"Hotel du Lac is a novel set in a resort in Switzerland where a writer, Edith Hope, goes to escape the passion of her feelings for David, a married man in London, with whom she is engaged sexually.
Trying to "cool off", she soon is enmeshed in a social contrtemps with other visitors to the hotel: Mrs. Pusey, a rich widow, accompanied by her unmarried daughter, Jennifer, and a successful businessman who entreats her to marry him.
This dreamy, abstract novel isolates emotions and outer appearances from inner drives and dreams. Mrs. Pusey tries to involve her in shopping trips and acquisitions, hoping to stave off loneliness and old age.
Mr. Neville tries to attach her to himself to aid him in his commercial ventures. When Edith, who likens her writing to Virginia Woolf, finds out it is Jennifer he is attracted to, hurls herself back to David, whom she telegrams the one word,"Returning", in contrast to lengthy letters to hi,m which she has destroyed.
The reader is relieved that Edith is leaving the cold, unreal setting of Switzerland for the heat of a love affair in London.
"
Betty-Jeanne Korson, Resident Scholar
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Review Analysis of Hotel du Lac
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- depressed
Time/era of story
- 1980's-1999
Romance/Romance Problems
Yes
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- writer
Age:
- 40's-50's
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Female
Profession/status:
- writer
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- throughout most of the book.
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 8 (a significant amount)
Europe
Yes
European country:
- Switzerland
Water?
Yes
Air?
Yes
Misc setting
- resort/hotel
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- descript of kissing
- actual description of hetero sex
- descript. of female anat. (the big B's)
Unusual Style:
- a lot of flashback and forwards
- a lot of stream of consciousness
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
