Love Hotel

In this minimal and evocative new novel by Unrue (Life of a Star), an unnamed female narrator is asked by a wealthy and mysterious couple to locate a missing person. The search carries her from the couple's rural country mansion to a city hotel known for its sexual encounters. The book is evasive, and peeling back one layer reveals another. Dramatic perspective shifts, poetic structure, and an absence of commas dent the distinction between interior and exterior, imagined and real. "A week/I think/It's hard to say. No depth. No clear perspective. No free space. /before I met them I had started having problems with my/Previously/But this had been my pattern for as long as/sleep." The encroachment of one idea into another's space reflects the narrator's "limited fragmented" mental state. While there are moments when the text comes together to provide clear insight, the inherent obfuscation of writing often interferes. The novel is deliberately constructed to disorient and challenge, demanding that readers infer relevance and join the narrator's search for meaning. Because the story acts as a venue to showcase an innovative writing style, the book feels a bit unsubstantive and lacking in characterization and plot, but it is a clever piece of writing. (Feb.)