The Shelbourne

by Elizabeth Bowen

Elizabeth Bowen takes us on a tour through the history of the famous Dublin landmark, the Shelbourne Hotel, in this evocative account of Irish life. Looking out on Dublin as if from the windows of the Shelbourne, and then turning inward to witness the impact of events on the hotel, its guests and staff, Bowen paints a picture of what was, in the hotel's earlier days, the second city of the Empire, then the battleground of Irish independence and civil strife, and eventually the capital of a republic.

Genres: Ireland, Nonfiction, Irish Literature, History

178 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2001

About the author

Elizabeth Dorothea Cole Bowen, CBE was an Anglo-Irish novelist and short story writer and short story writer notable for her books about the "big house" of Irish landed Protestants as well her fiction about life in wartime London.

Reviews

[Pamela Huck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took me quite some time to finish this book, as I had never heard of the hotel before and struggeled to join in the fascination Bowen so clearly felt. Plus, I'm not familiar with the vocabulary of 18th and 19th century customs and fashion, of architecture and gentry, so I'm afraid a lot of the finer points she made were lost on me. On many occasions I had the impression that the edition was scanned from an earlier copy and that there was not done a thorough proof-reading afterwards.The last chapter made me melancholic, because Bowen vividly describes the pride and happiness she felt about peace in 1950s Dublin. Little did she know how much violence the island would have to endure in the following decades. Still, reading Bowen felt, again, like listening to a very smart, collected and educated lady one would only dare call a friend when she is not present, but could not resist doing so.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

While well written and at the start of the book an interesting knowledge about how the hotel started
but from there the book takes a nose dive. The Shelbourn is one of the oldies and most prestigious hotels in Dublin. Seeing a lot of history it's also very expensive. The war of independence and civil war are written about as if they were an inconvenience to the guests and staff. Am sure there are better more in-depth books written on the selbourne .

[Yousseif Abdellatif · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished The Shelbourne Hotel and honestly felt tired in the best way, like after a long hike. Elizabeth Bowen stretches the story across decades, and the scene where two old friends meet at a bus station and can't think of a thing to say carried more weight than any big speech. The timeline hops around, which cost me some momentum. Who this is for: readers who like life-sized, quiet stories. Who should pass: anybody who wants plot twists every ten pages.

[Gloom Lab · Rating 2.25 out of 5]

This past December I spent two weeks in Dublin, right across from the Shelbourne. I wish I’d gone inside of it.

I can see why this book was so short, but honestly I feel like it could’ve been a pamphlet. There was so much filler in this text. A lot of grammatical errors, too? Honestly not a lot to say about this..

[Marie Kushner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written! A history of the hotel, including that of Ireland/Dublin.

[Yousseif Abdellatif · Rating 4 out of 5]

What Elizabeth Bowen captures in The Shelbourne Hotel is the silent cost of bowing to institutional norms when your gut tells you something is deeply wrong.

[Ernie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting, quick read in which this accomplished novelist gives a sometimes ironic account of Irish history 1867 to 1945 as seen in the prespective of the Shelbourne Hotel, right in the centre of the Uprising of 1916, built next to St Stephen's Green. Parnell, Shaw, Yeats and all the writers, actors and theatre people from the nearby Abbey and Gaiety theatres stayed or visited there and the government forces set up machine gun and sniper posts in its rooms overlooking the rebels on the green. The upper classes who frrequented the Shelbourne for the Dublin Horse show and the racing season were not amused at the cancellations but volunteered to be waiters to help out when the staff could not get to the hotel during the curfew and the firing.