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At the Hotel Balzaar, Marta’s mother rises before the sun, puts on her uniform, and instructs Marta to roam as she will but quietly, invisibly—like a little mouse. While her mother cleans rooms, Marta slips down the back staircase to the grand lobby to chat with the bellman, study the painting of an angel’s wing over the fireplace, and watch a cat chase a mouse around the face of the grandfather clock, all the while dreaming of the return of her soldier father, who has gone missing. One day, a mysterious countess with a parrot checks in, promising a story—in fact, seven stories in all, each to be told in its proper order. As the stories unfold, Marta begins to wonder: could the secret to her father’s disappearance lie in the countess’s tales?
Book two in a trio of novellas bound by place and mood, The Hotel Balzaar masterfully juggles yearning and belief, shining light into every dark corner.
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Creators
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Series
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Publisher
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Release date
October 1, 2024 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780593683101
- File size: 63720 KB
- Duration: 02:12:44
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Starred review from July 15, 2024
While white-cued Marta Buchelli’s mother works as a maid in the Hotel Balzaar, Marta ponders the art in the hotel’s once grand lobby, yearns for her soldier father’s return, and stays out of sight and quiet as a mouse. Despite her efforts, she is noticed by a countess accompanied by green-feathered parrot Blitzkoff (“once a man who was a very great general”). The countess invites Marta to her room, where the adult regales the child with seven tales that contain details and phrases that spark recognition in Marta. Some of the stories seem to be about the countess herself, while others recount Blitzkoff’s apparent past as a circus performer; all pay reverence to the power of light to turn the world “into a mellow, forgiving place,” reminding Marta of the words in her father’s last letter: “Tell me where you see the light seep through.” In this follow-up to The Puppets of Spelhorst, DiCamillo showcases the capacity for storytelling to soothe and inspire hope in a pithy, nuanced tale peppered with gentle humor and enduring grace. Striking illustrations by Sardà (Godfather Death) recall woodcutting and elegant art deco line art. Ages 7–10. -
The cavernous voice of narrator Allan Corduner is the listener's first clue that this enchanted story is more expansive than the tiny, spartan attic room where Marta and her mother live above The Hotel Balzaar. While Marta's mother toils as the hotel's maid, Marta's job is to be unseen and unheard. Corduner's booming voice initially seems incongruous with the contemplative Marta and the mysterious diminutive countess who comes to stay at the hotel with her parrot. However, Corduner's emotionally modulating narration entrances the listener and transports them far from the strict confines of the hotel. Corduner gives depth to Marta's thoughts of her missing father and believability to the seven magical stories the countess tells her. L.T. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
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