The Lonely Hearts Hotel

Title: The Lonely Hearts Hotel

Author: Heather O’Neill

Genre: Literary Fiction/Historical Fiction

Published: 2017

Obtained: Target

Two Montreal orphans find comfort in each other during their childhood in the early 1900’s. Pierrot and Rose, both raised in a dark and corrupt orphanage, begin to explore their natural talents for entertainment. They begin performing all over the city—putting on cheerful acts of whimsy. Soon, however, they are pulled in two opposite directions as they come of age during the Great Depression. Both individuals find themselves wading in the city’s underworld of drugs, music, prostitution and gangsters. As they are reunited, their old dreams of performing their own imaginative show begin to flourish in front of them. There is, however, a different life perspective imbedded in the two lovers. Will their love and childhood dream be enough for the both of them?

The Lonely Hearts Hotel contains some of the best writing I have ever had the pleasure to read. Heather O’Neill has an intriguing and beautifully descriptive way with words. It is definitely one of the most unusual books I have read, which has made it difficult for me to review. While her writing was lovely, the story itself was gritty and dark. Personally, I enjoyed the contrast, but I acknowledge that this is not for everyone.

The story centers around two main characters—Pierrot and Rose. They were both raised in the same orphanage in Montreal during the early 1900’s. While they had vastly different experiences in their youth, both of their upbringings were extremely grim. As someone who works directly with kids, these were particularly difficult scenes to swallow. It was striking, as a reader, how these two children still manage to keep their extraordinary hopefulness throughout their youth and even into their young adulthood. Things do not get brighter for Pierrot and Rose through the years, but somehow they manage to see beauty in the murkiest of situations. I found this fitting with O’Neill’s style of writing—her gloomy story is told with such hopeful and alluring phrases, metaphors and descriptions.

As a woman, I love Rose’s character. She does what she needs to in order to survive—she tries her best to stay away from the alluring whirlwind of drugs despite not being able to avoid being a mistress to a businessman/thug. She struggles through these demeaning and downright terrible situations, but she never loses her passion. She refuses to conform to the docile expectations of women during that time, which also drew me in as a reader. As she’s living through these experiences, she’s also blossoming as a woman and discovering herself—giving her character incredible depth. Pierrot is also a well-rounded character full of sensitivity and passion, though arguably slightly less intriguing. Where Rose stands apart from the crowd, Pierrot sinks into addiction and other illegal avenues. Pierrot’s experiences lead him down a vastly different path than his friend. I am always pulled into stories because of the characters. O’Neill has created people in her novel that are so relatable and realistic—even if they do things that you can’t wrap your mind around, you manage to find ways to relate to them and empathize (or, in some cases, detest completely). O’Neill takes the reader on a journey across the entire span of human emotion.

Not wanting to spoil any part of the literary journey, let me just say that there are some incredibly explicit and graphic scenes in this book. There is rape, prostitution, heroin usage, gangsters and scenes that are tough to process due to the mindset of certain male characters bound to put the females in their place. But, there is also an innocence that can only come from the viewpoint of children; there is whimsy, imagination and pure love. As the reader, you follow the hopeless, dim journeys of these two characters but you’re also hit with a fantastical approach of hope and light. While I agree this book is not for everyone, I highly recommend giving it a try. If you can manage to get past the darkness of the story then the words, humor, stamina and sheer determination of the characters will fill you up completely. I have read countless books in my life thus far and not one of them has been anything like The Lonely Hearts Hotel; I am not sure what higher compliment I can give to the author. I gave this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars—it has been a very long time since an author has forced me to stop and re-read phrases and sentences simply because they are so beautifully written. On the other hand, there were a couple parts of the story that seemed to drag on unnecessarily. Quite frankly, there were times when my husband had to remind me to close my mouth because I was so engulfed in the shocking bits that I had no control over my facial expressions.

As far as wine, I have to recommend something on the sweet side. There are so many negative parts of the story—so many mean-spirited, selfish characters and acts that are almost balanced out with scenes of love and compassion. I recommend something light and fruity to wash down the heavy parts of this book. I recommend Stella Rosa Moscato D’Asti, which I thoroughly enjoyed sipping as I read this novel. It’s a semi-sparkling, semi-sweet wine (about as sweet as I typically prefer to go) with apricot and peach tones. While it’s not a particularly strong wine, it’s delightfully light and refreshing when chilled making it a perfect match for The Lonely Hearts Hotel.