The Glass Hotel Book Summary

In 'The Glass Hotel,' Emily St. John Mandel weaves a haunting tale of a woman who disappears from a remote hotel on the Pacific Northwest coast, leaving behind a trail of secrets and intrigue. As we delve into the lives of the characters, we uncover the complexities of greed, betrayal, and the interconnectedness of their fates. Set against the backdrop of a global financial crisis, the novel explores the dark side of the glamorous and the mundane, challenging our perceptions of reality. Mandel's lyrical prose creates an atmosphere suffused with mystery, drawing readers into a world where nothing is as it seems. This is a story that lingers long after the last page is turned, prompting questions about existence and the choices we make.

By Emily St. John Mandel

Published: 2020

"We are all just ghosts, waiting for our moment to be remembered."

Book Review of The Glass Hotel

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author of Station Eleven and Sea of Tranquility, an exhilarating novel set at the glittering intersection of two seemingly disparate events—the exposure of a massive criminal enterprise and the mysterious disappearance of a woman from a ship at sea. “The perfect novel ... Freshly mysterious.” —The Washington Post Vincent is a bartender at the Hotel Caiette, a five-star lodging on the northernmost tip of Vancouver Island. On the night she meets Jonathan Alkaitis, a hooded figure scrawls a message on the lobby's glass wall: Why don’t you swallow broken glass. High above Manhattan, a greater crime is committed: Alkaitis's billion-dollar business is really nothing more than a game of smoke and mirrors. When his scheme collapses, it obliterates countless fortunes and devastates lives. Vincent, who had been posing as Jonathan’s wife, walks away into the night. Years later, a victim of the fraud is hired to investigate a strange occurrence: a woman has seemingly vanished from the deck of a container ship between ports of call. In this captivating story of crisis and survival, Emily St. John Mandel takes readers through often hidden landscapes: campgrounds for the near-homeless, underground electronica clubs, service in luxury hotels, and life in a federal prison. Rife with unexpected beauty, The Glass Hotel is a captivating portrait of greed and guilt, love and delusion, ghosts and unintended consequences, and the infinite ways we search for meaning in our lives. Look for Emily St. John Mandel’s bestselling new novel, Sea of Tranquility!

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We are all just ghosts, waiting for our moment to be remembered.

The Glass Hotel

By Emily St. John Mandel