The Lonely Hearts Hotel

by Heather O'Neill

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

Longlisted for the 2017 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction

A Globe and Mail Most Anticipated Book

A NOW Magazine Book You Have to Read

A Toronto Star Book We Can’t Wait to Read

Set in Montreal and New York between the wars, a spellbinding story about two orphans whose unusual magnetism and talent allow them to imagine a sensational future, from bestselling, two-time Scotiabank Giller Prize finalist Heather O’Neill

The internationally acclaimed author returns with a stunning national bestseller in The Lonely Hearts Hotel. Exquisitely imagined and hypnotically told, it is a love story with the power of legend.

Two babies are abandoned in a Montreal orphanage in the winter of 1914. Before long, their true talents emerge: Pierrot is a piano prodigy; Rose lights up even the dreariest room with her dancing and comedy. As they travel around the city performing for the rich, the children fall in love with each other and dream up a plan for the most extraordinary and seductive circus show the world has ever seen.

Separated as teenagers, both escape into the city’s underworld, where they must use their uncommon gifts to survive without each other. Ruthless and unforgiving, Montreal in the 1930s is no place for song and dance, depicted by O’Neill as “a voyage across Montreal, from realms of innocence and districts of longing to zones of cruelty” (National Post). When Rose and Pierrot finally reunite they’ll go to extreme lengths to make their childhood dreams come true.

 

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Romance, Magical Realism, Historical, Canada, Audiobook

400 pages, Paperback

First published February 7, 2017

About the author

Heather O'Neill was born in Montreal and attended McGill University.

She published her debut novel, Lullabies for Little Criminals, in 2006. The novel won the Canada Reads competition (2007) and was awarded the Hugh Maclennan Award (2007). It was nominated for eight other awards included the Orange Prize, the Governor General's Award and the IMPAC Dublin Literary Prize. It was an international bestseller.

Her books The Girl Who Was Saturday Night (2014) and Daydreams of Angels (2015) were both shortlisted for the Giller Prize.

Her third novel The Lonely Hearts Hotel will be published in February 2017.

Her credits also include a screenplay, a book of poetry, and contributions to The New York Times Magazine, This American Life, The Globe and Mail, Elle Magazine, The Walrus and Rookie Magazine.

Reviews

[Hannah Greendale (Hello, Bookworm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Come one, come all to this sensational story of dauntless performers!

Want to see my 16 Must Read Women's Prize Nominees on BookTube? Come join me at Hello, Bookworm.📚🐛



This book also features in my BookTube deep dive on the weirdest Women's Prize nominees . 👀



Ladies and gentlemen, take your seats and prepare to be awed! Witness the story of two babies born of tragic circumstances and abandoned in an orphanage in Montreal, circa 1914. Behold the boy, Pierrot, who entertains his fellow orphans with theatrics and proves to be a prodigy pianist. Feast your eyes on the girl with blushing cheeks, Rose, whose dancing is a physical manifestation of Pierrot's music, so lovely none can resist the allure of her performance. Together they dream of creating the most enticing circus in the world, but forces beyond their control tear them apart. Forlorn and lovesick, they reunite years later and dare to make their childhood dream come true.

The Lonely Hearts Hotel transports readers to a cinematic tale that is as vulgar and harsh as it is sensational and decadent. Step right up and delight in this literary drama that's evocative of '40s film noir.

Pierrot's coat collar was pulled up so you could only see the top of his head. Rose had her fur hat down over her eyes so just the bottom half of her face was visible. Pierrot leaped back quickly as the trolley rang its bell at him and then surged by. Rose stopped at a streetlight as a car rumbled past the tips of her toes. Pierrot lit a cigarette. Rose inhaled from her cigarette. Pierrot exhaled smoke rings. Rose let white swirls escape from her nose.

Be charmed by the seemingly magical connection shared between Pierrot and Rose. Relish in the peculiarities of these characters, two creatures both flawed yet beguiling. Flamboyant artists. Dauntless performers. Lustful night-owls. Ruthless business owners. It seems there's no end to the complexity of these seductive entertainers.

Pierrot was to be a paradox to all those who met him. On the one hand, he was utterly brilliant, and on the other hand, there was no way he could be interpreted as anything except a fool.

Rose was a remarkably introspective child. She wondered about the difference between what was happening right in front of you and all the strange stuff that goes on in your head. [. . .] Sometimes she thought it was just plain silly that we were paying all this attention to the real world when there was this wonderful one in our minds that we could just as well be engaging in.

Revel in the guilty pleasure of paying to see a veritable freak show. Peek behind the curtain to delight in viewing scintillating liaisons, and watch as love is explored, challenged, and manipulated in tantalizing and heartbreaking ways. But viewer beware, for the first one hundred pages portray rape and child molestation against a backdrop of enchantment and whimsy - a jarring juxtaposition of grit framed by beauty.

Be dazzled by a quirky array of similes that make exemplary use of references relevant to the glittering underworld Rose and Pierrot inhabit.

There was a fishbowl by the window with two fancy goldfish that swam in circles, like tassels on a burlesque dancer's nipples.

When the tailor was done, there was a pile of measuring tape on the ground as if a mummy had just performed a striptease.

Observe a heavy reliance on sentences that begin with There was or There were. Weigh in on whether or not those sentences are redundant or rhythmic, poorly constructed or cleverly arranged. Be baffled by the long-winded yet quirky descriptions that sometimes tarry long past their welcome.

There was a sketch of a girl wearing a Napoleon hat. There was a drawing of a clown on a bicycle whose wheels looked as big as a house. There was an illustration of footsteps with arrows - a pattern to an extraordinary drunken waltz, no doubt. There was a drawing of a top hat with a lever so the crown could open and close like a chimney flap and smoke would come out of it. There was a tuxedo with a carnation tucked into its pocket, with holes in the elbows.

They all seemed to be in a state of disarray. As though they had been crammed in at funny angles. As if they were clothes that had been packed in a trunk and now they were straightening themselves back out. The officer couldn't make out their entire bodies. It was like they were a box of doll parts that had gotten mixed up.

Leap from one instance to another where Pierrot plays the piano and Rose is compelled to dance. Dare to ask if these talented thespians haven't evolved into a one-trick pony.

Then [Rose] began dancing the dance of a snow angel. [. . .] And Pierrot played along. They were so synchronized that it was hard for anyone in the audience to discern whether Pierrot was playing along to her dancing or whether she was dancing to his music.

Before the night is over, women will weep, men will curse, and children will shriek in fearful joy!

Happy endings are as high in the sky as an acrobat's tightrope in this moody, eccentric tale of two people drawn together as though by fate. The Lonely Hearts Hotel is a spectacular show guaranteed to entertain only the most intrepid of audiences.

[Navessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read over a thousand books. None of them were like this one.

And that, perhaps, is the biggest compliment that I can give a book at this point.

Set in Montreal during the depression, this book is...hard to describe. It's not one of those that I would rush out and recommend to everyone, because it's not really an easy read. First off, it opens with the incestuous rape of a minor. It's mentioned almost offhand, in just a sentence or two, which could be offensive to most, but in this book it actually fits with the story telling and the mentality of the characters of that time.

This rape results in an unwanted pregnancy. The child that comes of it is delivered to the nuns that run an orphanage in the city. This is where we meet our two MCs, Rose, and Pierrot. Their lives are miserable. Think Angela's Ashes level misery. They are underfed both physically, and mentally. The nuns are cruel, prone to viciously punishing the children for even the slightest perceived offense. And that's not the worst of what they do.

Rose and Pierrot are something of star-crossed lovers. Somehow, amidst all this pain and misery, they form a bond. They find laughter and music together. And then everything goes to hell. What follows is one hell of a love story. I would try and describe it to you, but honestly, in this case, part of the book blurb says it all:

"The Lonely Hearts Hotel is a love story with the power of legend. An unparalleled tale of charismatic pianos, invisible dance partners, radicalized chorus girls, drug-addicted musicians, brooding clowns, and an underworld whose economy hinges on the price of a kiss. In a landscape like this, it takes great creative gifts to thwart one's origins. It might also take true love."

So, if you're looking for a beautifully told story filled with the full range of human emotion, set in a time period that roared and raged, give this one a chance.

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[Christina (A Reader of Fictions) · Rating 1 out of 5]

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK DID I JUST READ? And, I know you’re probably thinking that I’m being really fucking melodramatic right now, because I started out a review with yelling, but no seriously WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS BOOK? The Lonely Hearts Hotel is a disgusting, erotic portrayal of a bunch of fucked up shit; it’s not a powerful love story like the blurb will have you believe.

It’s my own fault that I read this, because it’s not like I shouldn’t have known better from the moment the audiobook started. The Lonely Hearts Hotel opens with a twelve-year-old being raped by her cousin and getting pregnant. She’s sent to a hospital with a bunch of other young, shamed pregnant girls, dubbed Ignorance, and births one of the main characters of The Lonely Hearts Hotel, Pierrot. So yeah, I was disgusted by that opener, but Julia Whelan’s performance is excellent, and I kept going. I think I just felt like surely there had to be some reason this book was so horrendously offensive and hateful and revolting, so I kept listening to see why. That was a mistake.

Both Rose and Pierrot (not their actual names, but these fit their manic pixie souls better) grow up in an orphanage. They’re both special, strange children. One of the nuns at the orphanage begins sexually abusing Pierrot starting when he is eleven years old, and the book makes sure to inform you that his penis was already large for his age. (There will be several occasions on which the book likes to remind you that Pierrot is magnificently endowed.) Why didn’t I stop? I really don’t know. I was just so fucking horrified by this book that I wanted to see WHY this shit was happening. I finished and I still don’t know. The book doesn’t condone this shit, but it’s also really graphic and filled with constant sexual content.


My face for all 12 hours (why o why did i do this to myself?)

Pierrot, as a result of the sexual abuse, becomes obsessed with sex; he calls himself a pervert. In addition to the actual sex in the book, there are constant dirty fantasies. Not yet a teen, he imagines all the women and girls in the orphanage giving him blow jobs. Eventually, Pierrot realizes how much he hates what Sister Elise has been doing to him, and he wants to be with Rose, who he loves. Sister Elise catches on and beats Rose almost to death for a minor infraction. Meanwhile, Pierrot gets adopted.

This book is a constant, hypersexualized portrayal of Rose and Pierrot. Over the course of the novel, Pierrot has a series of lovers and develops a heroin addiction which will eventually kill him. Rose, meanwhile, in her upper teens, becomes the mistress of the family for which she had been a governess. When she finally escapes that guy (who’s a mob boss and terribly obsessed with Rose bc she’s magical), she ends up working in porn until she finally finds Pierrot.

I’d sort of expected this book to be about the two manic pixies who are kept apart by terrible people and how sad that is because of their pure, perfect love. Only then that’s not even what goes down. They get married and are poor and tragic and Rose miscarries their child and Rose’s mob boss is still out to get her because he cannot recover. They end up setting up a clown revue (SO MANY CLOWNS) in NYC which is used as a front to smuggle drugs for the mob boss to another mob boss. Rose wants to kill the mob boss and set up fabulous businesses, but Pierrot doesn’t want to so he cheats on her and goes back to heroin and dies alone

Rose is super successful running those businesses just as she planned. The conclusion comes when Elise shows up and tells her Pierrot has a child by his former prostitute girlfriend. Rose forgives Elise, who feels cleansed, which OH MY FUCKING GOD MAKES ME MURDEROUS, and adopts Pierrot’s kid, who will bring joy back to her world.

The Lonely Hearts Hotel has been tagged some as magical realism, but it’s more erotica with overgrown nature metaphors whenever there isn’t sex happening. This book is uncomfortable and I don’t know what the fucking point for that infuriating hateful mess was. (See, my swearing was justified. Clearly I hate myself for finishing this.) Really the only positive thing I can say is that the prose is good, but who the fuck cares if you write this shit with it.

I need to go take a fucking shower. Or five.

[Elyse Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Library... ebook:

My eyes were opened wide with my chest constricted —
The abuse - physical- emotional - and sexual - that takes place in a Montreal orphanage - during the 1930’s, makes life for the orphan children in the musical “Annie” look like Disneyland in comparison.

NO HOLDS BACK from author Heather O’Neill.....
.... BE WARNED: There is graphic sexual abuse between a young female nun and a pre-teen boy.
BUT....besides the ‘in-your-face’ details of sexual- forbidden - lust behind closed doors- and physical abusive violence ( from nuns to children) - there are two children in this novel that have our *hearts* BIG TIME!!! .... they dazzle us with their talents and personalities- and inspire us with their inner strength.

Pierrot and Rose are both unforgettable characters. Both abandoned from teenage mothers. Pierrot is a gifted piano player - and acrobat. Rose loves to tell stories with her invisible dancing bear and make other children in the orphanage laugh. The kids love her... and Pierrot is ‘in love’ with her. — I HATED IT WHEN Pierrrot suddenly leaves the orphanage ( but a GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR HIM) , when not only is Rose left behind recovering from just having been beaten so bad she ended up in the hospital), but she doesn’t understand why Pierrot doesn’t write her. It’s the nun....she blocked their communication.

Pierrot goes to live with a wealthy man at age 13. Soon, Rose leaves the orphanage too, and becomes a nanny for a powerful businessman who oversees the city’s night life.

During the Great Depression both Pierrot and Rose fall into the underworld of drugs, sex, and crime ... but have never given up hope of finding each other and love.
Pierrot spent three years sending unanswered letters to Rose —finally assumed Rose was annoyed with him. What he didn’t know is that she never got those letters and was missing him too.

As Pierrot and Rose continued grow up....
we enter a whimsical - tragic - ( sometimes a fairytale/magical world) - of gangsters- prostitutes - and clowns. There are pregnancies & miscarriages ..injustice - sadness - hope - perseverance - and love.

No matter what I say about this novel - it’s very hard to transfer the experience. It’s a beautiful book......with gorgeous sensitive writing.

As much as I loved Pierrot....it’s *Rose* who I’ll remember for a long time after.

[Olive Fellows (abookolive) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a MUCH grittier version of everything I had hoped The Starless Sea would be. I LOVED it.

[Kelsey · Rating 1 out of 5]

A sumptuous cover for an irredeemably brutal book.

I'm always leery when a marketing team compares the book they're promoting to books I love. It's kind of interesting to try to figure out what inspired the comparison. In some cases, it's spot on and I'm happy to add another book to the family ("A Thousand Nights meet Girls at the Kingfisher Club - you guys have a lot to talk about). In other cases, I sort of feel like they've missed the forest for the trees.*

You can probably tell by my rating which of those two scenarios we've ended up with. Here the "for fans of!" book is The Night Circus, which I felt mediocre about after I read it and then two months later realized I full-on loved it and read it four more times. The Lonely Hearts Hotel does indeed have plot parallels to the The Night Circus. Both are about two neglected children with innate creative talents stuck in a terrible situation (poverty versus a long-term magical duel, respectively). Both books have an inevitable romance, a love of live performances, and a confrontation between the male protagonist's past and current lovers over tarot cards (that latter one felt uncomfortably similar). That's pretty much where the comparisons end.

Lonely Hearts opens with a child rape and an assumed still-birth and resurrection via infant erection. That's in the first three pages. From there it stumbles on into more child rape, child abuse, animal abuse, sexual abuse, prostitution, graphic miscarriages, drug addiction - and by the time we'd gotten to a gratuitous dogfight, I'd had enough. (I know, it's weird that the dogfight was what did it for me. It felt like the literary equivalent of puppykicking. It's like in movies when the characters are sad and it's raining and it's condescendingly, embarrassingly on-the-nose - except in this case miniature poodles are getting their neck snapped while the female character who bet on the tiny female poodle is about to figuratively and emotionally have the same thing happen to her. Delightful.)

I tried to be openminded. Maybe some people loved The Night Circus because they just really love reading about the performing arts, in which case the comparison works and you might like Lonely Hearts. Or Glee. Or a whole variety of different things. But I suspect most Night Circus fans bought in because of the sumptuous imagery, delicious atmosphere, and slowburn, escapist romance. Lonely Hearts has performers falling in love, but it's soaked in sex, violence, and then more awful, depressing sex and violence. That's different than romance.

Even the romance in Lonely Hearts has super touching moments like the male hero kissing the female heroine on her c***. No, I'm not being crass. That's the word used. I guess I'm all for reclaiming language, but c*** is just a real mood ruiner. Imagine Darcy whispering that to Elizabeth. Imagine Romeo whispering that to Juliet (actually, he was a cocky teenager - I can see that). Saying that if you like The Night Circus you'll like Lonely Hearts is like saying, "If you liked Legally Blonde, you'll LOVE Cruel Intentions."Yeah, they both have Reese Witherspoon and Selma Blair and people falling in love and taking charge of their futures but...that's where it ends.

The kind of stuff you find in Lonely Hearts is usually cued by marketing language like "edgy" and "provocative." I wish they'd gone with that, because then, okay, I know what I'm getting into.

But.

Even if it weren't for the weird marketing fake-out, I still wouldn't have been on board. We definitely need more books about sexual abuse, miscarriage - even questions like, "how does a hard-as-nails, ambitious woman navigate her romantic relationships when she's attracted to power but knows she deserves levity and kindness?" That's an interesting question. But the book never becomes thoughtful about these things. The terrible stuff in this book is just terrible stuff - set-dressing to complicate a romance or reference the Depression. And that's not cool.

The writing was also tough. I'm a fan of figurative language, but this veers into purple territory. Here's a sample:

There was a chicken coop where little round eggs appeared as if by magic every morning. Tiny fragile moons that were necessary for survival. The children reached into the nests ever so carefully to retrieve the eggs without breaking their shells. With the sleeves of their sweaters pulled over their hands, their arms were like the trunks of elephants swallowing up peanuts. (7)

Man, I find the metaphors here super distracting. Eggs as moons? Moons are necessary for survival if you're hungry? And now we're talking about elephants? Huh? I like figurative language when it illuminates an idea or when it enhances the magic of a text. But, you can't strong-arm magic and whimsy into a book.

So. If you're going to write about serious stuff, choose a couple issues and really talk about them. Give these events the respect and nuance they deserve. And don't muddy a text with unnecessary or meaningless flourishes. And stop comparing books to The Night Circus to sell more books - unless you really mean it.

Thanks to First to Read for giving me an advance copy of the book. Sorry it wasn't my jam. Your design team is amazing. That cover is swoony.


*Sidenote: if another book gets compared to Game of Thrones, I'm going to scream. Like, which part of GOT? The many warring kingdoms? That's most of fantasy and historical fiction. The dragons? Same. The gritty realism that somehow only directs sexual violence at women? Because no thanks. Is it because they're impossibly long and take forever to come out? I'm already halfheartedly reading that one Brandon Sanderson series, so again: no thanks.

[Helene Jeppesen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so dark and twisted, and it will leave you with a feeling of hopelessness and despair. But for some reason that's exactly why I loved it: Finally we get a story in which there is no happy ending in sight, and where you live in the darkness and cruelty of life and still manage to see glimpses of beauty.
"The Lonely Hearts Hotel" is about Pierrot and Rose who are two orphans placed in the same orphanage. They are both very gifted artistically and they are both naturally drawn to each other. However, this is not a cute love story as the story starts from a dark place and continues in this manner. Over its 400 pages we are met with rape, abuse, addiction, loneliness, despair, and the list continues. There seems to be no hope for these two characters who are born into a hopeless life and can only seem to find a glimpse of light in it through their love - and through a black cat :)
I'm not saying that I loved this book simply because it was dark all the way through. But I did appreciate it for its honesty and brutality because it raises so many questions in your head and it gives you a different perspective on life. This story was unique and like no other book I've read, and for that it deserves 4 stars, despite how twisted that might make me seem :)

[Mark Porton · Rating 2 out of 5]

A DNF for me after 200 pages, yes it's interesting enough - but it just seems a bit light and superficial to me. Both main characters are a bit too 'out of this world'. Personally, I don't feel any attachment to any of the players, and I feel like I'm just going through the motions.

[Jennifer nyc · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

If the words penis, pussy, dick, cunt and cock bother you in print, don’t read this. If you were disappointed by Sarah Waters,’ Tipping the Velvet, and still want an urban coming-of-age story about performers in a historical setting, but without the sentiment, this may hit the spot. And if you did love Tipping the Velvet, you may love this, too, although this one is about heterosexual love.

There’s an element of fairytale in this story about a boy and a girl who fall in love while living at an orphanage together in 1914-Montreal. O’Neill is unafraid to show a population seeped in sex, as sex is a free power for the poor. It also shows the power of creative minds to express and spread what buoys us in life, and how possession of these gifts separates you from your fellow man, whether they revere or dismiss you.

In a believable reversal of the norm, the boy is molested by a nun, and the author is unafraid to show how pleasure mixes with disgust, how the effect can be passed from person to person, and become a way of life for those without options. The boy and girl age out of the orphanage, and begin separate lives, taking us through the depression era in New York City and Montreal. They’ve never forgotten one another, and it feels like the story is leading up to the two meeting again.

This is the kind of unwholesome tale I like, one that isn’t gratuitous, just showing a way of life unafraid of judgment and not needing to prove a thing. And the whole orientation of the story feels directed towards hope, with the characters using their gifts of kindness, intelligence, and creativity to make the best of the cards dealt, letting the reader laugh and love with them.

[Gabrielle (Reading Rampage) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was talking to a friend about this novel a few days ago, and following this conversation, I have to change my rating from 4 to 5 stars. Because I keep recommending it to everyone. Because I still think about it all the time over a year after I read it, because Pierrot and Rose and the way their story ended haunts me. So to Hell with the few editing lapses that annoyed me: when a book gets under your skin the way this one did, it deserves a full five stars and a spot on the “favorites” shelf.

--

This book had been on my radar for a while, and not just because of the (utterly inappropriate) comparison to “The Night Circus”, a book I guiltily adored a few years ago (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...). I had a feeling that “The Lonely Hearts Hotel” was a romance, a genre that I have mixed feelings about at the best of times. And I was ready to overlook that, because I enjoy stories of star-crossed lovers just as much as the next gal: but if you put those poor doomed idiots in my beloved city, during a time period I am mildly obsessed with, then add a good dose of grit and sex, and sprinkle a bit of music and vaguely circus-inspired performances (a local obsession, after all), then you have sold me a book! And since I have no problem with “bad words” that start with C (though context is key here) and decadent settings, this book seemed tailor-made to make me happy.

Pierrot and Rose are born in just about the worse circumstances one can imagine: one is the product of an incestuous rape, while the other’s mother was kicked out of her house for letting herself be impregnated by a neighborhood boy. They end up in a seedy, nun-managed orphanage on the northern edge of Montreal, in 1914. It’s a horrible way to grow up, in a dirty Dickensian sort of way: cold winters, hard manual work, senseless beatings and punishments, no affection… and sometimes entirely the wrong kind of affection. The only good thing those two abandoned children have is each other: Pierrot quickly shows great talent for the piano, and Rose is a gifted dancer and acrobat, which could be their ticket to a better life - but fate has something very different in store for them. While the way they feel about each other is obvious to everyone, they are cruelly separated and thrown into the unfriendly world of the Great Depression, where only the most ruthless people thrive, while the sentimental artists are bound to face the unhappiest of circumstances. And those circumstances will be both highly disturbing and graphically described.

I would call this novel magical realism, because even if nothing particularly magical happens (again, nothing like “The Night Circus”, where things are literally magical), you have to suspend disbelief to enjoy this story. The very essence of Pierrot and Rose’s characters are as unrealistic as they come: Pierrot is ethereally, delicately beautiful, can talk like a gentleman and play the piano like a prodigy while Rose has a will of iron, a bottomless imagination and the kind of big dark eyes that apparently renders everyone helpless. People like that simply don’t exist, but it’s lovely to imagine that they do and that they find each other. It’s also lovely to imagine that their bond is strong enough to survive destitution, drug addition, abject poverty and every imaginable kind of abuse. I am kind of a sucker for stories about how the downtrodden and misfits manage to find happiness in the ugly, messed-up world they live in, and this is the essence of this book. I like the juxtaposition of the elegant and delicate aesthetic of the 30s splattered in the squalor of street life: there's something twisted and sensual in this story that you can't look away from, and the images O'Neill created and put in my head are vulgar, surreal, beautiful and outrageous. Her characters’ thoughts about desire, love and their options (or lack thereof) in a world that preys on dreamers and women are tragic, poetic, paradoxical and depressing. But oh so charmingly written. And while the end is predictably tragic, it strikes a perfectly satisfying and balanced note.

The only problem I have with this book is that the prose is sporadically uneven : O’Neill goes from ornately crafted paragraphs that summon incredible images and feelings… to short, flat sentences that don’t seem like they were worked on at all. And occasionally, her turn of phrase is pretty inconsistent with the setting of her story. This may not seem like much, but it felt very jarring to me, because it essentially pulled me out of the story every time I would hit one of those underworked sentences, or anachronistic words. And I really, really wanted to lose myself in her world, no matter how twisted and fucked up it got! So regardless of how weird and titillating the story is, I knew early it could never be a 5-star read, just because the editor had not been rigorous enough… I enjoyed it enough to keep it at 4 stars, but this irritant was hard to get over. Please don’t let my complaint stop you: if you can’t stomach stories about sexual abuse, violence, drug addiction and animal abuse, then avoid this book. Otherwise, it is absolutely worth checking it out. Yup, it is a historical romance, but it’s neither prim nor saccharine, and when it's well written, it’s intoxicating.

[alittlelifeofmel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm trying to get more into Canadian Literature. I don't really think enough of it exists honestly, and I want to buy and read and support Canadian authors so I can send the message to publishers that this is the kind of stuff I want published. So October+November was "buy Canadian Literature" time. I've had my eye on this since the day it was released and I finally picked it up and started it and boy do I have some stuff to say.

Firstly, please Heather O'Neill teach me how to write like you do. The writing in this is so lyrical, so poetic, so imaginative and full of description. I don't know if I've ever experienced anything like this and I absolutely need her to publish more things. She has this very hands off way of dealing with her subject matter and material that feels so genuine. She is unforgiving and has such a distinct style. She will kill off a character in one line, and it's going to be the most beautifully written line in a book. She had a lot of scenes where characters were doing different things in different locations but she would alternate it to make it seem like it was all happening together. I could praise her writing for days, honestly.

Next, plot. This is a tough plot to read and can see why people would shy away from it. There is essentially sexual assault of a minor in the first paragraph, and the first third of the book does have some very hard to read subject matter. But, O'Neill doesn't do details. There is description, but rarely details in her writing. Molestation will be written in a line or two and will pack the same punch had they been written in page long details. The plot follows 2 orphans who meet in an orphanage around the time of the Great Depression in Montreal. It follows the underworld of the city, and watches these 2 orphans grow up in a prostitution and drug filled world. It's done so well.

Rose and Pierrot are 2 of my favourite characters of all time. I care about their well being. I care about everything that happened to them. I felt so connected to their stories, I cared more about their story than my own life. I have felt this before, but rarely. If anyone knows me they know that A Little Life is my favourite book of all time. That book is a part of who I am, and this book is on par with A Little Life. I don't really know how else to talk about the way I feel without saying that, because this book isn't just a part of my life, it's now a part of who I am.

So umm TLDR I loved this with every inch of my soul. I recommend this, I think this is beautiful, and I think that it will stay with me for years and years to come.

[Book Riot Community]

O’Neill has created a fantastical feeling in The Lonely Hearts Hotel that combined with the imaginative writing–and Whelan’s narration—made me feel as if a vintage movie was playing in my brain. It was all so vivid I wanted to reach my hand out and run away with Rose–or join the circus. It was so beautifully written it cushioned the heartbreak of Rose and Pierrot’s lives: two children–who are quirky and gifted and creative and in love– growing up in a Montreal Orphanage in early 1900s and their subsequent teen and young adult lives. This will certainly be one of the best novels of 2017.

–Jamie Canaves


from The Best Books We Read In March 2017: http://bookriot.com/2017/04/04/riot-r...
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I hadn’t actually read any of Heather O’Neill’s work before but I was really excited to get access to this one early. It’s a truly magical, Night Circus-esque tale and is perfect for transporting my political-weary, rage-filled brain away to another world. It’s set in Montreal starting in 1910 and stretching through the next few decades and follows quirkily gifted orphans Pierrot and Rose through life in the orphanage, their early years as servants to the upper class, and finally through the realization of their childhood dreams. I desperately needed the escapism that O’Neill’s musical writing provides and the brisk chapters made this a delightfully quick, yet immersive, read. If you’re craving a romance brimming with magical realism or perhaps a delightful underdog tale you should keep an eye out for this one.

–Brandi Bailey


from The Best Books We Read In January 2017: http://bookriot.com/2017/02/01/riot-r...

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jar of Death Pick #26

I don't even know how to begin to describe The Lonely Hearts Hotel.

What was this?

I should probably say that if you have a trigger than its very likely in this book. Rape, child abuse, abortion, miscarriage, mental illness, poverty, drug abuse, EVERYTHING! This book was so much darker than I thought. I went into this book expecting a light whimsical read but what I got was dark and gritty.

This book just hit me on so many levels. It was dark, violent, sad but hopeful.

I feel at a loss for how to put into words my love for this book. Its just such a weird little book. And feel like I need to reread this book immediately.

I do recommend this book but it is not for everybody. In fact I think most people would probably hate it....But read it anyway!

[Erin Clemence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sex, drugs and………clowns?
“The Lonely Hearts Hotel” is the newest novel by Scotiabank Giller Prize winner and bestselling author, Heather O’Neill. “Hotel” follows on the heels of one of my favourite novels of O’Neill’s, “Lullabies for Little Criminals”.
In “The Lonely Hearts Hotel”, we are introduced to Rose and Pierrot- two orphans who grow up together in a Montreal orphanage during the Great Depression. Rose and Pierrot quickly bond over their love of performing- Pierrot is a piano prodigy with a love of music and Rose will perform for anyone, anywhere. The two are separated as they age, and this novel tells their individual journey to reunification. This novel features a lot of performance, some Mafia bad boys and the two things vital to Montreal society at that time- drugs (especially heroin) and prostitution.
“Hotel” is definitely not for the faint of heart. The children (and later, adults) are victimized in many ways, and become slaves to many vices throughout the course of the novel. There is a lot of drug use, and the theme of feminism runs deep throughout the novel too, as Rose is seen as an outcast for wanting her own, independent life without a male influence.
The writing in this novel was very poetic and descriptive- definitely beautifully written. It sets the scene well and contributes to the strong character development. Rose and Pierrot are powerful and compassionate children (and adults) and a reader’s connection to them only grows stronger as the children develop and battle their childhood demons. The novel however, is also very “performance” focused. There is a lot of talk of putting on theatrical shows and gathering cast and crew members and there are often long parts of the novel where Rose is talking to clowns (the reason is evident if you read the novel but it does drag on). I would’ve liked to have seen more of a focus on the “quest to reunite” vs. “Rose’s goal to speak to every performer in Depression-era Montreal”.
I loved the feminist history of the novel (the dangerous choices made by women during the Depression in Montreal, the treatment of women by other men in the novel, the restrictions placed on women etc.) and it serves as a good reminder of how times have changed. I enjoyed the characters of McMahon, and Poppy, and the ending was a downright pleasant shock, while still maintaining the small amount of bitter sweetness one would expect from a novel such as this.
This novel was a good read, although a bit dry at times, and I really do enjoy how O’Neill writes with such poetic beauty. This is definitely a “Giller prize” nominated book- it has a lot of pertinent-to-the-times themes, with powerful, diverse characters and a strong message throughout. However, parts of the plot itself could use a bit more plumping up, with less ‘performance-focused’ storylines and more ‘romantic reunion’.

[Trang Tran · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.3)I don't understand why this book has so many 1 star because it talks about child abuse and rape? Why would you condemn a book to such a grade just because it doesn't talk about happy fairytales.
The character development in this one is one of the best I've read so far! I love books that have made an impact on me. This one surely did.

This book was a wonderful psychological thriller road. Nothing like The Night Circus AT ALL. IT IS DARK AND TWISTED. Wonderfully plotted.

Full review to come!!

Trang Tran

[Ashley Daviau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t know how I’m ever going to come close to accurately describing how utterly fantastic this book is but here goes! This book knocks it out of the park and is by far THE best book I’ve read this year. It’s magical and raw and just absolutely spell binding! I can’t believe I’m going to say this but it’s like The Night Circus, only BETTER. I know that’s a very bold statement but I stand behind it 100%. I especially loved the fact that it was set mostly in Montreal, it made it all that much more magical for me. I really couldn’t have loved this book more!

[DeB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heather O'Neill writes literary fiction. Each of her books has had a style unique unto itself, a thematic presentation that is idiosyncratic and not one which is cozily familiar representing "that next book" which a fan might be eagerly awaiting. That said, all of her stories represent one BIG idea: Disenfranchised, poor, neglected, abused, demeaned women must trust in themselves and find their purpose as individuals, free to build lives not enslaved by the men who trap them. The women she writes about are from the lowliest of circumstances, compromised by poverty, reduced to prostitution and surrounded by pimps and drug addicts. The Lonely Hearts Hotel shares all of these aspects - but glitters dangerously as it does so.

This is the Montreal tale of Rose and Pierrot, baby orphans both, left with Catholic nuns in the early 1900s who regarded them as living sins. These children grow into their Dickensian plot, charming the city rich with their pretty performance of dance (Rose) and music on piano (Pierrot) while the nuns profit. Greater darkness attends them, when Sister Eloise fancies Pierrot to diddle with in nocturnal bathroom visitations and then grows so jealous of the love between the two children that she injures Rose. Pierrot leaves, a wealthy mentor entranced by his genius. Rose finds a position as a governess, and becomes a mistress.

As the months and years advance in their story, an oddity becomes apparent. The writing appears to tell a children's story, that of those lovely innocents Rose and Pierrot, with its prose in short pieces, little repetitive pronouns grabbing for attention, simple description telling simplest things.

"All the dwellings looked more or less the same. They were two-storied squat duplexes made of red bricks. They had different coloured doors. Every now and then there would be a prettier house with a balcony or a tin moulding with maple leaves along the roof."

But parallel to the sense of a children's story is the darker Dickensian one, further sullied because this is by Heather O'Neill, and not Dickens.

"The duplexes for the whores were usually nicer. They could afford pretty curtains and a doormat. The whores in the windows were like chocolates in an Advent calendar. ...there was Poppy, wearing an undershirt and nothing else. She had a great big strawberry-blond bush and scabs on both knees. Rose wondered what odd sexual practice caused her to skin both her knees."

This odd, whimsical touch continues throughout the novel, throughout upheaval for both Pierrot and Rose, throughout addiction, a foray into pornography, much narrative about clowns and at every turn someone's penis being used in lieu of money, clout, exchange - tiresome, never erotic - as both search for their lives, unaccompanied by one another yet attached by a plan they made when they were twelve years old.

Eventually the two meet again. Their children's story is completed with true love, which we expect it would like any good fairy tale. And the childhood plans commence, lives converge and explode and sweetly continue. Some sort of happy life...

This novel is fantastical. It is dark and dangerous, and it is a trapeze act of frippery. It is Hearts and Flowers, cobwebs and torture chambers. It is an unlikely fairy tale, saved to frighten next generations. Parts are based on reality, we know - but which are which? You get to decide.

THE BEAUTIFUL NEAR-POETRY OF HEATHER O'NEILL:
Quotes-

"...Sister Eloise stole the letter off the Mother Superior's desk and ripped it up into a hundred pieces and threw it in the trash. It lay at the bottom of the basket like butterflies that had died during a sudden frost."

"The smoke ring from his cigar hung in the dark like an eclipsed moon."

"She tapped the shell of her egg with a spoon. A little earthquake spread across its surface."

"On the window ledge was a robin that looked like a fat man who had been shot by his business partner."

"...the best we can hope from life is that it is a wonderful depression."

I give this FOUR STARS because it is a wonderful creative piece of literary fiction. However I was not moved emotionally by the novel. Her first novel, Lullabies for Little Criminals, which is also dark and sexually disturbing, moved me deeply and remains my favourite.

[Trudie · Rating 1 out of 5]

* DNF at 120 pages *

I was saddened when I decide to cast this book aside as I feel it reflects badly on my ability to select books I will like as well as my patience as a reader. However, this book was always going to be a risky proposition. I didn't take well to all the circusy antics of The Night Circus a book the The LHH is suppose to be similar too, (its not, its whimsy with a side order of grim abuse and absurdism). Also, I should have stayed clear of books referencing hotels given my recent cursed experiences with "hotel" books. Not that I made it as far as a hotel with this book.
Several things irked me about this novel but the single most tiresome thing was the similes, it made me curious if the author was being payed by the simile, she crams them into every descriptive space available.


All the bruises blooming like violets. All the bruises like storm clouds. The little beads of sweat like raindrops on her nose. All her bruises spreading out like the tip of a pen touching a wet cloth

I guess its a stylistic device, which if you can get past you might enjoy the novel more than I did, but then there is the grimly explicit and uncomfortable sex scenes to deal with, jarringly, to my mind, juxtaposed with this sort of fairy tale, carnival vibe.

I just could not wrap my head around this novel at all.

[Libby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never read anything like 'The Lonely Hearts Hotel' by Heather O'Neill. It's irreverent, perverse, and absolutely delicious. O'Neill's prose is so spontaneously gorgeous that it's like little fireworks of prose bursting on every page. What a wonderful way to start my reading New Year of 2018, although it is setting a very high bar. How can I be satisfied with less?

This book includes scenes of rape and child abuse, so if this is a trigger for you, do not read this book.

Rose and Pierrot both grow up at an orphanage in Montreal. Their childhood is one of scarcity and lack and punishments from the nuns for "virtually anything." From the soil of this depleted background, they nourished each other with their vivid imaginations. Sister Eloise comes to the orphanage and favors Pierrot with her attention and punishes Rose whenever she can. Seeing how the two children are drawn together, the nuns try to keep them separate, but Pierrot's talent for playing the piano and Rose's talent for dance and mimicry cause them to be thrust together and out into homes in the community as an entertainment team.

"They were so synchronized that it was hard for anyone in the audience to discern whether Pierrot was playing along to her dancing or whether she was dancing to his music. It seemed to everyone watching that they had rehearsed this number carefully for years."

Then, after years of being together, Pierrot is taken in by a wealthy philanthropist and Rose is sent to be a governess to two young children in the McMahon family. They are separated for a number of years, and these are not boring years to be endured as the reader waits for their reunification. Upon meeting the McMahon children, Hazel and Ernest, Rose introduces herself.

"When Rose walked back up to the nursery, she was wearing one of McMahon's suits and a top hat she'd discovered in a hall closet.
"I hear there were some children looking for me. I am Mr. Wolf."
Hazel stood up from her chair so abruptly that it toppled over behind her. She began applauding, so happy that she was getting a story without asking for one.
"Look at me. I'm not a monster. I just want some clothes so that I can get a regular job. Oh, perhaps I'll eat a child once in a while. That's my nature. But only the very naughty ones."

Themes that O'Neill explores are abandonment, women's roles, theatrics as a version of reality more real than life itself, poverty, depression, drug addiction, art and the imagination, and of course, the meaning of life.

This is a beautiful book. There's no way I can do it justice, especially now that my husband has gone to bed and turned out the lights in my room and there's nowhere else for me to escape to in my home for privacy to write. Sigh.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an incredible story!

“All children are really orphans. At heart, a child has nothing to do with its parents, its background, its last name, its gender, its family trade. It is a brand-new person, and it is born with the only legacy that all individuals inherit when they open their eyes in this world: the inalienable right to be free.”

I was aware of the comparison to The Night Circus going in: sure, there are orphans, some clowns, and a show along the line, but this is not the story of a circus. This is the story of Pierrot and Rose, two characters that I won’t forget any time soon!

There’s also no magic, not unless you count the writing, which I found spellbinding (I couldn't help it!). Hell, this was darker than I was expecting, almost brutal in its depiction of abuse, violence, and drug addiction, therefore it packs quite the emotional punch. But I love my books dark, challenging, I love character growth and the unconventional love story. I was truly surprised by this novel and it does not happen that often.

This won’t be for everyone, but I do recommend you give it a try!

[Steph VanderMeulen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've tried numerous times to find the right words to describe this book. But it's hard when the overwhelming feeling is always, I can't even—!

I wanted to photograph every sentence. I wanted to stuff it in my mouth or shoot it up directly into my bloodstream. It is marvellous, magical, wondrously imaginative. It makes me want to make love to Heather O'Neill's genius mind.

The writing is nothing short of stellar. The story, which you can read about for yourself on the book jacket, is by turns sweet and funny and devastating. It made me feel crazy and unstable, like that horrendous feeling you have on the edge of a terrible release of gas in public or when you're about to burst into horribly inappropriate laughter.

I loved every minute of this fantastic novel. With themes of freedom and feminism and poverty and riches, with dreams and despair and hope and ecstasy, with clowns and gangsters and sex and heroin, and with Roses and Poppys and Lilys, I promise you, it is an experience that will crack your heart wide open—but only if your mind is first.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

All children are really orphans. At heart, a child has nothing to do with its parents, its background, its last name, its gender, its family trade. It is a brand-new person, and it is born with the only legacy that all individuals inherit when they open their eyes in this world: the inalienable right to be free.

I think that the publishers of The Lonely Hearts Hotel has done it a disservice by marketing it as having “echoes of The Night Circus”, because these two books would have decidedly different target audiences; and while I certainly found the latter to be charming and light, Heather O'Neill's latest is disarming and dark. Filled with child abuse (sexual, physical, and mental) and two main characters who grow up to think of themselves as “perverts” who engage in degrading acts (described in graphic and gritty language), this isn't aimed at people looking for a breezy read. As for me, as a longtime fan of O'Neill and her exuberant, bewitching prose, I wouldn't be surprised if this is the book that finally gets her the Giller Prize.

The story stretches between the two World Wars and begins in a severe orphanage on the outskirts of Montreal. Two of the foundlings – Rose and Pierrot – are able to use their imaginations to surmount their bleak living conditions with music and dance and storytelling that delights their fellow orphans, and until the nuns realise that they can exploit the pair for fund-raising, they keep them apart and punish their efforts. When they become teenagers, the nuns decide to separate the pair for good; sending them out into service and tricking each into believing that the other has disappeared without a word. As the years go by and the days of Montreal's gangsters, cabarets, and opium dens profiting from America's Prohibition laws slides into the bleakness of the Depression era, Rose and Pierrot never forget each other; the reader hoping that they'll reunite not just for love's sake, but for art's as well. As I found the plot to be totally unpredictable, that's all I'm going to say about it.

What primarily separates O'Neill from other authors is her unrelenting use of metaphors and similes – there are delightful turns of phrase to be found on every page, and just when you think it's getting to be too much, she piles on more, and at the point where it goes beyond too much, for me, it feels just right; when everything is something else, you need to pay attention to what really is. Nearly every chapter ends with such a line:

• On the window ledge was a robin that looked like a fat man who had been shot in the chest by a business partner.

• A butterfly passed by the window. It had made its wings out of the pressed petals of flowers.

• The pug, looking like a little old man wearing a bathrobe, stood by unimpressed.

And often, O'Neill stuffs whole paragraphs with these devices:

• After the seventh toast, Pierrot had finished four tumblers of wine. His lips were dark red, as if he had kissed a Parisian whore. His teeth were purple, as if he had bitten into an animal. He was feeling hot. So he unbuttoned his shirt and flung it onto the floor. He sat there like a mad Roman emperor.

• The sand resembled brown sugar. The seagulls leaped up and down as if they were at the end of yo-yos. The waves made the sound of someone biting into an apple. When they crashed, they were a hundred thousand chorus girls raising up their dresses at once. And then the water receded again like the train of a jilted bride walking off into the distance.

I recognise that I might be making the writing sound cheesy by sharing these bits out of context, but I was completely delighted in the moment. Further, as in her previous books, O'Neill uses metaphors that place humanity at the center of creation, as in the following (describing watching a clown juggle flaming sticks):

If you were in the audience, you couldn't help but reflect on all the winking stars immeasurable distances away, which blazed so we'd have something to wish on, and lit up the sky so that we could walk our dogs without bumping into trees.

Perhaps it's just me, but I find that sense of human primacy to be doubly engaging and wondrous. Also as in earlier O'Neill works, even though there are nominally two protagonists, The Lonely Hearts Hotel is truly a story of women (and I am pointedly not using the terms “chick lit” or “feminist fiction”, because it is neither): from the frightened young girls, beaten by their fathers and abandoned by their beaus, who were forced to give their unwanted babies to the orphanage, to the prostitutes, wives, and nuns who rely on the support of men, the reader is led to recognise that, while Rose and Pierrot may have had identical upbringings and launches into the world, it is Rose who has fewer opportunities.

Women were still strange and inscrutable creatures. Men didn't understand them. And women didn't understand themselves either. It was always a performance of some sort. Everywhere you went, it was like there was a spotlight down on your head. You were on a stage when you were on the trolley. You were being judged and judged and judged. Every minute of your performance was supposed to be incredible and outstanding and sexy.

You were often only an ethical question away from being prostitute.

Coming from the homeland of the genre-bending Cirque du Soleil, it's unsurprising that when Rose views and then conceives of various clown acts, these aren't of the carnation-squirting Barnum & Bailey's variety; her clowns are surrealists and existential artists; she makes the case that only clowns can truly reveal the human condition; her audiences weep and gasp and don't know why. And I think that it is around this point that The Lonely Hearts Hotel (and probably all of O'Neill's work) revolves: the metaphors and similes are the greasepaint that delight while masking the deeper truths; we laugh at the clown whose pants fall down because we all go around feeling exposed and ridiculous every damn day of our lives.

I've read and considered the reviews that complain The Lonely Hearts Hotel is gratuitous in its depiction of child abuse and “shocking for shock's sake”; but art is often shocking, and this book is art. Art is also subjective and I recognise that this book won't be to everyone's tastes. For me, it all works.

[Lindsay (thebibliophileandtheboxer) · Rating 2 out of 5]

So you see the sparkly stars and glowing moon on the cover, the fun Art Deco font, the comparison to "The Night Circus," and words like "enchant" and "magical," and you probably think this is going to be a somewhat lighthearted page-turner. Let me just clear that up right now: this book is mostly depressing as fuck, with just enough charm thrown in here and there to keep you hanging on.

The story started off with such potential! Two quirky children, a boy and a girl, bond in a miserable WWI-era Montreal orphanage. There's something whimsical, almost eerie, about both of them. The boy, Pierrot, has a special connection to pianos and cats; the girl, Rose, has a clever head and feet made for dancing. They both have a magnetic charisma and a knack for performing, and they delight and charm everyone they meet (excepting the strict nuns who run the orphanage). They dream up a brilliant revue show, the Snowflake Icicle Extravaganza, writing up plans to enact as soon as they escape the dreary orphanage. But fate intervenes and Rose and Pierrot must go their separate ways. Over a decade later, the Snowflake Icicle Extravaganza comes to fruition and it's fabulous, innovative and moving -- a joy to read about!

Everything in between? That's where the "depressing as fuck" comes in. There's sex, drugs, rape, prostitutes, addiction, the Great Depression, pornography, unwanted pregnancies, obsession, more drugs and more sex. A disturbing, strange sexual thing happens at the beginning, when Pierrot and Rose are still at the orphanage, but I went along with it. The entire middle chunk of the book, though, was thoroughly lacking in magic and enchantment and thoroughly overdoing it in the sex, drugs and debauchery department. Thanks, but I don't need to hear about every single time a "cock" explodes into a "cunt." (And these weren't erotic sex scenes, either -- the author just felt like she had to let us know every time the characters got it on.) I can understand how all the sex, drugs, poverty and generally shitty times were essential to the plot, but I think the middle section could've been condensed down to 50 pages instead of 200.

I also had mixed feelings about the writing. On the one hand it could be lyrical and filled with the loveliest of metaphors, and on the other it was sometimes choppy and peppered with odd word choices incongruous with the flow of the story and the historical time period.

One thing I did appreciate about the novel was a strong female main character -- a maverick, really. While Rose had plenty of flaws, she knew her own mind, she knew what she wanted out of life and she figured out how to make it happen by whatever means necessary. The author had a lot to say about women's place in the world historically, and while circumstances are quite obviously a million times better for women now that they were a hundred years ago when the book is set, some things still resonated as true. When I read this quote -- "The only females in society who had any real bargaining power were the dopey little virgins with rags safety-pinned to their underwear, filling up with blood the color of fallen dead rose petals. The minute the gave themselves up, they really had no agency whatsoever." -- all I could think about was Donald Trump grabbing pussies. Here we are in the 21st century and women are still sometimes seen as nothing more sex objects.

While "The Lonely Hearts Hotel" is most certainly crass, vulgar and dark, it does indeed have some magical, charming, wondrous elements. I just wish there were way more of those and fewer of the former -- though perhaps I wouldn't feel so strongly that way if the book had been marketed differently. When you go in expecting a fantastical adventure and get heroin and prostitutes, it's hard to get your bearings. (P.S. Despite what the publisher's blurb says, I didn't find this book to be anything like "The Night Circus.")

From my blog, Linday's Library.

*I received a free advance copy from the Penguin First To Read program in exchange for an honest review.

[Rebecca Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Lonely Hearts Club is written in a gorgeous whimsical style, and I've no doubt comparisons will be made to the Night Circus, with how at times the writing can be so enchantingly beautiful and the imagery this evokes. The big difference being this is definitely not a ya book. This book tackles plenty of difficult subjects - child abuse, rape, pedophilia, sexual assault, prostitution, drug abuse, theft, crime and the underworld of Montreal and New York. It's grim and gritty and can be depressing at times, but then the books synopsis does spell that out for potential readers. I'm not sure if it should be marketed as being like the Night Circus though, purely because this book is so dark and quite shocking in parts.

This book is told from the perspective of a boy and girl; Rose and Pierrot who are both orphans who end up in an orphanage ran by cruel nuns, who seem to believe orphans are sub human and must have something inherently wrong with them. Some of the treatments lashed out on the kids are deplorable, and one of the nuns is particularly sadist and evil - anyone who reads this book will know which one I mean.

Rose and Pierrot are different to other children, they are both natural performers, and can cheer up the other kids through somersaults, tricks, play acting and improvisations. They have an immediate affinity and connection with each other, but one the nuns in the orphanage actively discourage and try to keep the pair separate. Nevertheless they entertain the other kids when they get the chance by putting on little performances, Pierrot is a genius pianist and Rose dances and performs to his tunes. Despite being kept apart as much as possible, the pair grow even closer as they get to spend more time together and realise how similar they are, this leads to them making a pact of marriage when they are just 13.

Their years at the orphanage are extremely tough. They are both brutally physically and emotionally abused by sadist nuns, and Pierrot is also sexually abused. Pierrot eventually finds an escape, at 15 his piano playing is heard by a wealthy man who adopts him. His attempts to keep in contact with Rose are thwarted by the nuns who tear up his letters before Rose gets a chance to even know he's written. Once the Great Depression begins, more and more children are left at the orphanage. The mother superior decides to make room for younger kids and sends the older ones out to work, resulting in Rose leaving the orphanage to start work for a rich family. Life takes a different turn for both of them as they join the real world and have to learn to fend for themselves. They both have their own struggles to overcome and slide into Montreal's underworld, but no matter what they face they can't stop thinking of the other and wonder if they will ever get to see one another again.

The Lonely Hearts Hotel delves into some harrowing and sensitive subjects, such as child abuse among orphans. If you are of a sensitive composition, and prefer books that skim over more difficult subjects, then I doubt this book is for you. Some of the scenes and storylines are pretty graphic and can be rather depressing. Saying that, I personally liked the fact the author was brave enough to not shy away from topics that other writers may skirt around and mainly insinuate towards. Sure, it was extremely uncomfortable and unpleasant to read at times, but Heather O'Neil's beautiful lyrical writing style makes it a little easier to read. Child abuse would have a lasting and/or detrimental effect and impact on their adult lives in some shape or form and we can clearly see in this book how it effects Rose and Pierrot. The metaphors used by Heather O'Neil are exquisite, in any other book I may have found the usage too much, but it suited the style in this book perfectly. Oh and the book cover, you can't not read this book without mentioning the beautiful cover, just look at it, it's stunning.

Fundamentally The Lonely Hearts Hotel is a love story. Albeit a love short with lots of gritty and distressing subplots. Nothing is candy coated and there are plenty of feelings of melancholy once you get towards the end of the book. It is a snapshot in time of the period of the Great Depression and all the horrors of life that occurred during this time. This book does make you feel emotions though, even if at times it makes you feel down, it is making you feel which is what reading is all about. I have an inkling that this book is going to be a bit like marmite among readers; you'll either love it or you'll hate it, with not a lot in between.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books - riverrun for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book, in return for an honest and unbiased review.

[Allison ༻hikes the bookwoods༺ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is this story a comedy or tragedy? This is a question alluded to within the novel and ultimately what the reader wants to know. Will Pierrot and Rose find their happy ending? I've heard this book compared to The Night Circus, but no, I just can't agree on that. It has a magical tone, but Heather O'Neill's story is much more raw, with a lot of drugs and sex, which she seems to write about often.

[Navi · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my goals this year is to read more books by Canadian authors. I am SO happy I picked this book up. It was sitting on my Kindle since 2017 when it was long listed for the Women's Prize. It blows my mind that it was not short listed (and that it did not win!). This is a beautiful, dark and gritty book about love, childhood innocence, missed opportunities, imagination, art and so much more. I was completely enraptured throughout the whole narrative. This is a book that I will definitely be revisiting in the future. Highly recommend!

[jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Update: Just googled the name 'Pierrot' to see if I was saying it correctly and oh my god, another dimension is added to the book. This will make no sense unless you have also read the book and then googled the origins of the name, but bloody hell. I love Heather O'Neill.

-

If A Series of Unfortunate Events and Geek Love had a baby, then raised it on a combination of smack and La La Land, this book is the result.

The Lonely Hearts Hotel introduces us to two curious orphans, Rose and Pierrot, who meet as children and form a bond so transcendent they are doomed to be star-crossed lovers. We then follow them through the highs and lows of their eccentric, bittersweet lives. I found myself filled with wonderment and tenderness at their love for each other, and the whimsical moments throughout, and felt saddened and helpless as they suffered various tragedies.

A provocative, rather filthy writing style still manages to be playful, tender and heartfelt. Real emotions were evoked, and I was utterly endeared to the characters and their stories. I found the novel to be one hugely enticing paradox. The plot is not shy of drugs, abuse and violence on dingy streets but there's also joy, fun and love. It manages to be full of life whilst maintaining a sombre hopeless fatalistic undertone throughout.

I loved every single word. You know these characters can't get their happy ending, it's not that kind of book. But I was completely enraptured as I read through these two precious characters slowly slipping deeper and deeper into darker waters. Despite saying this, I was more than satisfied with the ending. Just enough optimism, but with the signature slick grit that I grew to love.

There's no way I can really do sufficient justice to this book, most of the beauty is in the experience you can only get by reading it for yourself. I also greatly appreciate that a writing style like this, and a story like this even, won't be for everyone, but it was completely my cup of tea. Or shot of heroine, should I be more apt. All I can say is that if I were to ever be a writer, I would long to write like Heather O'Neill.

[☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Q:
“You don’t have to do anything. You just have to exist.”
“Thank you. I will try to live up to your expectations.” (c)

[Niki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pierrot and Rose sank a little bit into the carpet, which was covered in a pattern of pink and blue flowers. They stood there looking at their feet, wondering if the ground would continue to swallow them up. It did not.

4 stars, maybe even 5 in the future. We'll see. Normally I wait a few days between finishing a book and writing a review, but with this one, which I finished yesterday, I think I want to gush a bit.

First off: before reading my review, please check out Hannah's , which is the one that got me to read the book immediately. Thanks, Hannah!

Let's begin with the "Night Circus" comparison that is mentioned right in the book's summary: I don't think that anyone should come into this book expecting the Night Circus revised. "The Lonely Hearts Hotel" is much more brutal and dare I say realistic and gritty (there's no magic in this book, unlike the NC), although I hate these two adjectives together because they bring to mind recent superhero movies (I'm clearly looking at "Batman vs. Superman" here) that try too hard. But I digress, and "The Lonely Hearts Hotel" really is gritty, perhaps almost vulgar at times. Can't deny it, it's very obvious from the very first pages of the book.

Also, the actual circus performance part in "The Lonely Hearts Hotel" is very small and towards the end. The performance plays a huge part in the book, but the central theme is (in my opinion) not the ~quirky circus performance~ Not that I'm trying to make fun of the Night Circus, which I really like, but I do realize that it's a very "polished" and glamorized book, even the romance between the two characters is more like "It's fate!" than actual attraction.

“I’m never sure whether people understand my act. I don’t know whether they think I’m just clowning around. What did you think I was trying to say?” the clown asked Rose later.
“We all struggle with contradictions. Contradictions are marvelous. If you don’t believe that everything contains contradictions, then there is very little we can understand. We know ourselves by embracing what we are not. We become good by taking evil head-on”

So, with the obvious out of the way: this is a great book. Its best part is, hands down, the writing:

A taxidermied wolf stared at them, its giant teeth bared and one of its paws raised, though it really wasn’t frightening in the least. It just seemed odd out of context.
“All fear is dependent on context”, Rose said.

-

He just had to look at women and tilt his head a certain way and they would always blush- and it would make them have a dirty thought into their heads. And after that, getting them into bed was downhill. Many other gangsters had tried to figure out the exact degree of this angle, but they never could.
He tilted his head at Rose just to see what would happen. The sun reflected off her wedding ring and stabbed him in the eye, and for the moment he had to turn away from her.

-

She had not expected to see the moon so close up. It was terrifying. […] She thought she had seen a face in it.

And much, much more. The writing style is beautiful and gets the point across, whether it's trying to be descriptive, or emotional, or horrifying, or romantic (especially romantic: this is a very romantic book, from the actual romance to the descriptions). The dialogue is also the same, with Pierrot also providing some rare funny moments, like:

The police officer at the side of the bed looked at Pierrot. He held up a piece of paper on which was drawn a sketch of his own likeness.
“Oh, how lovely”, said Pierrot. “You’ve made a sketch of me.”
“This is a drawing that a sketch artist made based on a description from a four year old boy. We believe this is the face of a thief who’s been robbing houses all through Westmount”
Pierrot had a distinct flashback of the little boy with a top, smiling at him all those nights ago. “On second thought, that face looks like nobody I’ve ever seen before”, he said.

Since this book is set during the beginning of the century, it was great to put Rose as the centre, and provide some commentary on the rampant sexism of these times, that she manages to overcome (by joining the underworld, no less) She's written as realistically as possible and has a distinct character; Pierrot, not so much. He basically gets the "female character" treatment, by being an attractive Cloudcuckoolander with not much else going for him, but I'm sure that was very much on purpose (a swapping of the typical roles male and female characters get; Pierrot could have been the cunning centre of the book, but he's not and it's refreshing)

I loved their interactions, and my favourite scene from the book was probably this:

Pierrot was lying on the bed, his arms spread out on either side of him. Rose had a bare foot on either side of his hips. She slowly descended. She seemed to be descending for five years. It was so lovely. He put his hands on her knees. He put his mouth on her cunt and gave it a kiss. Rose could put on some very pretty little private shows.

The progression of the story is slow but sure, the inevitable reunion of the starcrossed lovers comes in the best way possible (loved Rose seeing all the different acts of the clowns) I can't say any more so as not to spoil anything about the climax.

The ending is very bittersweet, as one would probably expect from a book like this. But I liked it, and I was very pleased with the book on the whole, as you can obviously tell from this review. I recommend it.

They laughed and held up their big glasses of beer and clanked them against one another. And they all felt really good. And they drank until their foreheads were sweaty and flushed, as though they’d just made love. And the words in their sentences crashed into one another like clown cars, because they really had nothing important that they needed to say.

[Dayle (the literary llama) · Rating 3 out of 5]

IRATING: ★★★☆☆ / 3.5 stars...a little up and down, but there is some gorgeous writing that probably deserve an even higher rating.

FAVORITE QUOTE(S): Sometimes I include a favorite quote or passage in these reviews. In this case there were several truly memorable ones and I decided to share a few...

"All I want, Pierrot, is for you to be happy. I can't make myself happy. Nobody can really make themselves happy. But they can make other people happy."

"Most of us hide away when we are sad, Rose thought. But performers were sad in public. She liked how honest they all were. They opened up their hearts. They took out every emotion--no matter how small or pathetic or odd--and celebrated it. It was as though each trick they performed was an attempted suicide, proving that you could indeed survive the human experience."

"They stood looking at the portrait of Gertrude Stein together. The subject was so serious and intelligent-looking. Rose had read her poetry and had admired it. It had made her feel better about herself and her sex. Everything written by an woman was written by all women, because they all benefited from it. If one woman was a genius, it was proof that it was possible for the rest of them. They were not frivolous. They were all Gertrude Stein. Rose looked at the portrait of herself as a poet."


REVIEW: Let's start with a warning...this book is not for the faint of heart. If you don't like sensitive subject matter or vulgarity of any kind, then don't add this book to your reading list. There is beauty and pain and slight redemption in these pages but it comes with a heavy dose of depravity and sex...and clowns, there are lots of clowns (some people need that warning). And it all starts on page 1, so at least there are no illusions, you pretty much know what you're getting into right from the beginning.

Okay, it was cover love for me. I mean, it's hard not to fall in love with that gorgeous cover and typography. And when I read the synopsis I knew that I had to read this book. I enjoy dark and gritty books and romances and this had the promise of an edgier and darker The Night Circus. So, I should probably say right away that it isn't The Night Circus, and nor should it be, because that book is a magic all it's own and should remain that way. The Lonely Hearts Hotel is magical in it's own way, though. There is this strange optimism and pluckiness (for lack of a better word) that manages to come through our main characters Rose and Pierrot, even through all of the horribleness that life throws at them from day one. Where it does resemble The Night Circus is in the connection that Rose and Pierrot have. It makes you ache with just how much you want them to be together and whole.

Alright, so I started page one and the immediate reaction is "whoa, okay, we're just diving right into the ugly". The tone of the book is set immediately. It's actually brilliant. Heather O'Neill has such a unique style of writing, incredibly consistent, sharp and poetic. There is such a strange juxtaposition between the beautiful words and the actual action on page. The harsh realities are told in a magical way and it sort of leaves you stunned and blinking because you're confused as to whether or not you're actually enjoying the book. I am glad that I read the book through to the end. The beginning is the hardest because they are still children, and essentially helpless to the brutality. Once the characters are old enough to make their own mistakes as adults, it doesn't feel as rotten...although everything is still being run through the gutters.

...wow, I think this is the most up and down review I've ever written, but that's how I felt while reading it, so...

The point thus far is that I'm glad I read it through till the end. The first third of the book had me questioning the necessity of certain actions and depravities, but ultimately, the harsh landscape and characters shaped Rose and Pierrot till the very end. The dream they shared and the innocence of that dream that they hold onto throughout all the horrible choices, despite the loss of their own innocence in one form or another, is interesting and beautiful. It's a bit hard to explain without diving into spoilers.

Oh! And I'll devote this last little bit to Rose's pioneering of feminism and paving her own path. Seriously, this girl did what she had to do and she made no apologies for it. She took charge in the only ways she could and she owned it. Whether it can be judged that she took things too far or not far enough, her character growth and just the direction and message that the author gave to Rose was amazing to read. Part "you-go-girl" and part cautionary tale, it was a large thread of the plot that I highly enjoyed.

Ultimately, this is one of the most aptly named books I have ever read. The Lonely Hearts Hotel is a book just dripping with sadness and heartache. It's brutal but looking deeper you also find humor and strength. The writing is, to my, albeit, limited knowledge, incomparable. I haven't read anything else quite like this novel, despite what comparisons have been made, it stands alone. It's sex and drugs and piano playing... and dancing roses. And I am sure that there will be a wide divide in the reviews. Those that love it and those that hate it, but really, aren't those the books that are most worth talking about?