I loved this thought-provoking novel. It is so complex and layered with meaning, I constantly found myself going back and forth to understand the significance of certain moments and characters. This would be an excellent book club pick as it would make for hours of discussion, and I can't wait to talk about it with other readers. One of the best books of the year.

After arriving in Cuba for a film festival she planned to attend with her recently deceased husband, Clare finds him standing in front of her in an art gallery. She stalks him around Havana for a few days before following him onto a train bound for the other side of the island, where she can get him alone. Some may call this a literary zombie novel, but it feels to me like a perfect depiction of the derangement of grief.

This is a beautifully written book, with an interesting setting (hello Cuba), and an intriguing premise. I found it perfectly enjoyable. This was my first encounter with Laura van den Berg and I am definitely intrigued to try more from her, especially her short stories, as I've heard wonderful things about them. I don't know that this is a book that will stick with me, but I enjoyed it as I was reading it

The insights Laura van den Berg shares on grief and marriage made this book for me. The storyline was intriguing—a woman's husband dies and she goes to Havana for a film festival they were both to attend. She sees her husband all over town. Eventually they meet and talk and we understand a bit why they were together but spent so much time apart, and why losing him split her world apart, even though she wasn't entirely happy with him. Or happy at all.

This is a complex read and I think I need to go through it again to make sense of it. The horror movie analyses were informative and fun, even though I'm no longer a fan of the genre. Van den Berg did her research and integrates it well into the plot, which is a bit of a horror story itself.

I thank NetGalley for a review copy in return for an honest assessment.

Grief makes people act strangely, especially when someone has lost someone very close to them. Movies and TV make grief look a certain way: lots of tears, depression, withdrawal from others, and so on. But in Laura van den Berg’s The Third Hotel, Clare follows an inchoate grief into dark places. When we meet her, we know that she is in Havana for a film festival her husband was looking forward to. We also know that he was killed in a car accident five weeks prior. Clare knows this, too, but then she sees her husband in a crowd in Havana.

Clare is not a fan of horror movies. She’s only in Havana, about to watch Revolución zombi, because her husband was a horror movie scholar. While she crisscrossed the United States selling elevators (yes, really), Richard was at home writing articles about Final Girls and Terrible Places. Neither of them are terrible happy. Because of Clare’s travel, however, they don’t get any opportunities to really talk about their problems and misunderstandings. And then Richard is killed and they never get a chance to make things right.

Perhaps this is why Clare goes to Havana and spends her time in something like a fugue state, catching glimpses of Richard, a man who might be following them, and the supposedly missing lead actress of Revolución zombi. We see her wrestle with her memories, her emotions, and a lot of guilt over her avoidance of Richard before his death and her father’s increasing senility.

The Third Hotel is an emotional journey. I don’t know that this book will make readers cry. The book has more of a creepy vibe most of the time, as Clare seeks out her husband to find out of he’s a ghost or if there’s been a terrible mistake. I can say that this is a wrenching read and a very honest one. Laura van den Berg has done a virtuoso job of drawing a woman’s emotional riot after the loss of her husband, the deterioration of her father’s mental state, and her realization of how unnatural her life as a traveling elevator salesperson was. I would strongly recommend this book for readers seeking honest emotion.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration. It will be released 7 August 2018.

Stopped reading this book. The heroine keeps seeing her dead husband and following him all over Havana.
It’s called The Third Hotel because it took her that long to find the one she had booked when her taxi driver dropped her off at the wrong place.
Maybe if you like horror movies and zombies there might be something worthwhile.

I really enjoyed this novel as an exploration of grief. As the main character unravels, she kind of draws you into her head trying to discern what is real and what is imagined and finally drill down into her own sense of self and loss - the loss both of her husband and her father, and in some sense, herself.

Appreciated the descriptions of traveling in Cuba, traveling alone as a woman, and academic perspectives on the horror genre as well.

Very well-written and the first of Laura van den Berg's books that I've read--am certainly interested in exploring more of her work.


https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2428297467

A mysterious little book. I loved how sinuous the story line is; it often felt like a dream, and I was swept into the dream instead of being confused and frustrated. A testament to the author's talent, no doubt, as I usually don't care for cryptic, psychological stories. I really liked this novel.

The setting: "In Havana, Cuba, a widow tries to come to terms with her husband’s death―and the truth about their marriage..." Clare [widow] believes she sees Richard [husband, a horror film scholar] in Havana to attend the Festival of New Latin American Cinema. [There is a particular film that piques his interest.] Clare attempts to follow Richard. "As the distinction between reality and fantasy blurs, Clare finds grounding in memories of her childhood in Florida and of her marriage to Richard, revealing her role in his death and reappearance along the way. Filled with subtle but striking meditations on grief, marriage [and more]..."

This is a well-written book with many well-turned phrases and descriptions. Atmospheric. Reality or not? Dreams and their meanings. Ruminations on marriage, grief, identity, self. Lots of secrets. And things not said.

I learned a lot about horror films [Richard's specialty]--a genre I do not usually watch. Guns don't work in horror films. The vulnerable women, settings, dislocation of reality and manipulation, etc. And also information on elevators--Clare's area of work.

Clare's upbringing [but not Richard's] factor in--her parents ran small hotels. Her father, now in an "..unalterable slide of dementia [that] had transformed him into a furious, bewildered stranger."

"violet-throated pigeons"--such a simple description and yet...

"slithered from her chair..."

"ocean was a blue lip..."

"Language felt soft on her tongue." [after multiple vodkas]

"There were three sides to a marriage: public and private and who-fucking knows. one lived and one performed and one a thundering mystery."

3.5
I can see the acclaim for this book, but cannot round up. I think just not for me.

A humid fever dream of a book. Van den Berg plays with the ideas of zombies, grief, survival, and the tenuous nature of reality. The narrator moves through life as a form of waking dream and it's hard to tell where imagination ends and reality begins. There's a blurry and hypnotic quality to the book and the descriptions of Cuba are quite beautiful. The narrator is not particularly likable or even memorable which plays with the horror trope that runs through the book and whether survival in and of itself is a virtue.

Clare has travelled to Cuba to see a Latin America film festival. New development sits uneasily with old Cuba. The past seems more alive than the present. Clare is particularly interested in seeing a zombie horror movie called Revolucion Zombi. Her husband, Richard, is a horror film expert.
Although Clare travels frequently for work, she is out of her comfort zone in Cuba with no signs telling her what to do and where to go. It should be a relief when she spots her husband in Havana. The only trouble is, her husband, Richard, is dead.
Cuba seems a haunted place. It trades on what it used to be much more than the future. Yuniel Mata, the director of Revolucion Zombi, states that horror is meant to take the viewer into a world with different rules without realising it.
In Clare's new reality, Richard is alive. It is up to the reader to decide whether he is a manifestation of her grief or really there. Richard is not easily pinned down. Flashbacks show that Clare and Richard led quite separate lives, and that their marriage was in crisis. Before Richard died in a hit and run accident they had not been communicating. Clare may be feeling guilt over their time together.
What follows is a confusing mystery of sorts, with Clare attempting to find meaning in Richard's reappearance. An interesting premise is slightly let down by an inconclusive ending.

This is a highly unusual take on a familiar subject, accomplished with originality and wit. Laura van den Berg had me at the location and setting, but her protagonist stepped off the page and became real, a viable character flaws and all. I was even intrigued by her line of work. Havana also comes alive, and Clare's long walks through her streets are filled with sensual detail. I was somewhat reminded of Daphne du Maurier's description of Venice in Don't Look Back, which serves almost as a template for this updated novel.

2.5/5 stars (rounded up)

"What in the world did I just read" - sums up this book very well. At least for me. Aside from giving it a low rating I actually do not think that this is a bad book, I think that this is a brilliant book - for the right audience.

​The closest thing I can compare it to is The ocean at the end of the lane by Neil Gaiman, so if you enjoyed that one you will probably love The Third Hotel. Myself? Not so much. I didn't enjoy Gaiman's book and I didn't much care for this one, although it was still very readable and I wanted to get to the end to see how it plays out. Which it didn't, not really.

I like a little ambiguity here and there, but The Third Hotel is ambiguous on top of ambiguous - and at that point what is the story even? When the author leaves too much to reader's interpretation the story telling ceases to be, it looses its direction and it loses its own voice.

Everything would be made okay if the ending at least gave us something, but it doesn't. I finished the book, but I feel like I haven't, I still have so many questions and absolutely no answers. Sure, that is the point of this type of writing, but to be honest I'd rather have hard, but set in stone truths than delirious musings that go nowhere.

I had the same problem with The ocean at the end of the lane, if only the ending made it worthwhile, if only some things were confirmed. But nothing was, and I just end up wondering about the book that wasn't probably even a book, just a figment of feverish imagination, on author's part that they wanted to share with the world. A brilliant figment nonetheless, but you have to be in a state of mind for it. And I just wasn't, because those types of books are just not my cup of tea.

​The writing itself was absolutely gorgeous - that was the main reason I kept going, I absolutely loved it. It was simple, but yet complex. It gave away nothing, but at the same time it told so much.

​I cannot tell much about the story without having to explain the whole thing, but I did enjoy the side exploration of Agatha Alonso, I also felt like her story was the only one that got some sort of finish. Mostly I was just left with questions about Clare:
​ "Did she do what I think she did?" "What is she?" "What is wrong with her?" "Why? Why? Why?"

Big thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux as well as NetGalley for a digital copy provided for a review. All opinions are my own, and come from the heart. The Third Hotel will be published on August 7,2018.

The Third Hotel
The Third Hotel by Laura van den Berg
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm conflicted about THE THIRD HOTEL. Originally I was attracted by the setting in Havana, Cuba, and the author easily shares the feeling of being in that country through the pictures she paints with words. I do not believe it will have a wide audience but it will have a passionate following among sophisticated readers and cinephiles. It's a difficult book that keeps the reader off-center and unsure what is happening.

FIRST SENTENCE: "What was she doing in Havana?"

THE STORY: Recently widowed, Claire is attending the annual Festival of New Latin American Cinema in her husband's place. Unbelievably she spots Richard, a horror film scholar, outside a museum and begins pursuing him. How could he still be alive?

WHAT I THOUGHT: A disturbing journey through grief and its fog. The writing is beautiful and the author created exactly the mood and world she wants for Claire and the reader.

BOTTOM LINE: If you are a cinephile, you will recognize the names of horror films that are being scattered throughout. This is a unique book that may not appeal to all readers.

Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (August 7, 2018)
ISBN-10: 0374168350
ISBN-13: 978-0374168353

DISCLAIMER: I received a free e-copy of The Third Hotel: A Novel by Laura van den Berg from NetGalley/Farrar, Straus and Giroux for my honest review.

Ok concept but the narrative is disjointed and confusing.
I liked the author's earlier works, but this one fell flat.

An interesting and well-written novel. The Cuba setting was intriguing and made me pick up the novel to begin with.

Did not read. Removing from shelf. Did not read. Removing from shelf. Did not read. Removing from shelf. Did not read. Removing from shelf.

This story is about grief, loneliness, memory but I found it incredibly sad and depressing, I guess I just didn't get it but beautifully written nonetheless.

Laura Van Den Berg’s new novel, “The Third Hotel,” tells the story of Clare, an elevator company representative who travels to Cuba for a film festival shortly after the death of her horror-film scholar husband, Richard. While in Havana, she thinks she spots Richard at a distance, but he slips away before she can confront him.

She continues her trip, anyway, contemplating her past and her marriage, and wondering how Richard could be alive. She also continues with the film festival, describing the films and their merits, interacting with the directors and stars, and delving into the world that fascinated Richard.

It’s an ephemeral book that shifts across time and place with characters whose intentions seem unclear. The story has an elliptical quality to it, with so much taking place in Clare’s head, it’s hard to understand exactly what she is trying to convey sometimes. Even when she seems to be revealing a straightforward account of some event, it takes on a sketchy element as her own odd proclivities get in the way.

I liked the premise a lot, but I had a hard time warming up to the characters or the storytelling. Some of the conventions, like Clare’s shifting credibility and the loosely outlined subplots, would have worked better in a short story than in the longer form of a novel.

Still, it was a book that will generate a lot of discussion and debate among readers (and probably critics, too). Those who like horror-movie conventions and ghost-story tales will no doubt enjoy “The Third Hotel.”

Clare is reflecting on her life and trying to pinpoint a definitive moment when she spots her husband Richard, five weeks after his funeral, on a tourist filled street in Havana, Cuba.
Richard, a horror film scholar, was supposed to attend a film festival in Havana with Clare before his sudden death in a hit and run near their home.
Clare has chosen to attend the festival alone and it feels like her way of grieving and coming to terms with her loss, but once she spots Richard she begins to follow him across the island in a search for answers.
Part ghost story, part metaphysical mystery, The Third Hotel is a haunting portrait of marriage and solitude. The story moves intentionally slow with a strange dream like quality and offers up an ambiguous ending that readers will either love or loathe.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.