[ About The Hotel Guest ]
Kit’s summer job at the Abbaye de Saint Maurice was supposed to be a clean slate – until she fell in with ‘the Olympians’, a clique of wealthy young academics staying nearby. Kit, desperate to fit in, was drawn to them like a moth to a flame.
Then came the incident. One night. One choice. One secret too dark to name. Kit fled, and for ten years, she stayed gone.
When an invitation arrives, summoning her back to the Abbaye, Kit returns – not for redemption, but for a reckoning. A former lover is writing a book that threatens to crack open the past, and the Olympians want Kit to silence him. Again.
Will Kit be able to betray the man she once loved for the good of the rest? How far are her old friends willing to go to protect themselves? And, in a place where memory is a weapon and desire cuts deep, who is Kit when the masks come off?
[ My Review ]
The Hotel Guest by Rosemary Hennigan publishes April 30th with Hachette Ireland and is described as ‘a seductive, slow-burn thriller where privilege, obsession and buried secrets collide.’
Kit arrived to the Abbaye de Saint Maurice Hotel seeking escape from the chaos of her life. Growing up with a father who skirted society, Kit’s whole life had been frenetic, always on the move, always unsure of where she would lay her head for any extended period of time. When she saw a position become available in this converted abbey located in a picturesque French lakeside village, she jumped at the opportunity. Kit was hoping to salvage some part of her life and fill it with the peace and solace that she craved.
Working at the hotel was challenging, with the constant demands of the guests and the perfection demanded by her manager, but Kit loved it there. When she crossed paths with a group of young intellectuals, Kit initially was reticent of spending any time in their company. She was aware that her education hadn’t provided her with the same level of knowledge to allow her participate in their debates and discussions but, inexplicably, she was drawn to them. Self-labelled ‘The Olympians’, they were the wealthy offspring of well-connected families, living life far-removed from Kit’s personal experiences to date. She was slow to socialise with them but the desire to be liked, to be accepted, was strong and Kit soon found herself falling in with their social activities outside of her busy working days. Kit loved the sense of belonging, enjoying the camaraderie that this elite group unexpectedly offered her. But one night it all ended in a tragedy when a shocking incident occurred, leaving all of the group horrified but bound in secrecy forever.
They left the Abbaye with a promise that the truth would remain permanently buried but now, ten years later, Kit is back after receiving an unexpected invitation. One of The Olympians has called them all together as he has written a book revealing the truth. With slow-mounting horror they all realise that his intended exposé will destroy them all. Kit finds herself in a very tense and fragile situation as the pressure to act mounts. She slowly recalls the past but have the years altered the truth?
Kit is an unusual individual with a very sketchy backstory. At times you will have empathy for her and other times, you will wonder who she really is. Kit is a person of extremes, with a personality that craves belonging but also relishes privacy and solitude. She has a dark side but how far is she prepared to go when the walls start to cave in? I would have liked if Kit’s personal history was delved into a little more. I never quite got a true sense of who she was, or who any of them really were bar being a bunch of pretentious and unlikeable individuals. The conclusion felt too tidy, a little hasty perhaps, but probably fitting for the novel as a whole.
The stunning imagery of the lakeside French retreat is wonderfully depicted and is in dark contrast to the jealousy and selfishness that permeates the novel. Highlighting themes of toxic relationships, class and entitlement, The Hotel Guest is an atmospheric tale of obsession, greed, privilege and desire.
[Thank you to Plunkett PR & Hachette Ireland for a copy of The Hotel Guest in exchange for my honest review]
[ Bio ]
Rosemary Hennigan is an Irish author and former solicitor. She is also a director of the Irish Writers Centre. Her debut novel The Truth Will Out was longlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association John Creasy (New Blood) Dagger award in 2023. Her second novel, The Favourite, was published in North America as The Favorites in November 2023. The Hotel Guest is published with Park Row Books (North America) and Hachette Ireland (Ireland/UK). Rosemary lives in Dublin with her husband and a lot of books.
