Author:Anita Brookner

Winner of the Booker Prize, the beautiful, romantic and gorgeously philosophical Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner is part of our Penguin Essential series which spotlights the very best of our modern classics
'The Hotel du Lac was a dignified building, a house of repute, a traditional establishment, used to welcoming the prudent, the well-to-do, the retired, the self-effacing, the respected patrons of an earlier era'
Into the rarefied atmosphere of the Hotel du Lac timidly walks Edith Hope, romantic novelist and holder of modest dreams. Edith has been exiled from home after embarrassing herself and her friends. She has refused to sacrifice her ideals and remains stubbornly single. But among the pampered women and minor nobility Edith finds Mr Neville, and her chance to escape from a life of humiliating loneliness is renewed . . .
'A classic . . . a book which will be read with pleasure a hundred years from now' Spectator
'Humorous, witty, touching and formidably clever' The Times
'Hotel du Lac is written with a beautiful grave formality, and it catches at the heart' Observer
'So sure and so quietly commanding' Hilary Mantel, Guardian
Miss Brookner's most absorbing novel . . . graceful and attractive
—— New York TimesHer technique as a novelist is so sure and so quietly commanding
—— Hilary Mantel, GuardianHotel du Lac is written with a beautiful grave formality, and it catches at the heart
The last great novelist of the 20th century
—— Daily TelegraphA classic . . . a book which will be read with pleasure a hundred years from now
—— SpectatorA smashing love story. It is very romantic. It is also humorous, witty, touching and formidably clever
—— The TimesShe is one of the great writers of contemporary fiction
—— Literary ReviewCompelling reading
—— Woman and HomeAtmospheric and at times incandescent
—— Michelle Hart , Los Angeles TimesCline's writing at its very best - hypnotically propulsive, viscerally disquieting, and moving in the most unpredictable ways
—— Doug Battersby , Financial TimesThe tension never wavers . . . This is rich material for Cline, who trains a chilly eye on the preposterous affluence and exclusivity of that part of the world
—— Emma Brockes , GuardianThe Girls was exceptional; The Guest...is even better... Compulsively readable... The Guest is as refreshing as a dip in a cool pool on a hot day
—— iThe Guest... cements Cline's place as one of America's great contemporary stylists
—— Arin Keeble , GuardianAs bracing as saltwater... Cline possesses unmistakable talent; her bursts of genuine originality and startling insight make that clear
—— Ann Manov , Daily TelegraphA tale of the ultimate grifter. Doused in ambiguity and foreboding
—— Imy Brighty-Potts , IndependentA new tense summer adventure
—— StylistThis unsettling but gripping novel takes us deep into the mind of a woman living a shadowy half-life
—— Vanessa Berridge , Daily MirrorCrucial reading for any young woman
—— Alex Peake-Tomkinson , Evening StandardUndeniably compelling and atmospheric... a poolside-worthy page-turner
—— Sunday ExpressA taut, tense novel... The Guest is a strong follow-up... Her [Cline's] prose is limpid and propulsive, sustaining an atmosphere of dread.
—— Economist[An] arresting observational eye
—— Alex Clark , Financial TimesCline has a crime writer's gift for revelatory storytelling, ramping up tension like an HBO pro
—— Big IssueA searing portrayal of the precariat? Or a slick summer thriller? The answer is: both . . . you won't be able to look away
—— Laura Battle , Financial TimesSupremely readable... propulsive
—— Markie Robson , Tablet, *Novel of the Week*A dream-like, foreboding novel and worthy follow-up to the sensation The Girls
—— iThe talented Ms. Cline . . . Her prose is drifty and wire-taut, easy on the eye, with an awful undertow of unease that never lets up. The pathology brilliantly observed by The Guest would not feel so edgy if it were not perilously close to an aspirational ideal
—— GEOFF DYERI loved every moment of The Guest: the intensity, the control, the atmosphere, the psychological escalation, the astonishing social observation, the profound and devastating visions of the void achieved with flicks of the wrist, the way it lets nobody off the hook and yet is not without deep humanity
—— SAM LIPSYTEHeady scent of hotsummers and dark secrets
—— The Times 'Best Books of 2023'The wealthy clique depicted in Cline's unsettling second novel is by turns boorish and menacing - but you won't be able to look away
—— Financial Times, *Summer Reads of 2023*A beach read that ticks all the boxes
—— Stephanie Cross , Daily Mail[The Guest’s] atmosphere is equally apprehensive [as The Girls] and Cline’s eye for the fragility of insider-outsiders is as gimlet-sharp as before
—— Financial Times, *Books of the Year*The Guest… [is] as relentlessly spellbinding as her debut
—— New Statesman, *Books of the Year*Either/Or is extremely funny and delightfully ludic, as it probes the very act of reading from the point of view of confused university student Selin.
—— Anakana Schofield, Irish Times, Books of the Year 2022I was desperately looking forward to Elif Batuman's Either/Or, and it more than lived up to it.
—— Samir Chadha , White Review, *Books of the Year*Re-encountering Selin...felt like being reunited with an old friend.
—— Helen Charman , White Review, *Books of the Year*Hilarious.
—— Alice Hattrick , White Review, *Books of the Year*I greatly enjoyed the comic zing of Elif Batuman's delightful Either/Or
—— Megan Hunter , White Review, *Books of the Year*Witty, intelligent and funny... [Selin's] inner monologue is addictive enough to read a thousand more pages of, and I can only cross my fingers that this isn't the last instalment of the series.
—— CrackJust as funny and self-aware and clever as The Idiot.
—— Jessica Zhan Mei Yu , White Review, *Books of the Year*Funny, wry and insightful
—— The Times, *Summer Reads of 2023*Laugh out loud…hilarious and thoughtful
—— Times Literary Supplement, *Books of the Year*