Hôtel International

When Madeleine learns about her father’s suicide, a long-expected and feared act, her reaction is not the one she had conscientiously prepared. Disarmed, she decides to postpone the confrontation of her loss by flying to Cambodia. There, between travelers from the five continents, weird expats and strange local customs, an unlikely community gathers, welded with seduction games, replicas from TV series and mojitos.

One lie leading to another, as if more were needed to alter her benchmarks, Madeleine is embedded in the organization of a fashion show. For Phnom Penh also hosts a Fashion Week. And if such land of exile and such jolly company do not appear neither beneficial nor comforting, they become the scenery and actors of an incongruous theatre vibrating with humanity, improbable adventures and uncertain love affairs. Physical and psychological escape, Hôtel International is the novel of a life between parentheses.

Reviews

“One thinks about ‘The Beach’, by Alex Garland (1996), which lampooned the seaside utopia of travel guides. Alex Garland has killed Kerouac, Rachel Vanier propose a 2.0 version of ‘The Beach’. By adding GPS and Facebook, she proves that all kind of exotic escape is now illusory.” Frédéric Beigbeder, Le Figaro Magazine

“In this first novel that moves forward like a blog at a gallop, Rachel Vanier finds a funny way between the mourning and chick-lit, and tells us a country that looks like her, simultaneously funny and completely traumatized.” Marguerite Baux, Grazia

“A beautiful book in the shape of an exorcism. Joyful despite circumstances, vivid, sensitive and fair.” François Kasbi, Service Littéraire

“A young novelist with a vivid style.” VivreAuCambodge.net

“An intelligent feminine novel.” QueLire.overblog

“A must read!” Addictbooks