Stephanie Jane recenzis The Last Hotel Room de Sean McLachlan
A novel of hope
4 steloj
I've been pleased with my KindleScout nominated books so far and The Last Hotel Room is no exception. Set in Tangier, Morocco, the novel follows what American traveller Tom Miller intends to be the last couple of weeks of his life. His have-it-all life back home having collapsed, Tom has just about enough money left for that many days of mint tea and hash, before he takes a stroll to a nearby high cliff.
Author Sean McLachlan won the 2013 Society of American Travel Writers Award and his expertise shows through on practically every page as he writes gorgeous descriptions of Tangier. From cruise ship tours to tiny souk shops, expat cafe life to Tom's grim hotel room, this novel is one to invoke itchy feet and I certainly wanted to see this vibrant city for myself! McLachlan doesn't shy away from the darker side of life here though and …
I've been pleased with my KindleScout nominated books so far and The Last Hotel Room is no exception. Set in Tangier, Morocco, the novel follows what American traveller Tom Miller intends to be the last couple of weeks of his life. His have-it-all life back home having collapsed, Tom has just about enough money left for that many days of mint tea and hash, before he takes a stroll to a nearby high cliff.
Author Sean McLachlan won the 2013 Society of American Travel Writers Award and his expertise shows through on practically every page as he writes gorgeous descriptions of Tangier. From cruise ship tours to tiny souk shops, expat cafe life to Tom's grim hotel room, this novel is one to invoke itchy feet and I certainly wanted to see this vibrant city for myself! McLachlan doesn't shy away from the darker side of life here though and I liked how he shows Tom's despair gradually dissipating as he realises that his situation, while bad by the standards he was set, is still relatively comfortable compared to many other people around him. Contrasting Tom's life with that of Syrian child refugee Asif provides hard-hitting scenes and images for the reader and, I think, several, such as Asif's missing shop tray, are all the more powerful for being momentary glances that then grow in our imaginations.
The Last Hotel Room is ultimately a novel of hope, but also leaves us with a sense of dread with its open ending (which actually worked for me in this book!). As readers, we can shake our heads at Tom's naivete while also being uncomfortably aware that versions of Asif's story are playing out for real every day just a few hundred miles away.