The Lonely Hearts Hotel is a love story with a difference. Set throughout the roaring twenties, it is a wicked fairytale of circus tricks and child prodigies, radical chorus girls, drug-addicted musicians and brooding clowns, set in an underworld whose economy hinges on the price of a kiss.

It is the tale of two dreamers, abandoned in an orphanage where they were fated to meet. Here, in the face of cold, hunger and unpredictable beatings, Rose and Pierrot create a world of their own, shielding the spark of their curiosity from those whose jealousy will eventually tear them apart.

When they meet again, each will have changed, having struggled through the Depression, through what they have done to fill the absence of the other. But their childhood vision remains – a dream to storm the world, a spectacle, an extravaganza that will lift them out of the gutter and onto a glittering stage.

The Lonely Hearts Hotel is a novel unlike anything I have read before; It is a dark, gritty, mysterious story but it is also a story of love and overcoming your past. It is a modern, twisted fairy tale about what love is and what love means and it is poetically beautiful to read. This novel is a novel that has to be experienced and it is so wonderful to do that seeing as it is set in the 1920’s which so happens to be my favorite second era – after the 1950’s of course! It truly is a stunning novel that transports the reader to an era that is so very different to our own and I cannot help right now but express how much I loved it! Here is a little bit more about this spellbinding novel.

The Lonely Hearts Hotel tells the story of two young orphans who grew up together in a run down, cruel orphanage in Montreal, Circa in 1914. Their names are Rose and Pierrot. They are two souls that quickly bond over their love of performing. Pierrot is a piano prodigy with an undying love for music and its beauty and Rose is a young woman who loves the art of performing and she will do so for anyone at any place at any time. Together they dream of creating the most enticing, spellbinding circus in the world, however, the two are sadly separated as they age and so this novel becomes a story of their individual journeys and eventually their journey back to each other and their exciting futures as performers.

This novel is quite simply stunning, it is a novel that features heavily on the art of performing, the mafia, drugs, prostitution and finding yourself. All of these themes combined make it an unforgettable story, unlike anything the reading world has ever seen. It is a novel that can be very hard hitting at times but I think as a reader it is important to read these kinds of novels, it is important to read about themes that happen in our world today so that we can learn what happens and what to do about it. My point is that I really did adore how this was a gritty, hard-hitting novel all whilst being a stunning novel set in the roaring 1920’s and I have to say now… if you adore that era then you will adore this novel! It is a spectacle and its novels words play out in your mind like a movie so you can’t help but feel as a reader that you are in Montreal in the 1920’s, it is quite simply breathtaking!

Whilst I was reading this novel I was truly shocked by our author’s incredible vision for this story. It reads beautifully and the writing was very poetic and beautifully descriptive. Our author O’Neill immediately made me fall in love with every aspect of this story – the setting, the characters, the story… I was instantly sold and reveled in its beauty.

To conclude my thoughts on this beautiful, charming, elegant story I would say if you love the art of performing, historical fiction, the 1920’s, or reading about the great depression then you will love this story! It is a novel full of heartache, love and hopes all at the same time and it quite simply is stunning.  This enchanting novel gets Five Stars from me!

Thank you so much as ever for reading book lovers I appreciate it so much! Please do let me know your wonderful thoughts below; I would love to know! Could you see yourself reading this novel? Do you love historical fiction? Do you adore the 1920’s just like me?! Let me know below! Thank you so much again for reading!

Goodbye for now book lovers,

P.S. Here is a preview of the book for all of you lovely readers to enjoy! Please have a read of the preview and if you find that you have loved what you have read then all you need to do is click the Buy on Amazon button and it will take you straight to the book on Amazon USA! If you are in the U.K. then below I have attached a link to the book for the Amazon U.K. website. Thank you so much again for reading book lovers, I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this book!   

Amazon U.K. / Goodreads / Book Depository / Publisher; Quercus – Riverrun

Thank you so much for reading!