Don’t think I’m prejudiced in favor of Maureen Johnson because I was at her book release party last night. Truth be told, I was at the party because I was such a rabid fan of Suite Scarlett, which I actually bought from one of those Giant Commercial Booksellers, it looked so juicy.
Setting: Scarlett Martin, fifteen, lives in a dilapidated hotel in New York City. Tourist Central is her hometown. Already, I feel for the child. If I lived in Midtown, I’d probably die of impatience. (Note to tourists: Please don’t stand in the middle of the sidewalk and look up. Yes, the buildings are tall. We know.)
Ahem. Back to Suite Scarlett. Our gorgeous — but broke — heroine finds herself in a situation so absurd and nerve-wracking that I not only dropped this novel in the bathtub several times, I also bit off all my fingernails. Disgusting habit, that.
The whole novel is witty, sweet, romantic and insane. (These are, as you probably know, the four key qualities to a great book, with the “insanity” requirement being extra important.)
I don’t want to ruin anything for you, so I won’t say much more. Except that Suite Scarlett is like The Hotel New Hampshire minus bears, Vienna, boarding school and John Irving. Also minus New Hampshire. Actually, the only resemblance it bears to that other book is that they both revolve around family-run hotels.
Indeed — and this is high praise coming from someone who owns no fewer than three copies of The Hotel New Hampshire — this little tome is a better read. Just as chaotic, but less, you know, tragic.
For more info, go visit Maureen’s blog. Or you can just buy Suite Scarlett
that’s the true sign of a good book: dropping it in the bathtub. other variations of mine include throwing it against the apartment wall (‘everything is illuminated’, by jonathan safran foer) or slamming it down on the bus seat next to you (a book i can’t remember, but when i finished reading it on the number 200 to K-town i was well impressed).
I am so into insanity in books. And I cannot wait to read Suite Scarlett!
You’re going to love it. And if you don’t — though you will — you can just sit and stare at the cover photo for hours and hours. Because seriously, isn’t that girl gorgeous? She makes me want to be blonde. And also white. Because the blonde Asian look is kind of out.