The Lonely Hearts Hotel - Heather O'Neill

This book started out okay for me and then just went real downhill. The dialogue, that seemed whimsical and airy when the two main characters, Rose and Pierot, were children gave a really nice distance from the harsh reality of the terrible orphanage life they entered into upon birth. That they had each other and made a bond and a fr.iendship of art and music was really lovely.

But then in The Lonely Hearts Hotel, as children do, the characters got older, and their world got harsher. And Rose, she becomes harsher too. Only Pierot seems somehow outside of the circumstances he has found himself in, except he's not. And neither, even though we've rooted for them since their infanthood, can seem to escape the lives their origins have destined for them. 

Is Rose a model of a strong independent woman, making her way through a traditionally male world? Or is she a vengeful spirit raging against the inequities of her station and sex? Is Pierot a hopelessly romantic artist, or is he a deadbeat addict with no sense of how to be an adult? It doesn't really matter, because in the end, they don't seem to care either. 

At the end of 450 pages I found I did not care about the people I had started rooting for in the beginning of the book. And not even in a literary, "oh I totally understand the tragic transformation that befell these humans that could not shake their demons" way. Which is what I THINK was intended. 

The writing was very reminiscent of the style of Jeffrey Archer in the Clifton Chronicles which I did not enjoy. So if you liked that writing style, you will likely enjoy this book. It just wasn't for me.

2.5/5 Stars.