Bird Hotel

Irene, a talented artist, finds herself in the small town of La Esperanza in the middle of a stunning Latin American landscape after a difficult childhood and the tragic loss of her loved ones. She checks into the magical but dilapidated Hotel La Llorona on the shore of a lake at the foot of a volcano. She decides to renovate the hotel, and it eventually becomes her new home.

The novel tells the story of Irene and the many other characters who pass through the mysterious and magical hotel over time: rich and poor, tourists, immigrants, and locals. Joyce Maynard approaches all the dramas and romantic twists in their lives with kindness and humour. She realistically portrays the problems of the indigenous people and their daily struggle to make a living, but also paints wonderful scenes full of magical plants, fireflies, and exotic birds.

The author takes the reader through four decades of the extraordinary hotel's existence. The world she creates is partly a product of her imagination, but it also reflects her experiences from many years spent living in a small Mayan village in Guatemala.