This low-key novel won England's Booker Prize, which is somewhat surprising to me. While it is stylish, pleasantly written, and entertaining to read, it lacks any outstanding aspects or lasting relevance. It reads almost as "chick-lit," suitable for reading during summer vacation at the beach.
In fact, the heroine is a writer of popular romance novels, who has made a misstep at romance herself, calling off her wedding to a very nice (and dull) man at the last minute. It seems she cannot escape thoughts of her secret love affair with a married man. Advised by her friends to take some time away, she flees to a quiet hotel in Switzerland, where she encounters a small group of fellow exiles, all slightly eccentric.
Brookner has fun with her characters, so the books turns into something of a comedy, although a sad one. All are casualties of love, in one way or another. The heroine even receives a second marriage proposal, from a man who is anything but dull.
To Brookner's credit, what starts out following the conventions of a romance novel does provide some surprises, but in the end it just seems like chick-lit for moderate feminists.
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