Even greater than the mystery of water is the mystery of the woman whose mother was taken by it. This sentiment is at the center of Emily St. John Mandel’s The Glass Hotel (2020). The intriguing title character of the novel is the (fictional) Caiette Hotel, made of glass walls that let the beauty of the wild forests around it almost feel indoors. There’s a duality to its nature: serene but also potentially nerve wracking. At the northernmost tip of Vancouver Island, Canada, the location’s isolating nature is a haunting parallel to the loneliness experienced by the novel’s leading lady, Vincent.
With its natural trails, attentive hotel staff, and the remote location, Vancouver Island is depicted as a dream-like, luxury getaway from a mundane life. Mandel juxtaposes this to the urban locations of other chapters — the financial district of New York City, with mentions of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and Greenwich, Connecticut. New York, in particular, is portrayed as the opposite to the island: bustling, ever-changing, and the host for monetary corruption.
Inspired by the settings that are so central to the plot, I’ve created a travel guide that highlights locations important to understanding the book…
Travel Guide
Vancouver Island
Point one of importance is the real-life inspiration for the hotel:
“The location is real; it’s not called Caiette, but there’s a tiny little hamlet in the very northernmost part of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, called Quatsino, where I spent a couple of weeks when I was 14 or so.” – Emily St. John Mandel, The Curate Book Club
Like the fictional Caiette, Quatsino is only accessible by boat or “float plane.” The Northernmost Point of Vancouver Island is where the Hotel Caiette is located, vital to the story as the “Glass Hotel” itself, and surrounded by an inordinate amount of nature, as St. John Mandel writes:
“There were fishing and kayaking expeditions, guided hikes into wilderness, live music in the lobby, spectacular food, a wooded path that opened into a forest glade with an outdoor bar and lanterns hung from trees, a heated pool overlooking the tranquil waters of the sound” (p. 45).
Although not explicitly mentioned in the novel, Georgie Lake is a real-life place that reflects the remote setting of this part of British Columbia. It’s a “small site that provides gravel boat launch access” as well as fishing; and “also includes the start of the hiking trail in to Songhees Lake,” says Vancouver Island North’s tourism website.
The Caiette’s bar is important to the story plot, as it is the location where Vincent meets Jonathan. While you can’t visit that fictional bar in a fictional hotel, you can head to a real life hotel bar called the Whale’s Rub Pub on the real Vancouver Island. It is “perfect for watching for whales and other marine life passing down the Broughton Strait, or just sitting down with friends and enjoying a sunny afternoon,” says the area’s tourism website. It’s located in Sointula at The Oceanfront Hotel.
Grace Harbor is another real location important to the story because it is the point that facilitates boat transportation between the fictional Hotel Caiette and the mainland.
“And for a while there was only the soft lapping of water against the pier and the occasional cry of the seagull, until in the distance he heard the vibration of an outboard motor…. When he glanced over his shoulder, the wake was a silver trail leader back to the scattered lights of Grace Harbour.” (p. 37-38).
Toronto
Toronto’s Richmond Street is important to the book because it is the street where Paul, older half-brother of our protagonist, Vincent (& her foil in the novel), goes out to party (and ends up shaping his life trajectory). While Toronto isn’t part of the NYC-BS duality central to Glass Hotel, it sets up an important sub-plot for the book. It would be wrong not to include it. Plus, Toronto’s awesome! (See our guides here!) This particular thoroughfare runs from Trinity Bellwoods Park through the Entertainment District to the Financial District.This is no accident. It’s certainly symbolic and crafty of St John Mandel!
Richmond Street had its clubbing heydays in the 80s and 90s and is now home to condos and a vibrant art scene. If you head here, check out 401 Richmond. It’s “a historic warehouse in downtown Toronto and home to over 140 cultural producers and microenterprises.” You’ll find gallery exhibits, book launches and more. See their latest events here.
If you want to hit up a dance club, head down to Rebel, which is near this area and a popular spot, known as “the king of clubs,” according to Time Out Toronto.
The University of Toronto is where Paul attended college (briefly). The university is historically significant because it is the “first institution of higher education in Upper Canada”. I picked U.T. because I visited while on vacation in Toronto myself and highly recommend all readers to check out the campus! It’s beautiful to walk through, and as a campus tour guide myself, I recommend having a student administer a tour through the campus buildings. Because of my job, I seize all opportunities to recommend tours to anyone who is interested in getting to know a city or University better! There’s also a ghost tour across campus to check out for a different sort of storytelling.
New York City
St John Mandel lives in New York in her real life and uses parts of the city to bring the chapters set here to life.
NYC’s Financial District/Wall Street are where character Jonathan Alkaitis committed his Ponzi scheme, and the location is historically significant because of how it “symbolize[s] big business and investing in the United States” and serves as the visage to financials in America. Bonus points to those who walk the perimeter around the district while contemplating their life choices–you and Vincent both.
I felt it was important to highlight the Financial District because of how it was the location of the corruption that occurred. The city was home to the financial evil that took place. Despite that evil, Wall Street deserves respect for how it has contributed to America’s strong financial presence in the world and is still worth going to explore the district in real life for its powerful monetary presence over the years. Everyone should see Wall Street just to say that they have and also say that they have been in the largest financial district in America! There are even guided tours to take here to learn the history alongside today’s Wall Street highlights.
Another must-see in NYC: the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ranging from Van Gogh paintings to Canova sculptures, the institution holds many gems. The Met is important to the book for character Vincent’s attraction to it, and how she connects to her mother with the art: “She’d come back to this gallery several times in the past few weeks and stood before this painting, unaccountably moved by it. Her mother would have liked it, she thought” (p.155).
The Met is worth the visit not only to view the items inside, but also, to give into the emotions elicited by the pieces, and ponder the way that Vincent did during her visits. All New York visitors should have an artistically rich experience and welcome the opportunity to be emotionally touched by the Met’s art. As an art lover myself, if teleportation were real, I would be at the Met in a heartbeat.
Reflecting on the novel
This 307-paged book makes for an intriguing read, meant to imprint on your heart and jostle your mind. I appreciate the book because it made me ponder: Who am I when faced with a difficult decision? Who do I want to become both personally and professionally? Do I know who I am? How much does my past affect the woman I am today?
The novel follows two main characters: Vincent and Jonathan, who makes his living unethically in NYC’s financial district. Not only does he lie about what he does at work, but also, about the status of his relationship- his “fake” marriage with Vincent. The emotionally complicated Vincent runs with the deceptive marriage, allowing herself to give-in to a life too good to be true. As it turns out, truth is a concept that wouldn’t touch Jonathan’s life with a ten foot pole. Vincent is not the only one plagued with isolation in the book thanks to Jonathan. Everyone who he encounters seems to be left with the same lingering and all-consuming feeling. Even as a reader, I felt personally affected by his schemes too.
Overall, I liked The Glass Hotel and would read it again, especially if I make my way to Canada in the future. Rick Rordian, author of the well-known Percy Jackson series, is in agreement, “The Glass Hotel is a study in reality versus fantasy, identity versus role, and permanence versus fantasy.” It was also named “one of Barack Obama’s favorite books of 2020.”
The book evokes intense thought from every reader about how we each identity with society and ourselves. Its emphasis on an emotionally complex female character (as well as how she regards her partner) reminds me of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, which I recommend. Sometimes women just have an insatiable need to disappear. If you like this book for the writing style, read Station Eleven (2015), also by St. John Mandel (and a National Book Award finalist).
I would deem St. John Mandel’s work to be a great place-based story for its vivid imagery and her ability to connect nature to people. This style of writing is evidenced by quotes such as “the stars were so bright that he could see his shadow on a night with no moon,” as the way she pairs nature and humanity is a true testament to the themes of identity and self throughout the novel.
Overall, I give this book a 4.5/5 stars. I appreciated how it made me ponder about how I would navigate complex relationships if I were in the role of a given character, as well as for its profound content regarding one’s innermost self. There are chapters dedicated to characters meditating on their life circumstances and how their actions had consequences, which I found engrossing and fascinating.
I definitely recommend the book to any interested readers because it has what I look for in a book: a complex female protagonist, strong place-based writing, chapters that vary in character narration, strained relationships, and an inordinate amount of wealth that can only seem to come crashing down. My only critique is that the first page was a spoiler to the ending–I would have rather been shocked by the outcome instead of warned from the beginning. Despite my critique, allow yourself the pleasure of a book that is a well-paced flashback with an abundant number of characters (all of whom have been wronged by Jonathan Alkaitis at some point in time).
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