The Glass Hotel, by Emily St. John Mandel

I’ve enjoyed Mandel’s books in the past, so added this one to my Christmas wish list. Mandel creates complex and memorable characters and unusual situations, and this book is true to that form.

Based indirectly (but very closely) on the Bernie Madoff scheme, the unlikely central character is Vincent Smith, a young woman from Northern Vancouver Island who meets the schemer at the Hotel Caiette (the titular glass hotel), an improbable luxury location in the BC wilderness, and spends a few years in “the country of money” before the scheme crashes. Along the way, we meet many who are involved in, impacted by, interested in, and aware of the scheme, as well as Vincent’s fragmented family, including her half-brother, Paul, a composer and heroin addict, the darkness to Vincent’s light. From the start, we know that Vincent is going to die, and how (not a spoiler – it’s in the book blurb), but her death is so unusual that we’re drawn into the story to learn how and why she ended up there. Mandel does an excellent job telling what could have been a clunky series of vignettes and one-off characters into a story tapestry, without being heavy-handed about the Ponzi scheme backdrop. There are also ghosts, which adds a gothic feel to this modern story. It’s hard to tell more without giving away the surprising twists in the story.

Late in the novel, Paul says, “The smallness of the world never ceases to amaze me.” Mandel portrays the world as both large and small, with many locations peppered with people connected directly or obliquely through the scheme and to Vincent. In this way, she shows us the far-reaching impact of such schemes – how they, like gossip, create unceasing waves of destruction and misery.

I enjoyed this book, and will continue to watch for new Mandel stories. She is a hard author to characterize, but her skill clearly lies in creating believable if disrupted worlds within our current one, with believable and moving characters that pull you along, and surprise you even when the outcome is inevitable or foretold.

Fate: little book library

8- female author
9 – being made into a film/tv show
33 – Canadian author