The Hotel Balzaar reminds me a bit of a Wes Anderson film. The story plays out as collection of highly stylized scenes, gathered into Acts, with the artifice on full display alongside the narrative. Not unlike watching a play unfolding upon a stage, and all to a very pleasing effect! The Hotel Balzaar brings an experienced reader a familiar setting and a familiar character in Marta, a curious young girl living out of sight in an old but posh hotel where her mother is a maid and her father is away at war. The hotel and its denizens are described in just enough rich detail to make it real but not so much as to get in the way of its magical story. Marta and the mysterious Countess, who arrives one day with a glorious parrot upon her shoulder and stories to share, are quite dynamic and engaging characters for a novella-length book.A great companion piece to the first of the Norendy Tales, The Puppets of Spellhorst.
The Hotel Balzaar by Kate DiCamillo, (List Price: $17.99, Candlewick, 9781536223316, October 2024)
Reviewed by Tracy Billing, Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky