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  • The Lonely Hearts Hotel

  • A Novel
  • Written by: Heather O'Neill
  • Narrated by: Julia Whelan
  • Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (217 ratings)

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The Lonely Hearts Hotel

Written by: Heather O'Neill
Narrated by: Julia Whelan
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Publisher's Summary

Set in Montreal and New York between the wars, a spellbinding story about two orphans whose unusual magnetism and talent allow them to imagine a sensational future, from the best-selling, two-time Scotiabank Giller Prize-short-listed author.

Exquisitely imagined and hypnotically told, The Lonely Hearts Hotel is a love story with the power of legend. Set in the early part of the 20th century, it is an unparalleled tale of abandoned children, radicalized chorus girls, drug-addicted musicians, brooding clowns, and an underworld whose fortune hinges on the price of a kiss. In a landscape like this, it takes great creative gifts to escape one's origins. It might also take true love.

Two babies are abandoned in a Montreal orphanage in the winter of 1914. Before long their true talents emerge: Pierrot is a piano prodigy; Rose lights up even the dreariest room with her dancing and comedy. As they travel around the city performing for the rich, the children fall in love with each other and dream up a plan for the most extraordinary and seductive circus show the world has ever seen.

Separated as teenagers, both escape into the city's underworld, dabbling in sex, drugs, and theft in order to survive. Ruthless and unforgiving, Montreal in the 1930s is no place for song and dance. But when Rose and Pierrot finally reunite beneath the snowflakes, the possibilities of their childhood dreams are renewed, and they'll go to extreme lengths to make those dreams come true. After Rose, Pierrot, and their troupe of clowns and chorus girls hit the stage and the alleys, the underworld will never look the same.

With extraordinary storytelling, musical language, and an extravagantly realized world, acclaimed author Heather O'Neill enchants us with her best novel yet - one so magical there is no escaping its spell.

©2017 Heather O'Neill (P)2017 Penguin Random House LLC

What listeners say about The Lonely Hearts Hotel

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Stay with it

The first bit I was not impressed by and didn’t want to continue. Without giving it away, you should stick with it. The story has a lot of moving parts that do all come together. It was well worth it. Some of the writing and narration was somewhat bland, but again, worth it. The latter half of the novel I found myself wanting to listen more to hear what was going on. Romantic tragedy. Rags to riches (kind of) and a few smaller stories in between. Great overall story.
Thanks!

6 people found this helpful

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Best novel of 2017

It has been a long time since I’ve read a book that captured the innocence of childhood and the crushing reality of becoming an adult so well. I will reread it many times, just like the first b

5 people found this helpful

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Magical

Best book I’ve read in a very long time, imaginative and magical. Narration was perfect.

4 people found this helpful

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  • BDC
  • 2018-12-06

Sad and charming...I didn't want it to end.

It was one of the first books that I was satisfied with the ending. The narration was really perfect, the characters so complex and the plot engaging. You think it's just a story about 2 orphans ...but it's so much more.

3 people found this helpful

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Unexpectedly Canadian!

I was on board until the very, very end. And yeah, the narrator couldn't do native French properly. But it was an entertaining journey and I'm glad I stuck with it.

2 people found this helpful

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best novel in my life so far

loved it! Heard about it from the radio. Wanted to give it a chance. From the start to the end it was wonderful. Thank you Heather O'Neill

2 people found this helpful

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beautiful prose and soothing narration

I loved this book. The prose was enchanting and the story captivating and melancholic in all the right ways. I listened to it on my walks to and from work as well as before naps.

2 people found this helpful

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Whacky but so, so good!

Very inventive, interesting story told in a most entertaining way! I totally loved it!! The narrator was also awesome.

1 person found this helpful

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Solid narration

I’ve never heard a Montrealer pronounce Montreal that way, and the French phrases were sketchy but the narrator otherwise did a great job of defining characters with vocal performances. Cool story too with terrific metaphors and similes throughout.

1 person found this helpful

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Gorgeous!

The Lonely Hearts Hotel gets compared a lot to The Night Circus, which isn’t totally unfair. However I think that while that book beckons you into the magic, this one swears there is none but then sneaks you a peak, like one of its many prostitutes flipping up her skirts. I would say a better comparison would be like if Angela Carter’s Nights at the Circus had a night of passion with Fellini’s film “I Clowns” and left the resulting baby to be raised by Montrealer nuns.

Can you tell that the author’s many similes and metaphors have gotten into my mind? I loved the poetic language, even if it sometimes felt like she was being a bit over eager with her turns of phrase. In the end, my simile fatigue gave way to total enchantment with the characters and the book, even if they made me cry more than once.

Julia Whelan is my absolute favourite audiobook narrator and she knocked it out of the park again!

1 person found this helpful

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  • Luke
  • 2017-10-30

A powerfully written and narrated story

This beautifully written story follows two exceptionally talented children, growing up and making there way through the great depression, amongst powers that want to destroy them. The narrative is about the exploration of innocence: its power, its attraction, and its repulsion. The characters, although a metaphor, are themselves extraordinary and relatable and lovable. From the very beginning I want to be them. I want to be around them. The author uses language so poetically you'll want to rip pieces of this book out and frame them around your house. Or have passages tattooed on your body.

Heather O'Neill has made this world a little more beautiful. And has made me want to cherish and fear the innocence I see in myself and in others. The narrator makes the book come alive. Both people should be showered with awards immediately. There are not enough stars on all of Audible to appropriately rate this book.