This quiet but lovely book follows main character Irene through decades of her life - from a sad childhood to an adult tragedy, after which she almost accidentally finds herself traveling to a small village in an unnamed Central American country next to a volcano and a lake, where she first lives at and eventually ends up running a 4 room hotel there. Along the way, there are also little vignettes about other people in the town or guests at the hotel.

This book manages to be both sweeping and intimate, and the writing is just lovely, with just the tiniest hint of magic realism - almost Alice Hoffman-esque. There are a lot of sad moments in this book, but a lot of beauty too, and I finished it sobbing in a good way.

This one came out in 2023, and even though I highly anticipated it after loving Maynard’s Count the Wats (one of my top ten of 2022), I somehow didn’t get around to reading it until now. Glad I finally picked it up as it is one that will stick with me and could even be a contender for this year’s top ten.

4.5 stars

The Bird Hotel by Joyce Maynard is another winner. I love all of her books. This one focuses on a woman that redefines herself with incredible strenghth and fortitude. She goes to La Llorona and builds a hotel with love and grit. She is a character that I was rooting for from start to finish. She's duped by some friends that weren't really friends and still perseveres to overcome. Joyce's writing is languid and harmonious.

"I was twenty-seven years old when I decided to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge. One afternoon I had this great life. Half an hour later all I wanted was to be dead." Thus begins the odessey of a young American woman who, beset by tragedy, leaves everything behind. By chance or by providence, she finds herself at the steps of a beautiful but decaying hotel owned by an enchanting, wise older woman in the midst of a tropical paradise. It is their stories that are at the heart of The Bird Hotel but it is the sense of place and culture that Maynard delivers that will stay with you long after you close the book..

I now have added three additional Joyce Maynard books to my library and I can't wait to dive into her internationally acclaimed memoir, "At Home in the World."

I received a drc from the publisher via NetGalley.

Irene suffers an unimaginable loss towards the beginning of this book. I was still reeling from the thought of this as she takes off and arrives in Central America. She meets the owner of a hotel there and settles in there for a time. Her life is changed here. So much will happen as the years go by and Irene finds her way again.

What a beautifully written all-encompassing story!
It's a book that is boundless in its pursuit of physical as well as spiritual beauty. It's a tale of Irene's journey to come to grips with what life throws you, good and bad, and how to seek the good when hopelessness abounds.
The plot of the story is brilliant and to attempt to summarize and capture the essence of it would not do it justice. The writing is captivating. The chapter vignettes. and titles are bewitching. Family and love reign supreme.
Beautiful book!

This is such a beautiful story, one of those all encompassing stories that draws you in from the beginning, taking you through the depths of grief and loss on a journey to healing . It’s not just a journey of the heart and soul , but it takes the reader to a place of beauty and wonder where nature can be as cruel as it is breathtakingly beautiful. Irene is alone and lost, in the depths of despair, having suffered unimaginable losses, desiring to escape from her life. She chooses to live and wanders until she finds herself in a lovely little village called La Esperanza in central Central America at a hotel called La Llorona. It is here that she discovers her lost self as she becomes immersed in this place - a place that’s a character in its own right, with it’s beautiful lake, and calming gorgeous landscape, exotic birds, a volcano looming with beauty, power and danger.

This novel has a wonderful cast of characters - friends who become family, hotel guests who become friends and as life goes people she thought were friends who are really enemies. This place among these people who help her on her journey to healing as she discovers her lost self, hers art, her motherly instincts, the person who could love again, is full of hope as the village name implies. I was immersed into this lovely place, the culture and the customs of indigenous Mayan people here and would like to have been there a while longer. I can’t say why I’ve never read a book by Joyce Maynard, although I have a few on my to read list. I’ll have to take a look.

I received a copy of this book from Arcade through Edelweiss.

What a unique story and heartfelt adventure! I loved the cast of characters that Maynard brought to life and the scenery had me running to google to search images of flowers, volcanos, and lakes. The pacing threw me a bit and I saw a couple twists coming, but I believe we were intentionally led to see through some of the more unlikable characters. I also found the pop culture references interesting and learned a lot through the various rabbit holes I was thrown down.

A well written moving story about grief, trauma and the impact of relationships in our lives. I think The Bird Hotel really leaves you a positive message about what life might have in store for each of us. I also loved the magical setting and the descriptions were detailed enough to let me imagine vividly without being boring or too long.

A new book from Joyce Maynard is cause for celebration! Grateful to NetGalley for sending me this book, a thorough treat to read. Loved the structure - tiny chapters with descriptive chapter names, like an old Spanish novel. The story was devastatingly sad at times, magically happy at others, and always beautifully written. After a series of tragedies, a woman runs from her life in San Francisco to a place in Central America appropriately called La Esperanza (Hope) and finds sanctuary in a hotel. The characters were compelling - from those who lived in the village to those who were hotel visitors from afar. Loved this book and the story will stay with me for a long time.

Joyce Maynard proves that she can tackle any genre with flawless execution. The Bird Hotel is brilliantly written, a story of heartbreak, loss, and finding oneself against a backdrop of magical realism. Evenly paced with rich, relatable characters.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Bird Hotel by Joyce Maynard is a captivating and enchanting story that takes readers into the magical world of La Llorona. Irene, a talented artist who has experienced heartbreak, finds herself in a small Central American village where she decides to restore and manage the beautiful yet decaying lakefront hotel called La Llorona left to her by the former owner.

Spanning four decades, The Bird Hotel offers a big, sweeping narrative filled with warmth, drama, romance, humor, and a touch of magic realism. As Irene works on the hotel, readers are introduced to a diverse cast of characters who either reside in the village or visit the hotel. Joyce Maynard skillfully weaves together a story that showcases her lyrical writing and whimsical storytelling.

The richly imagined world that Maynard brings to life on the page is informed by her more than twenty years of experience living in a small Mayan indigenous village in Guatemala. Her deep understanding of the culture and surroundings adds depth and authenticity to the narrative.

In my opinion, The Bird Hotel is a truly enjoyable read. The writing is fantastic, with a well-paced plot that keeps readers engaged from start to finish. The lush and atmospheric setting adds to the overall immersive experience. I particularly loved the found family aspect of the story and how Irene’s perspective allows us to meet and hear the diverse stories of the characters.

While there were a couple of minor issues I had with the book and I felt that the ending could have been more developed, these did not detract from my overall enjoyment of the novel. I highly recommend The Bird Hotel for those who appreciate a well-crafted story with compelling characters and a touch of magic. After reading this book, I am eager to explore more works by Joyce Maynard in the future.

**ARC Via NetGalley**

4.5 stars. In a novel inspired by her 20+ years of maintaining a home in a Mayan village in Guatemala, Joyce Maynard has written a devastatingly beautiful novel about a woman who runs away after suffering a heartbreaking loss -- only to find herself (and find herself) in a place she never could have imagined.

Irene is in her twenties when she flees San Francisco and eventually arrives empty-handed in the Central American village of La Esperanza. There, she checks into La Llorona, a decaying lakefront hotel at the base of a volcano. And there she stays, for the next several decades, restoring and running the hotel. The Bird Hotel is a saga spanning these four decades of Irene's life, told almost as a series of vignettes about the hotel guests, the village residents, and the lessons Irene learns from them all.

In writing so intimate it almost reads like a memoir, Joyce Maynard tells a captivating, vibrant story about grief and healing, found family, forgiveness, and the beauty and ferocity of the natural world. Her prose is lush and vivid, completely bringing the flora and fauna of La Esperanza to life and immersing the reader in the richness of Mayan food, culture, and customs. Writing from the viewpoint of an American expat, Maynard also acknowledges and thoughtfully discusses the effects of colonization on indigenous populations. Her characters are lively and well-crafted. I was invested in Irene's journey from the first paragraph, and she felt like a friend by the end of the book.

The Bird Hotel is a deceptively simple, magically enchanting story about healing from tragedy, appreciating and respecting the natural world, and finding peace with your life and circumstances. Maynard is a captivating storyteller, and her talent is on full display here. Fun fact: The cover art is a portion of a painting Maynard commissioned for her Guatemalan home by a local artist. Thank you to Arcade and NetGalley for the complimentary reading opportunity.

Joyce Maynard is such a talented storyteller and with The Bird Hotel she achieves a new elevated status: that of the genre of Magical Realism.
The novel uses the personal tragedy of the main character and her subsequent travels to a Central American village to spin a tale of friendship, redemption and second chances, all at the foot of a bewitching volcano. Maynard's descriptions of the village, the inn, the characters and the landscapes are mesmerizing, making the reader wish they could book a passage to this place.

I'm a big Joyce Maynard fan and I really enjoyed this story. I felt like I really got to know all the characters and I could picture the hotel and surrounding areas so well. Such great atmosphere. My criticism is that this was a really sloppy ARC. I'm accustomed to more near-completion ARCs and this seemed like it needed to go through at least two more rounds of editing. There were repetitions of things, grammar errors, typos... all of which took me out of the story. I'm curious how tightened up the final version of the book is. I'd still recommend because I liked the storyline so much, but was disappointed in the sloppiness.

the writing is really flat and the story lacks soul :( the setup is so wonderful and i think the setting had the opportunity to be really immersive and enchanting but there was way too much fat that wasn't trimmed off and too many side stories that were not connected…and the prose was far from the lilting, gorgeous style that i expected, from the premise.

Joyce Maynard draws you in from the first page with this story of sadness and acceptance. Maynard is a lovely writer whose characters leap fully formed from the page. "Bird Hotel" also has a fine sense of place, and her descriptions of a village and hotel situated on a lake below a volcano in Guatemala. Take your time and savor. The story is a little long but don't worry--it swirls to a beautiful end.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a digital review copy of this novel in exchange for a thoughtful review.

he Bird Hotel is about a woman trying to escape her past, her sorrows and grief.
She ends up in a fictional area located in Central America. The place is called La Esperanza – the Hope. The locals are descendants of the Mayans.

Irene ends up taking shelter in a beautiful but decaying hotel named La Llorona – the weeping woman, which is situated by a lake with views of the nearby volcano. The hotel is owned by an elderly American woman. To Irene’s surprise, Leila leaves the hotel to her, plus a hefty life insurance policy.

To respect Leila’s wishes, Irene takes on the arduous task of renovating the hotel and its gardens and pontoon. She enlists the help of a British expat.

As the years pass by, Irene becomes more settled in the area. A large cast of characters passes through the hotel, we get to know their stories. There’s also a large cast of characters who live in the village/town.

As time passes, nothing stays the same. Over the years, the place gets more inundated with tourists and gringos. I appreciated Maynard’s deft hand when it came to stating some of the downfalls of the modern life invasion and the struggles the locals face.

While imperfect, the novel snuck into my heart. The main character, la Llorona, seemed like Paradise, and I say that as a non-believer.

Oh, I was beyond surprised to come across a song I used to listen to on repeat in my early twenties. Si tu no estas by Rosana is just marvellous, I encourage you to listen to it, even if you don’t understand the lyrics.

While the novel was imperfect, I ended up being swept up by this melancholic story, its characters and the location.

Tapped out of this one at 25%, definitely has it audience and market, but not my cup of tea. The story telling felt slightly detached which was working well enough for the narrative being told but just not to my tastes.

The Bird Hotel introduces us to a wide range of interesting characters, each with their own distinct personalities. The author does a fantastic job of bringing these characters to life, making it hard not to feel invested in their stories. There are so many tales to learn from and so much wisdom to gain, but it's Irene's story that stands out the most. It's easy to imagine ourselves in her shoes and relate to her experiences.

Thank you SkyHorse Publishing and #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

I feel like I've had some pretty bad luck with books lately, but this wonderfully beautiful book brought back my love of reading and helped me remember that for a stack of lousy books can be immediately forgotten with one amazing book. And this one was simply stunning. The heart of this story is all about forgiveness and resilience, picking your self up from rock bottom and finding a reason to go on. It's about the kindness of strangers, and understanding that everyone has a story to tell. While the characters in The Bird Hotel were wonderful, the real beauty in this book is in the writing. It literally transports you to a small Central American village where you find yourself blending into the community. You feel the dust beneath your feet. You experience the beauty of the landscape around you. The vivid imagery almost makes you feel like you are part of the story, and immerses you to a point that you lose time while reading this book. It's not an epically long book, but it is on the longish side, and I was still sorry to see it end.

I will say that the ending fell a bit flat for me - without spoiling anything, I think it was because the ending was more of a reality check than I actually wanted, after being so submersed into the rest of the book. And while book endings can be make or break for me, this one couldn't spoil how much I loved the rest of the book.