Hotel 21 by Senta Rich is a stunning character driven novel. It is the kind of book that is both difficult to put down and leaves a lasting impact upon its reader.

Hotel 21 is the story of Noelle, a hotel cleaner who takes a great deal of pride in her job and appears to be a model employee. Or so she’d have you think. The trouble, however, is that Noelle is also a kleptomaniac and cannot help but take little souvenirs as she cleans. As Noelle begins at her 21st hotel she’s simply hoping to beat her five star record of lasting more than a month, and yet things grow more complicated when she meets her new colleagues. The women of floor 7 are a vibrant crew, with lives full of happiness and worry, pain and joy. The kind of lives Noelle has never known how to live. They make her wonder what it might be like to have real friends, people to stick around for…

Written in the first person Hotel 21 immediately drawers you into Noelle’s world. As the novel progresses we learn more and more about her as she recalls her previous hotel experiences and what it was like to grow up with her mother. Noelle’s life is complicated and deeply tragic, and though she does things you would at first consider ‘bad’ you simply cannot help but deeply feel for her.

I’d argue that this is a novel that deserves to be read blind, with a little prior information as possible. It is so very rich and so emotive, it’s the kind of story you want to experience exactly as it comes. Noelle and the women of floor 7 had me laughing out loud but also in floods of tears. It really is a beautiful novel about what it is to be human, to be so deeply alone and the significance and importance of connecting with others.

I’d thoroughly recommend Hotel 21.