The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O'Neill

On that day in 1914, a young girl banged on the door of the Hôpital de la Miséricorde on Dorchester Boulevard. ***This excerpt is from an advance uncorrected copy proof*** 'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title. With her musical language and extravagantly realized world, Heather O’Neill enchants us with a novel so magical there is no escaping its spell. Soon, Rose, Pierrot and their troupe of clowns and chorus girls have hit New York, commanding the stage as well as the alleys, and neither the theater nor the underworld will ever look the same. But when Rose and Pierrot finally reunite beneath the snowflakes – after years of searching and desperate poverty – the possibilities of their childhood dreams are renewed, and they’ll go to extreme lengths to make them come true. Separated as teenagers, sent off to work as servants during the Great Depression, both descend into the city’s underworld, dabbling in sex, drugs and theft in order to survive. As they travel around the city performing clown routines, 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. Before long, their talents emerge: Pierrot is a piano prodigy Rose lights up even the dreariest room with her dancing and comedy. Two babies are abandoned in a Montreal orphanage in the winter of 1914. In a landscape like this, it takes great creative gifts to thwart one’s origins. An unparalleled tale of charismatic pianos, invisible dance partners, radicalized chorus girls, drug-addicted musicians, brooding clowns, and an underworld whose economy hinges on the price of a kiss.

The Lonely Hearts Hotel is a love story with the power of legend. Utterly compelling.' – The Washington PostĪ spellbinding story about two gifted orphans – in love with each other since they can remember – whose childhood talents allow them to rewrite their future. 'So filled with vivid descriptions and complex characters that the reader's experience is virtually cinematic. NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2017 BY THE BOSTON GLOBE AND THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O'Neill