The Glass Hotel
Vincent is a bartender at a luxury hotel on Vancouver Island when she meets Jonathan Alkaitis, a man whose billion-dollar business is built on smoke and mirrors. After his fraudulent scheme collapses, devastating countless lives, Vincent, who had been posing as his wife, disappears into the night. Years later, a victim of the fraud is tasked with investigating a mysterious disappearance from a container ship at sea. This novel explores themes of greed, guilt, and survival across hidden landscapes, from luxury hotels to federal prisons.
A bartender at Hotel Caiette who becomes entangled with Ponzi-scheme financier Jonathan Alkaitis, posing as his wife before disappearing at sea.
Vincent's half-brother, an aspiring composer whose life is shaped by long-term addiction.
A shipping executive who loses his savings in Alkaitis's Ponzi scheme and later helps investigate Vincent's disappearance.
The Glass Hotel was shortlisted for the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize and longlisted for the 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. It was also featured on Barack Obama's summer 2020 reading list.
Several characters from Station Eleven reappear in this narrative, establishing a shared literary universe between the two works.
The central Ponzi scheme is inspired by the real-world collapse of Bernie Madoff's investment firm, which the author researched extensively to depict the mechanics of the fraud.
