There is nobody who does it quite like Emily St. John Mandel. Another stunning, unforgettable pageturner. Thanks so much to the publisher for the opportunity to read early.

Melancholy, misty, web like tendrils connecting disparate lives 5

I have had this book unfinished, for several years, and can’t really work out why I started it and then abandoned it. Some books wait patiently for their readers to be ready for them, and this was one for me.

I think I had so absolutely loved St. John Mandel’s Station 11, a dreamy, post apocalyptic novel set in a post pandemic world, about a travelling theatre group – and published some 6 years before the recent pandemic – that, years on, I could still feel the flavour of that book, and was wanting more of the same from this. So a novel about the fall out from a Ponzi scheme didn’t initially grab me.

How wrong I was, and how glad I am that I tried it again, as this time, I was hooked from the off

Central characters are a brother and half sister, from a dysfunctional family, growing up on Vancouver Island. Time scale shifts back and forth from their teens, to Paul’s lifelong struggles with addiction, and conversations in therapy. Vincent, his beautiful sister, also possibly going nowhere, and named for the poet Edna Vincent Millay, is bartender at the titular Glass Hotel, owned by a fabulously wealthy financier Jonathan Alkaitis, who is still suffering from the death of his first wife through illness. Vincent’s life is about to change for the better, Paul’s for the worse.

However – the author has already let us know, that despite Paul’s addiction, he will somehow end up okay and become some kind of avant garde composer, and Vincent will die in some mysterious circumstances, on a container ship. We also know that Alkaitis will end his life in prison, because his fabulous wealth is an illusion, and all those who invested in him will have lost their life savings, and we will follow their stories, also

The arts feature heavily in this book, there are a couple of painters who are influential characters in the lives of our central three – and something in the flavour of this book reminded me of Whistler’s paintings. Music, too is a theme – and something in the flavour of the book had Debussy’s L’Apres Midi d’un faune playing in my head, that sense of haunting (and there are hauntings, in this, both of memory, and of alternate realities imagined by certain characters ‘if I had done THIS instead of THAT’) There are also ghosts, or imagined ghosts and presences, that sense of connection between some people so that at the moment of death a far away loved one gets some kind of presence, or emanation, of the dying one

Actually, the more I fell into this book, the more I felt I was also inhabiting the very different world of Station 11. The author has a knack of tugging away at the illusion of reality we depend on, and presenting the reader with that sense which sometimes grabs us of ‘there are more things in heaven and earth………..’

A wonderful book

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Compelling and creepy, the mystery kept me guessing to the very last page. I couldn't stop reading! Excellent subject matter too.

The Glass Hotel is a story that spans over decades as we follow a group of people, many of whom are unconnected except for one vital thing - a Ponzi scheme run by a man called Jonathan Alkaitis. The story follows Vincent, who becomes Jonathan's wife (but not wife) before his downfall, and who then disappeared from a ship at sea years later. We also follow Paul, Vincent's troubled older half-brother and a variety of other people connected to Alkaitis; people in on the money-making scheme as well as those who were ruined because of it.

I have read Sea of Tranquility, the author's most recent book at the time of writing, and I had heard it had connections via some characters to The Glass Hotel. So it was exciting in a way to read this, and see Paul and meet Vincent properly, as well as knowing that the world of The Glass Hotel is also that of Sea of Tranquility meaning moon living, deadly flu pandemics and time travel are all possibilities in this world and none of the characters know it yet.

I enjoyed this as a quiet story, as almost snapshots of people's lives who were all affected by a greedy man who wanted to make money - while at the same time, the greedy man himself Alkaitis isn't necessarily a huge villain of a character. There is melancholy and sadness in this book as many of the characters in it are touched by loss or death in some way - be it a person, or a loss at a future way of living such as Leon, and Walter. And there's also the ongoing mystery of what happened to Vincent when she disappeared off the ship, and whose mother years earlier also disappeared at sea.

The writing in this is beautiful and lyrical, with character that feel real and vulnerable which is what I know Emily St John Mandel exceeds at.

While I'm not sure if this is a story that will stay with me for a long time, I did enjoy reading it.

Very interesting premise and concept, but it didn't work for me. This author's writing is beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed Station Eleven, but I just couldn't get into this one. I think it's me and not the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan M for this ARC

Obviously very well-written as its by Emily St John Mandel. A real page turner and very enjoyable with a heart breaking conclusion.

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel is a story of interconnecting lives, and a ponzi scheme.  The story moves around in time, and from different points of view.

This sounds complicated, but it's written well, with clear call backs, and distinct and interesting chacters!  I enjoyed the story, and the way the story unfolds.  This is a very light fantasy book, so if you're not a fantasy fan, please don't be put off this book!

The Glass Hotel was published on 6th August 2020, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Emily St. John Mandel on Twitter and her website.  You might recognise her name from Station Eleven, which was a book, and has been made into a tv series!

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Pan Macmillan.

I have had this book on my virtual shelf for ages. First, I pushed reading it because the release date got delayed, then I saw that my library had a physical copy, and I thought I might like it better in that format.
Finally, I sat down and read it when I had no excuses left. That does not mean I went in with a preconceived notion that I might not enjoy the work. I had decent expectations from the narrative. I have always found the concept of a hotel and how it can be used to tie up any genre of stories a bonus.
I should therefore start with the misnomer. The hotel is not the primary lynchpin of the narrative. It does not even pretend to be. There is an occasion where a reader can claim that the main plotlines crossed paths at the hotel, and that determined the fates of the individual storylines, but I do not think it is heavy enough to carry the entire load of the book.
I really enjoyed the author's writing. It was very vivid, and I could tell exactly what I was expected to think of the individual characters (or so I assume), and they all seemed so lost in varying degrees. The primary people are a pair of half-siblings. We begin with the life of one and then transition to the life of the other and make our way back towards the end. Something about the way the story is laid out is done well. I would definitely pick up another book by the author.
That said, I did not like the story itself (yes, even though I liked the way it was presented- I can be complex that way). It was too abrupt for the characters, and I was not as invested in their individual lives as I wanted to be. I was not satisfied overall with what I was offered for all of them. The 'Aha' moment escaped me when certain things were revealed. We pan in and out of several fleeting figures who have a lot more at stake in this book than an average reader could predict.
I do not know exactly the kind of person I could recommend this book to, but I am looking forward to what the author might do next!
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

Emily St John Mandel can do no wrong. I will read anything they write and adore their writing. It’s just so compelling and I find myself lost in the prose and story.

The Glass Hotel is a book that I really didn’t think I was going to like - but I did. It’s about a failed Ponzi scheme - I had to look up what that actually was. I had absolutely no idea. It’s where someone, a real or fake advisor, planner or investor, promises to invest your money with a certain rate of return. Instead of putting your money in whatever investment they promised, they keep it for themselves. If you want your money back, they take it from other investors to give to you. I couldn’t read a whole book where this was constantly referred to and not find out what it was!

However, this book isn’t just about Ponzi schemes. It’s a character driven book, and there are a fair few of them.

Vincent was a fascinating character - she starts her life in a remote village in Canada, only reachable by boat. When it looks like she’s losing her way, she gets a job at a hotel and meets Jonathan Alkaitis - the organiser of the Ponzi scheme. Vincent is completely unconcerned at where the money she spends is coming from, she just spends it, lives in their luxury apartments, living the life she never had as a child. When that money is gone, Vincent moves on - she’s a survivor, and I really like that about her.

I couldn’t believe the length of Alkaitis’ prison sentence - I’m assuming 140 years or more is normal for a fraud of this scale. He doesn’t cope well. He has visions, sees ghosts of the people whose lives he destroyed. This was really eerie: were they real? Was it his imagination?

Leon Prevant shows what happens to a lot of older people when they have no income: he becomes one of the nomadic people, travelling in a camper-van from job to job. No savings, no home. The fear as they get older, of illness or infirmity.

So yes, I really enjoyed this. I liked that it’s completely different to Station 11, and I’m very glad I read it!

A well-written page turner, not up to the level of Station Eleven, but still enjoyable. As the story lines come together and apart, we discover the effects that our choices have on ourselves and others, all building towards a heart breaking conclusion.

Told through interlacing (sometimes hard to follow) stories this is a complex tale.
Although very different and not quite as excellent as Station Eleven it was still a brilliantly written book, featuring St. John Mandel's usual wonderful prose, great setting and fully fleshed out (but not always likable) characters.

My brain is overwhelmed by the intricacies Emily St. John Mandel has weaved, followed and contained within The Glass Hotel. I have never read anything quite like this & in the past, I'd have probably not selected a book about a Ponzi scheme & a murder & so many other elements.
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In 2008, during the financial crash, I barely noticed anything was happening. This is, perhaps, one of the good things about never having much money. You're always cautious about every purchase.
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Mandel's work is sharp & clever. There's no judgement from her in her authorship. There's no false path lead to give any of the characters redeeming features. Everything that happens seems to be perfectly pre ordained. The reader is swept up in the grandeur,  the greed, the fantasy & the delusion.
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The Glass Hotel is immersive & engaging & well worth the read. A small warning for language & drug use.

Sorry, not for me! Too many books , too little time to read them all. Loved her other books, just couldn't get into this one.

**I was provided with a copy of the book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

Picking up this book came down to how much I enjoyed Station Eleven and I’d say there are two things that The Glass Hotel has in common with that book - Mandel’s storytelling and captivating writing style and a story about people that will have you thinking about it many days after you’ve finished it. Otherwise the two books are nothing alike.

I feel like I remember upon first reading the synopsis of this book that I couldn’t make much sense of it and let me tell you after reading it I couldn’t tell you what exactly it is about either.

It has a winding non-chronological narrative that leaps between a handful of complex characters and various timelines in their intersecting lives, each of them connected by two things – a hotel located in British Colombia and the man who owns it, Jonathan Alkaitis. Vincent, a young woman whose life we see snippets of from adolescence through adulthood, feels very much like the lead but every character has a very individual storyline and Mandel’s way with words just draws you into them all.

At its core it is a story about people and human connections through which Mandel scrutinises the themes of wealth and class, morality and culpability in a skilful and clever way.

I don’t want to be much more specific because it’s a strange one that’ll have you confused on what the hell is actually happening throughout, but the spiralling and atmospheric way that all the information is uncovered will have you hooked. It’s written like a mystery story but isn’t exactly one...? Definitely one of those books best experienced without too much prior knowledge of the details.
Final Rating - 3.5/5 Stars

An imaginative and original story with well-crafted characters, real-world scenarios and an exploration of what if? The writing is lyrical and vivid, with subtle layers that make the reader question their meaning.

An interesting, intriguing novel that resonates.

I received a copy of this book from Pan Macmillan - Picador via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

The Glass Hotel is a non-linear story with multiple characters, all linked in different ways. The one thing they have in common is the collapse of a massive Ponzi scheme during the 2008 financial crisis.

We start with Paul and Vincent, half siblings from Caiette, a very remote part of Canada. They're not that close, both have their own problems: Paul is a drug addict trying to clean up his act and become a composer and Vincent's mother died when Vincent was 13 in a canoe accident. They are both working at the new 5 star hotel in Caiette in the early 2000s when Vincent meets the hotel owner Johnathan Alkaitis and becomes his wife. Johnathan runs the Ponzi scheme and the book moves back and forth between the events leading up to the collapse of the scheme, the past and characters connected to these 3 characters and the events in the future after the collapse.

The book is beautifully written, I really enjoyed Emily St. John Mandel's writing in Station Eleven and was pleased that the writing in this was equally beautiful at times.

If I was to chose a main character in this, it would probably be Vincent (The title of the book would make you think it's the hotel, which I guess a lot of the characters stay in the book but it doesn't feel like a central part of the story). We don't ever really get into the heads of the characters, not on a deep level anyway, so in ways there is a lot you don't ever know about Vincent. But she's an interesting character, how she moves through the world, what she does when she enters the kingdom of money and how she picks herself up after she's no longer there. The middle part of the books deals with the day before and the days following the collapse of the Ponzi scheme and all the people working for Johnathan. Those chapters are written with a narrator who is never named, because it's not one person narrating it but rather it's supposed to be the collective voice of the 5 employees and what happened to them. It's a clever way to go into it, instead of it just being a 3rd person narrator. I do think there were a few too many side characters, I can think of a few who could probably be dropped and the story wouldn't have suffered too much. I feel like they were added to add extra links between the characters.

Plot wise, overall I liked the story and I didn't mind it jumping back and forth through time. Though because we don't go too deep into the characters, I didn't feel a big connection to them and ultimately what happened to them. At times I didn't want to pick up the book because it felt quite slow, even though it is a short book, it felt like it was much longer than it was. There's some parts about memories and the ghosts of people and it adds an ethereal feeling to the story which I did find interesting. I think the book will stick with me and have me thinking, but it wasn't something that amazed me or had me wanting to reread it. If you like stories where multiple characters are connected in different ways and like seeing how they are connected, then this book might interest you

This is a fascinating glimpse into the world of money and white collar crime to be specific. This is not a linear book, it jumps all over the place in time and space to tell the story of a Ponzie scheme, its perpetrators and some of its victims. It uses many different POV characters but the one I found most interesting, and is almost the protagonist is Vincent, the "trophy wife" to the billionaire fraudster.

Sadly this book was not for me. I've seen so much praise but I found it hard to connect and invest. The writing was good but it seemed to take me a long time to read.