Set in contemporary New Orleans but working its way back in time, A Small Hotel chronicles the relationship between Michael and Kelly Hays, who have decided to separate after twenty-four years of marriage. The book begins on the day that the Hays are to finalize their divorce. Kelly is due to be in court, but instead she drives from her home in Pensacola, Florida, across the panhandle to New Orleans and checks into Room 303 at the Olivier House in the city’s French Quarter—the hotel where she and Michael fell in love some twenty-five years earlier and where she now finds herself about to make a decision that will forever affect her, Michael, and their nineteen-year-old daughter, Samantha. An intelligent, deeply moving, and remarkably written portrait of a relationship that reads as a cross between a romance novel and a literary page turner, A Small Hotel is a masterful story that will remind readers once again why Robert Olen Butler has been called the “best living American writer” (Jeff Guinn, Fort Worth Star-Telegram).
A Small Hotel: A Novel
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Piercing . . . Bristling with insight . . . Butler’s most impressive accomplishment lies in capturing the mingled emotions of anger, remorse, pain and even love that mark most divorces. . . . Honest and compassionate, Butler’s exploration of a marriage’s sundering is the work of a mature, reflective author.”—Harvey Freedenberg, Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
"Intelligent, deeply moving . . . Remarkably written . . . A Small Hotel is a masterful story that will remind readers once again why Robert Olen Butler has been called the ‘best living American writer.’ —Jeff Guinn, The Fort Worth Star Telegram
“[A] deliciously, unapologetically romantic novel . . . [Butler’s] empathetic, precise writing flirts with melodrama but never feels hackneyed. In less skillful hands, this story would be a guilty pleasure. Instead, it’s just a pleasure.” —O Magazine
"Richly observed . . . Butler's lucid writing style always conceals turbulent depths beneath a placid surface. He is, in fact, one of the boldest literary writers working today, willing to follow his imagination wherever it leads."—Chauncey Mabe, Sun Sentinel (Florida)
"Intriguing . . . Intricate . . . Butler skilfully sets up expectations only to twist them, and twist them again. Words said and unsaid can change eveything in an instant." Colette Bancroft, The Mercury News
“A sleek, erotic, and suspenseful drama about men who cannot say the word love and the women they harm . . . Butler executes a plot twist of profound proportions in this gorgeously controlled, unnerving, and beautifully revealing tale of the consequences of emotional withholding.”—Donna Seaman, Booklist (starred review)
“With mesmerizing detail, Butler excavates layers of memory and illuminates moments of both tenderness and alienation.” —The New Yorker
“From each spouse’s point of view we witness the feelings that didn’t break the surface at the time, but never went away.” —The New York Times
“Butler . . . is masterful in the way he draws us into the hearts of his characters. . . . [He] gives the last pages of his quiet book the urgency of a thriller.” —Bookpage.com
“Engaging . . . Butler [has a] unique writing style . . . with rich descriptions and smooth transitions . . . similiar to Hemingway . . . A Small Hotel is a powerful statement about human nature.” —bookreporter.com
“Butler brings exquisite sensitivity to the details, unearthing them with the care of [a] good archaeologist.” —Karen Sandstrom, The Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Visions of the past arise in husband and wife on the brink of divorce, as metaphoric, coded conversations, minute gestures, and hurtful silences threaten grave consequences in this tightly focused, intensely imagined, masterfully omniscient novel. Robert Olen Butler understands the failings of men, and he understanding the failings of women just as well.”—Susan Vreeland, author of Girl in Hyacinth Blue
“A Small Hotel is a gorgeous, hot-blade of a novel, infused with lyric grace—a page-turner that tracks the unexpected turns of a marriage. Reading it, I could not pull myself away. It is the story of a man and a woman—of love, betrayal and the cost of silence. Revelatory and precise, A Small Hotel is a gem of great literary fiction which contends that the life we live every day is not pedestrian, but charged, lucent. It can turn on a dime by what we say and what we fail to say.” —Dawn Tripp, author of Game of Secrets
“This tiny, romantic novel could be read at a single sitting, but it's best savored in small slices, accompanied by the quiet ticking of the heart. A marriage on the rocks, a race against time, the duel between past and present that exists in every living soul. As a woman, I particularly admired the portrayal of the husband, Michael, the type of silent man who is an enigma to women and a source of great pain in our relationships with him. Through Butler's insightful rendering, Michael's point of view came as a revelation.” —Janet Fitch, author of White Oleander
"Separation and the seemingly insurmountable divide between men and women provide the novel's strongest themes and they do so by unflinchingly illustrating the small moments that seem to come and go unnoticed—yet in the end define us."—Flavorpill (online)
“Intriguing . . . beautifully told.” —New York Journal of Books
"Slight, intense, elliptical, it's a book that requires concentration and forbearance. Brace yourself for the deep renderings of the slightest movement; stay still for the immersion in New Orleans. . . . Longing, desire, and silence are the subjects of A Small Hotel. . . . How strange I felt when I left the world of this book to return to the 'real world.' Somehow the world of this book seemed more authentic than the world I actually exist in."—New World Reviews
"Lyrical, haunting . . . Readers will be touched by [Butler's] careful exploration of . . . the human condition and how we relate to each other." —Curled up With a Good Book (blog)“[Robert Olen Butler] is an excellent chronicler of the small domestic moments that create and destroy love.” —Patricia Henley, Sycamore Review
"Intelligent, deeply moving . . . Remarkably written . . . A Small Hotel is a masterful story that will remind readers once again why Robert Olen Butler has been called the ‘best living American writer.’ —Jeff Guinn, The Fort Worth Star Telegram
“[A] deliciously, unapologetically romantic novel . . . [Butler’s] empathetic, precise writing flirts with melodrama but never feels hackneyed. In less skillful hands, this story would be a guilty pleasure. Instead, it’s just a pleasure.” —O Magazine
"Richly observed . . . Butler's lucid writing style always conceals turbulent depths beneath a placid surface. He is, in fact, one of the boldest literary writers working today, willing to follow his imagination wherever it leads."—Chauncey Mabe, Sun Sentinel (Florida)
"Intriguing . . . Intricate . . . Butler skilfully sets up expectations only to twist them, and twist them again. Words said and unsaid can change eveything in an instant." Colette Bancroft, The Mercury News
“A sleek, erotic, and suspenseful drama about men who cannot say the word love and the women they harm . . . Butler executes a plot twist of profound proportions in this gorgeously controlled, unnerving, and beautifully revealing tale of the consequences of emotional withholding.”—Donna Seaman, Booklist (starred review)
“With mesmerizing detail, Butler excavates layers of memory and illuminates moments of both tenderness and alienation.” —The New Yorker
“From each spouse’s point of view we witness the feelings that didn’t break the surface at the time, but never went away.” —The New York Times
“Butler . . . is masterful in the way he draws us into the hearts of his characters. . . . [He] gives the last pages of his quiet book the urgency of a thriller.” —Bookpage.com
“Engaging . . . Butler [has a] unique writing style . . . with rich descriptions and smooth transitions . . . similiar to Hemingway . . . A Small Hotel is a powerful statement about human nature.” —bookreporter.com
“Butler brings exquisite sensitivity to the details, unearthing them with the care of [a] good archaeologist.” —Karen Sandstrom, The Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Visions of the past arise in husband and wife on the brink of divorce, as metaphoric, coded conversations, minute gestures, and hurtful silences threaten grave consequences in this tightly focused, intensely imagined, masterfully omniscient novel. Robert Olen Butler understands the failings of men, and he understanding the failings of women just as well.”—Susan Vreeland, author of Girl in Hyacinth Blue
“A Small Hotel is a gorgeous, hot-blade of a novel, infused with lyric grace—a page-turner that tracks the unexpected turns of a marriage. Reading it, I could not pull myself away. It is the story of a man and a woman—of love, betrayal and the cost of silence. Revelatory and precise, A Small Hotel is a gem of great literary fiction which contends that the life we live every day is not pedestrian, but charged, lucent. It can turn on a dime by what we say and what we fail to say.” —Dawn Tripp, author of Game of Secrets
“This tiny, romantic novel could be read at a single sitting, but it's best savored in small slices, accompanied by the quiet ticking of the heart. A marriage on the rocks, a race against time, the duel between past and present that exists in every living soul. As a woman, I particularly admired the portrayal of the husband, Michael, the type of silent man who is an enigma to women and a source of great pain in our relationships with him. Through Butler's insightful rendering, Michael's point of view came as a revelation.” —Janet Fitch, author of White Oleander
"Separation and the seemingly insurmountable divide between men and women provide the novel's strongest themes and they do so by unflinchingly illustrating the small moments that seem to come and go unnoticed—yet in the end define us."—Flavorpill (online)
“Intriguing . . . beautifully told.” —New York Journal of Books
"Slight, intense, elliptical, it's a book that requires concentration and forbearance. Brace yourself for the deep renderings of the slightest movement; stay still for the immersion in New Orleans. . . . Longing, desire, and silence are the subjects of A Small Hotel. . . . How strange I felt when I left the world of this book to return to the 'real world.' Somehow the world of this book seemed more authentic than the world I actually exist in."—New World Reviews
"Lyrical, haunting . . . Readers will be touched by [Butler's] careful exploration of . . . the human condition and how we relate to each other." —Curled up With a Good Book (blog)“[Robert Olen Butler] is an excellent chronicler of the small domestic moments that create and destroy love.” —Patricia Henley, Sycamore Review
About the Author
ROBERT OLEN BUTLER is the author of 11 novels and three story collections. In addition to a Pulitzer Prize in 1993 and a National Magazine Award in 2001 and 2005, he has received a Guggenheim Fellowship in fiction and an NEA grant, as well as the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He teaches creative writing at Florida State University.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
44 of 48 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
On the day scheduled for their divorce hearing, Kelly Hays flees to a boutique hotel in the French Quarter of New Orleans while Michael Hays drives west of the city to a plantation called Oak Alley. Kelly brings bottles of Macallan and Percocet with her: an ominous combination of traveling companions. Michael brings Laurie Pruitt, the younger woman he has started seeing. Both destinations trigger memories; more than once, Kelly and Michael stayed together at the same small hotel (including the day they met) and at the plantation (where they got married).
Kelly passes her time in and near the hotel by telling herself a silent story, beginning with a flashback to the Mardis Gras celebration where she first met (and was rescued by) Michael. She reflects upon "how abiding and deep an early impression we can draw of another person from a single, unexamined incident." Eventually that story moves on to another man in her life. In the meantime, Michael and Laurie attend a period party where Michael tries to stay in the moment, a task to which he is unsuited.
Few readers will like Michael although many will recognize in him some of the men they know. The women in Michael's life, those closest to him -- his wife, his daughter, his girlfriend -- never know what Michael is thinking. Michael compartmentalizes his thoughts, the better to ignore those that arise from emotions. Laurie is trying to figure out Michael's "silences and hard edges," still believes she can, believes Kelly simply didn't know how to love him. Laurie is waiting for "the nothing that is so often there" to "become a nuanced something." The reader gets the sense that Laurie will be following a dead-end path that Kelly has already traveled. To use the phrase that has become so popular, Michael is not in touch with his emotions. In that regard, Michael is more extreme than most men: he can't seem to express any emotion, no matter how obvious the need for expression becomes.
If this novel has a fault, it is that Michael's inability to say "I love you," even to his daughter, is almost impossible to believe. By taking Michael to an extreme, however, Robert Olen Butler illustrates a familiar divide between men and women: while Kelly and Laurie are waiting uncomfortably for Michael to say something, to express a feeling, Michael feels connected to them by their mutual silence. There are other moments involving other couples that reveal the different ways in which men and women think and perceive the world, but Kelly and Michael, independently remembering their shared lives, provide the sharpest examples of those differences.
That divide is one of the novel's strongest themes. The nature of manhood is another. We see a bit of Michael's life as a boy, enough to understand that Michael's father conditioned Michael to believe that emotional displays are unmanly. Perhaps it is trite that Kelly's father was emotionally unavailable and that Kelly is likely drawn to Michael for that reason, but sometimes trite is truth: women are often attracted to men who, consciously or not, remind them of their fathers, just as they are often attracted to "the strong silent type" until years of silence become oppressive.
As he explores these themes, Butler constructs sentences and paragraphs that move the narrative along like a locomotive gaining steam. There isn't much of a plot here -- you wouldn't call the events that have shaped your life a "plot" -- although Butler skillfully builds a sense of dread as the story unfolds. Two stories, really, seamlessly joined: one taking place in the present that has the reader worrying about Kelly alone in her hotel room with alcohol and pills, and the intertwined life stories that brought Michael and Kelly to this point. Butler condenses the life stories to their essence by focusing on those small defining moments in lives and relationships that become forever imprinted in memory. I'm not entirely satisfied with the ending -- it seems designed to appease readers -- but that's a small complaint, an authorial choice that I can accept.
The scenes describing the end of the marriage are beautifully written but painful to read. If you're looking for a book that is light and bright and cheery, look somewhere else. If you are willing to tackle an intense, insightful examination of two individuals, this is a rewarding novel.
Kelly passes her time in and near the hotel by telling herself a silent story, beginning with a flashback to the Mardis Gras celebration where she first met (and was rescued by) Michael. She reflects upon "how abiding and deep an early impression we can draw of another person from a single, unexamined incident." Eventually that story moves on to another man in her life. In the meantime, Michael and Laurie attend a period party where Michael tries to stay in the moment, a task to which he is unsuited.
Few readers will like Michael although many will recognize in him some of the men they know. The women in Michael's life, those closest to him -- his wife, his daughter, his girlfriend -- never know what Michael is thinking. Michael compartmentalizes his thoughts, the better to ignore those that arise from emotions. Laurie is trying to figure out Michael's "silences and hard edges," still believes she can, believes Kelly simply didn't know how to love him. Laurie is waiting for "the nothing that is so often there" to "become a nuanced something." The reader gets the sense that Laurie will be following a dead-end path that Kelly has already traveled. To use the phrase that has become so popular, Michael is not in touch with his emotions. In that regard, Michael is more extreme than most men: he can't seem to express any emotion, no matter how obvious the need for expression becomes.
If this novel has a fault, it is that Michael's inability to say "I love you," even to his daughter, is almost impossible to believe. By taking Michael to an extreme, however, Robert Olen Butler illustrates a familiar divide between men and women: while Kelly and Laurie are waiting uncomfortably for Michael to say something, to express a feeling, Michael feels connected to them by their mutual silence. There are other moments involving other couples that reveal the different ways in which men and women think and perceive the world, but Kelly and Michael, independently remembering their shared lives, provide the sharpest examples of those differences.
That divide is one of the novel's strongest themes. The nature of manhood is another. We see a bit of Michael's life as a boy, enough to understand that Michael's father conditioned Michael to believe that emotional displays are unmanly. Perhaps it is trite that Kelly's father was emotionally unavailable and that Kelly is likely drawn to Michael for that reason, but sometimes trite is truth: women are often attracted to men who, consciously or not, remind them of their fathers, just as they are often attracted to "the strong silent type" until years of silence become oppressive.
As he explores these themes, Butler constructs sentences and paragraphs that move the narrative along like a locomotive gaining steam. There isn't much of a plot here -- you wouldn't call the events that have shaped your life a "plot" -- although Butler skillfully builds a sense of dread as the story unfolds. Two stories, really, seamlessly joined: one taking place in the present that has the reader worrying about Kelly alone in her hotel room with alcohol and pills, and the intertwined life stories that brought Michael and Kelly to this point. Butler condenses the life stories to their essence by focusing on those small defining moments in lives and relationships that become forever imprinted in memory. I'm not entirely satisfied with the ending -- it seems designed to appease readers -- but that's a small complaint, an authorial choice that I can accept.
The scenes describing the end of the marriage are beautifully written but painful to read. If you're looking for a book that is light and bright and cheery, look somewhere else. If you are willing to tackle an intense, insightful examination of two individuals, this is a rewarding novel.
22 of 26 people found the following review helpful
By Cynthia
Format:Hardcover
In one evening a couple relives their entire life together. As young people they met in Louisiana at Mardi Gras and immediately felt an affinity. Over the next 25 years life happens and cracks begin to open. Work, parenting and their scars from childhood intervene. Michael's harsh, unexpressive father taught him not to share what's in his heart. It's not manly. Kelly can't help wondering why her mentally ill father is so distant. Then they both meet other people who seduce them away from one another.
Butler writes a touching story. I read it in two big gulps with tissues nearby. He deftly and clearly winds the present with the past with hardly any demarcation. I felt like I had a front row seat at the theatre. I wanted to grab Michael and explain what Kelly most needs and then grab Kelly and tell her what Michael's silence means. The most amazing thing was how well they did manage to support and love one another. Ironically they got in their own way. There is a sense of menace when Kelly is accosted by three men at that long ago Mardi Gras and as she wanders the dark quarter in the present but the real darkness, and light, was in their own hearts.
Butler writes a touching story. I read it in two big gulps with tissues nearby. He deftly and clearly winds the present with the past with hardly any demarcation. I felt like I had a front row seat at the theatre. I wanted to grab Michael and explain what Kelly most needs and then grab Kelly and tell her what Michael's silence means. The most amazing thing was how well they did manage to support and love one another. Ironically they got in their own way. There is a sense of menace when Kelly is accosted by three men at that long ago Mardi Gras and as she wanders the dark quarter in the present but the real darkness, and light, was in their own hearts.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
This absorbing novel takes a detailed look at a marriage from the inception of a relationship, through its high and low points, to its disintegration. Set mostly in New Orleans, it darts back and forth through time, sometimes in the course of one of the author's long, slippery, twisting paragraphs. We see this love affairs through the eyes of the two main protagonists, Kelly and Michael.
The book begins with Kelly, alone and desperate, checking into a hotel room in the Big Easy, a room we soon learn she's well acquainted with. It was to here she retreated 25 years ago during Mardi Gras, after being cornered by some drunken yahoos demanding to see her breasts. The chivalrous Michael, a strong silent type if ever there was one, steps in to save her. And thus begins their love affair. And it was to this same room that the couple returned year after year to celebrate their marriage.
Michael, as the book begins, is some 60 miles away escorting a much younger woman, Laurie, to some kind of theme reenactment weekend where everyone dressed up as if they were in "Gone with the Wind." How did Michael leave Kelly and wind up with Laurie? We find out as the plot develops.
It soon becomes clear that Michael, for reasons of his own, is "emotionally unavailable." He is simply incapable of mouthing the three small words essential to the proper nurturing of any successful romance and marriage. His stubborn refusal to express his feelings eat away at the relationship.
So here's the setup: Kelly is alone with a bottle of whiskey and 60 pills; Michael is with Laurie about to consummate. Both are beset by memories. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what happens but I won't play the spoiler.
This book is well-written except when it's over-written. It's well constructed and the characters feel real. It is a little corny and hackneyed -- but that's basically OK. And it feels a little bit too much written with Hollywood in mind. But for those who enjoy a nice sentimental saga, it's a pretty good bet.
The book begins with Kelly, alone and desperate, checking into a hotel room in the Big Easy, a room we soon learn she's well acquainted with. It was to here she retreated 25 years ago during Mardi Gras, after being cornered by some drunken yahoos demanding to see her breasts. The chivalrous Michael, a strong silent type if ever there was one, steps in to save her. And thus begins their love affair. And it was to this same room that the couple returned year after year to celebrate their marriage.
Michael, as the book begins, is some 60 miles away escorting a much younger woman, Laurie, to some kind of theme reenactment weekend where everyone dressed up as if they were in "Gone with the Wind." How did Michael leave Kelly and wind up with Laurie? We find out as the plot develops.
It soon becomes clear that Michael, for reasons of his own, is "emotionally unavailable." He is simply incapable of mouthing the three small words essential to the proper nurturing of any successful romance and marriage. His stubborn refusal to express his feelings eat away at the relationship.
So here's the setup: Kelly is alone with a bottle of whiskey and 60 pills; Michael is with Laurie about to consummate. Both are beset by memories. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what happens but I won't play the spoiler.
This book is well-written except when it's over-written. It's well constructed and the characters feel real. It is a little corny and hackneyed -- but that's basically OK. And it feels a little bit too much written with Hollywood in mind. But for those who enjoy a nice sentimental saga, it's a pretty good bet.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting read
A Small Hotel is well written. An interesting look at relationships on different levels. I didn't want to put it down.
Published 21 days ago by Susan Norrie
3.0 out of 5 stars
Just OK
Gets kind of boring. Nothing really happens - it's more of a meditation on love/relationships/life. But it's well written. I just couldn't really get into it. Not a page turner.
Published 2 months ago by EatMoreGreens
2.0 out of 5 stars
A Small Hotel
This was a good story but the run on sentences and all the flashbacks running together spoiled it for me. I did like the characters and loved the setting.
Published 2 months ago by Susan R Sharma
3.0 out of 5 stars
books
literature is highly a matter of personal taste, and i didn't find this book all that enjoyable. someone else would love it, i'm sure.
Published 3 months ago by stephanie sarnoff
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pretty good depth
Some cliche, but not too distracting. Any book I can get thru with a lawyer as protagonist is pretty well written
Published 4 months ago by William Moore, Ph.D.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Had a hard time finishing
I have a hard time seeing what women see in this Strong, Silent Type. I also completely dismiss Michael's musings about women's emotions - what a load of crap - and being baffled... Read more
Published 4 months ago by tcally
1.0 out of 5 stars
Get over yourself.
It's a good thing the characters in this novel are so wooden that they don't ring true as people because there's very little to like in any of them. Read more
Published 4 months ago by virginia reader
5.0 out of 5 stars
Much Better Than Expected
I have not read any of this author's previous works, and learned of it through the NY Times review. I was a little wary of it, mostly because it sounds depressing - who wants to... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Ed
4.0 out of 5 stars
In Support of Communication!
I would give 7 out of 10 stars to this novel. I fully believe in its premise that failure to communicate openly with a partner can be the downfall of a relationship that has... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Theta May
2.0 out of 5 stars
Found it depressing
I read this book for my book club. It sounded interesting, but when I actually read it, I thought it took forever to get to the end and I got nothing out of this book. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Elizabeth P Gradel
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