Monica Ali in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Knightsbridge
When novelist Monica Ali decided to set her third book in a hotel kitchen, she did a year’s research, spending time in five different London hotels and reading a small mountain of non-fiction books about the restaurant and hotel trades. At the end of it, she had so much material that she almost didn’t know where to begin. Hotels are a rich source of stories and characters for writers, and commercial kitchens, with their intense pressures, a crucible for dramatic confrontation.
Ali’s novel In the Kitchen takes its place in a long tradition of hotels in fiction, from the recent (the Chelsea Hotel in Joseph O’Neill’s Netherland) to the iconic (the creepy Overlook hotel in Stephen King’s The Shining) and the classic (the Grand Hotel des Bains in Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice).
For a limited time only, Ali’s exploration of the literary hotel scene is available to read on the Prospect website. Read it here and, as ever, leave your own thoughts below.
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A well-observed piece; thoughtful and nicely tied in to the novel without overly publicising it. And makes a good use of all that research too. One hotel and author not mentioned is, of course, JKRowling, who, in February 2007, completed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in Room 552 of the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh. It’s subsequently been named ‘the JK Rowling suite’ and guests can pay a whacking £969 per night for the privilege of staying there.
“The room contains a marble bust of the Greek God Hermes that Rowling signed after she finished the final book. The 180-square-foot suite also includes the desk and bed she used during her stay. A brass plaque is now on the front door and the door knocker has been replaced by a brass owl” – via The Telegraph
I’m very interested in any posts with you, I respect and often try to visit you. Thank you.
Well done , this is a big world to find out in
Nice Blog…..found it informative somewhat….