some of the characters and their dilemmas, but others left me disinterested -- including the Lady Matador of the title. I liked the way she structured the book, moving the action forward on several fronts in each chapter, and then some news updates from television and newspapers.
July 24, 2011
I've read some of Garcia's other books, but because she is coming to be a writer in residence at UM this fall, I wanted to check out her newest work. This is a thinly veiled portrait of modern Guatemala, so I found the characters and issues familiar...there are a series of characters whose lives intertwine a bit...I liked the lady matador the best, the former guerrilla now waitress is also compelling. Garcia really harshes on the foreign adoption scam, which it rightly deserves, although her portrait one adopting couple is a little more real and sympathetic. Liked it, but it didnt have enough plot to blow me away.
August 27, 2011
I picked this book up haphazardly one day at Borders. I intended to just keep it as a light read for a trip I was going on but once I was a page or two in I could hardly put it down.
Garcia has a great capability to set up a scene both visually and emotionally. Although at times the driving emotions of characters can get to be a bit cliche, her writing style allows them to remain entertaining and sincere. The endless suply of guests at the hotel keep the storyline moving quickly, however, I believe the hotel's waitress may deserve a story to herself; there seems to be more depth hiding behind her character and I would have enjoyed a chance to see it develope.
Garcia has a great capability to set up a scene both visually and emotionally. Although at times the driving emotions of characters can get to be a bit cliche, her writing style allows them to remain entertaining and sincere. The endless suply of guests at the hotel keep the storyline moving quickly, however, I believe the hotel's waitress may deserve a story to herself; there seems to be more depth hiding behind her character and I would have enjoyed a chance to see it develope.
September 20, 2021
This was a rather strange read overall for me. I appreciated the interrelatedness of the characters. Not sure about the ending. for some reason those last 20 pages or so just didn't work super well for me...
And I admit to cringing while reading the actual bull-fighting scenes. This "sport" really is all about torturing an animal...to death! 😒😫😖😠
As I recorded this into reading challenges I realized this is basically a noir novel. No wonder I didn't really enjoy it much.
And I admit to cringing while reading the actual bull-fighting scenes. This "sport" really is all about torturing an animal...to death! 😒😫😖😠
As I recorded this into reading challenges I realized this is basically a noir novel. No wonder I didn't really enjoy it much.
June 3, 2013
Cristina Garcia weaves together the lives of five characters at a hotel in an unnamed Central American country. With its lyrical description and touches of magic (and of course the setting), the prose may faintly echo that of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but Cristina Garcia has crafted a subtle and delightful gem of her own.
June 25, 2010
At first glance at the back cover, I thought this book might be a Bel Canto (Ann Patchett) look-alike, but from the first lines I found the writing to be lush and captivating and the characters to wholly original. At 3:30 AM I had to force myself to set it down and turn out the light.
September 23, 2025
I’m a bit rusty in my reviews. This book is beautifully written. It touches on social and political issues that, unfortunately, are related to history and current events. The characters were intriguing and interesting which made this a fast read for me. It reminded me of White Lotus in that there are many different stories, perspectives, and characters from all walks of life converging or crossing paths within and around this hotel. It takes place in Central America in a time of civil unrest. It isn’t clear on when and where this takes place but it wasn’t lost on me that it technically could have been any Latin American country for that matter.
May 5, 2010
This was not what I was expecting at all. I was expecting a story mostly about a lady matador with a intriguing cast of surrounding characters. What I got is a mere tablespoon of a Mexican Japanese lady matador that likes to have silent sex with strangers with nice feet and a an entire cupfull of unlikeable and/or disturbing characters. The exception being Aura, a former guerrilla fighter now plotting to kill a colonel, a resident in the same hotel. But even she is weird as she believes she is speaking to her dead family at every twist and turn.
Also in residence at this charming hotel in a Central American country (I'm pretty darn sure it is El Salvador) is a Korean business man who constantly fantasizes about killing himself, his mistress who is most definitely "not all there," the murderous colonel who likes to pant like a bull in hopes of tantalizing the above mentioned lady matador, a poet and his wife doing an illegal baby adoption, and a lady lawyer who breeds and sells babies out of the country. Basically, there is no one to like but all these people meet or interact to the point their stories kinda merge by the end of the novel.
Meanwhile, the country has eleven corrupt politicians battling it out for the presidency and a lot of bitter feelings running high. There are occasional "news updates" between chapters informing reader's of the country's atmostphere. Nice touch. However, the novel overall didn't interest me.
Also in residence at this charming hotel in a Central American country (I'm pretty darn sure it is El Salvador) is a Korean business man who constantly fantasizes about killing himself, his mistress who is most definitely "not all there," the murderous colonel who likes to pant like a bull in hopes of tantalizing the above mentioned lady matador, a poet and his wife doing an illegal baby adoption, and a lady lawyer who breeds and sells babies out of the country. Basically, there is no one to like but all these people meet or interact to the point their stories kinda merge by the end of the novel.
Meanwhile, the country has eleven corrupt politicians battling it out for the presidency and a lot of bitter feelings running high. There are occasional "news updates" between chapters informing reader's of the country's atmostphere. Nice touch. However, the novel overall didn't interest me.
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July 28, 2010A WOMAN’S PLACE IS IN THE RING
Reviewed by Helena María Viramontes
Dictators and their aftermath continue to dominate the literature, and the lives, of the Americas. Writers from Gabriel García Márquez to Julia Alvarez to Junot Díaz chronicle the force of grief these regimes leave behind, as well as the hopeful resiliency of citizens suffering under the greed and corruption of leaders who fear nothing but the loss of power. The winds of change in these fascist governments are measured by which way the United States’ Latin America policy weathervane is pointed. What doesn’t change is the ferociousness inevitably directed at the innocent.
To read the full review, check out the latest issue of Ms. on newsstands today!
Reviewed by Helena María Viramontes
Dictators and their aftermath continue to dominate the literature, and the lives, of the Americas. Writers from Gabriel García Márquez to Julia Alvarez to Junot Díaz chronicle the force of grief these regimes leave behind, as well as the hopeful resiliency of citizens suffering under the greed and corruption of leaders who fear nothing but the loss of power. The winds of change in these fascist governments are measured by which way the United States’ Latin America policy weathervane is pointed. What doesn’t change is the ferociousness inevitably directed at the innocent.
To read the full review, check out the latest issue of Ms. on newsstands today!
October 19, 2011
Garcia has a talent for creating impressive visual depictions in the mind of the reader, but the storylines and characters did nothing to capture my imagination. None of the characters had significant dimension, and their storylines were carried out like a paint-by-numbers. I don't regret reading The Lady Matador's Hotel, but it didn't inspire me to seek Garcia's other work.
September 17, 2020
3.5 stars. It was proof I don't read descriptions of book closely before reading the book as I went in expecting a historical novel haha. But never the less it was a good book, have never read a book with a lady matador before
July 9, 2010
My kind of book. The women (for the most part) are spectacular whether they are peasants or matadoras. The men (with rare exceptions) are pigs. Just like real life.
September 26, 2010
This book was smart, with super unique characters and a storyline that kept me guessing about what could happen next. Looking forward to reading some other books by this author.
September 17, 2010
beautifully written piece of literature
September 5, 2023
(3.5 ⭐️) had a bit of everything, really good time
November 2, 2017
My first Cristina Garcia, I would be interested in reading her other books. I like how she writes, though probably the only complaint is that the characters seems to be very surface, and we don't get to go very deep with any of them.
A short story of only 209 pages, we are swept up into the lives of 6 main characters over the course of 7 days from all walks of life living in a luxury hotel. There's the Japanese-Mexican-American Matadora woman, the ex-guerrilla now working as a waitress (or is that her main purpose?), a Korean manufacture with an 15 year old mistress (nasty), an international adoption lawyer (but is she really doing it legally?), a colonel who committed atrocities in the Civil War (who feels he's like he's God's gift to women, gross), and a Cuban poet with his American wife who want to adopt a baby (boy, that was a surprise I didn't see happening).
I like how the characters are intertwined sometimes by having a few words, or where they were, just for that moment. I also liked how the chapters ended with "The News" from different sources and how it would wrap up what the chapter covered, sometimes with propaganda of whatever the Central American capital (never told exactly which one) government would had wanted their people to believe.
A short story of only 209 pages, we are swept up into the lives of 6 main characters over the course of 7 days from all walks of life living in a luxury hotel. There's the Japanese-Mexican-American Matadora woman, the ex-guerrilla now working as a waitress (or is that her main purpose?), a Korean manufacture with an 15 year old mistress (nasty), an international adoption lawyer (but is she really doing it legally?), a colonel who committed atrocities in the Civil War (who feels he's like he's God's gift to women, gross), and a Cuban poet with his American wife who want to adopt a baby (boy, that was a surprise I didn't see happening).
I like how the characters are intertwined sometimes by having a few words, or where they were, just for that moment. I also liked how the chapters ended with "The News" from different sources and how it would wrap up what the chapter covered, sometimes with propaganda of whatever the Central American capital (never told exactly which one) government would had wanted their people to believe.
March 24, 2023
I really enjoyed the style of this book! The short stories of people’s lives and how the briefly connect in the span of a week. It was also lyrical and I just loved the last bit of every chapter with the different news segments. The whole thing was just really different and had a cool vibe.
The title is a little misleading, so if you’re looking for a lady matador that owns and operates a hotel, this isn’t it. But nonetheless I understand it’s appeal. Also TW there are notes about being in a bullring and what that entails - I had to skim over those parts but it was brief.
Favorite quotes:
- “a man would sooner kill another than suffer the slightest embarrassment” pg. 8
- “He needs a period of dormancy, a chance to recollect himself before tackling the complexities of his life” pg. 18
- “Today she’s a minefield of clarity, as if she can see in all directions a once” pg. 108
- “Ay, how she blooms, blooms, blooms towards nothingness” pg. 129
- “people understood that the world of dreams and the world of work are twin realities, like the opposing wings of a butterfly” pg. 143
The title is a little misleading, so if you’re looking for a lady matador that owns and operates a hotel, this isn’t it. But nonetheless I understand it’s appeal. Also TW there are notes about being in a bullring and what that entails - I had to skim over those parts but it was brief.
Favorite quotes:
- “a man would sooner kill another than suffer the slightest embarrassment” pg. 8
- “He needs a period of dormancy, a chance to recollect himself before tackling the complexities of his life” pg. 18
- “Today she’s a minefield of clarity, as if she can see in all directions a once” pg. 108
- “Ay, how she blooms, blooms, blooms towards nothingness” pg. 129
- “people understood that the world of dreams and the world of work are twin realities, like the opposing wings of a butterfly” pg. 143
November 22, 2020
The title led me to believe this would be humorous, like all the movies about hotels. Even the inside cover did not prepare me for the true nature of the book. Even though it was not what I had expected, I still thought it was a good book.
Every time the author switches to a different character, she not only gives the character's name but also who that person is. For example in the first paragraph she will say we are learning about the matadora and in the next paragraph she will tell us this is Suki. This helped me keep the characters straight.
Each character is distinct and I came to care about what happens to them. The author does a very good job of telling what happens to each at the end of the week.
Every time the author switches to a different character, she not only gives the character's name but also who that person is. For example in the first paragraph she will say we are learning about the matadora and in the next paragraph she will tell us this is Suki. This helped me keep the characters straight.
Each character is distinct and I came to care about what happens to them. The author does a very good job of telling what happens to each at the end of the week.
June 15, 2019
Multiple interlocking stories in a hotel in an unnamed Central American hotel. The character in the title, the Japanese-Mexican-American bullfighter, Suki Palacios is in town to headline a group of women matadors. At the hotel there is also a former guerilla working as a waitress, a group of military men there for a conference, a couple there to adopt a child, a Korean businessman and his underage and very pregnant mistress, a Cuban dissident poet, and a lawyer who makes a lot of money facilitating adoptions.
The characters stories spiral inward until most of them interact in the final chapters.
This is well written and worth a read.
The characters stories spiral inward until most of them interact in the final chapters.
This is well written and worth a read.
December 5, 2019
I have recently read two books that take place in a hotel, this one not as good as the first, A Gentleman in Moscow. I note that I am not a fan of the popular use of magical realism, but it did work here. I am surprised that this work was considered for the National Book Award. While the topics raised by the book -- colonialism, national identity, economic inequality, to mention a few -- are worthy of discussion in a good novel, I felt there were too many raised in this very short book to do any of them justice. Plus I really did not care about any of these people. However, it was entertaining enough that I did enjoy reading it. I just don't think I would recommend it.
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