The Little Hotel

The Little Hotel (1973) is a novel by Australian writer Christina Stead.

Story outline
In a small European hotel in the late 1940s a bizarre group of characters, who all seem to be on the run from some past financial, personal or political horror, come together.

Critical reception
In a short survey of books for the 1974 Christmas market, Margaret Sydney noted in The Australian Women's Weekly that "This novel is one to treasure, because of its humor, its beautiful writing, its understanding of the way in which bothered people tick."

Kegan Gardiner has written an extended review essay on the novel and finds: "Despite some gaps in its narrative point of view, The Little Hotel is a shapely piece of fiction, with coherent parallel plotting, a careful array of interconnected characters, and rich patterns of imagery." And continues "Unusually for Stead, in The Little Hotel we hear less of her characters’ speeches than we might like. The characters and their pasts are gradually revealed, with much left open to our imaginations. This is a subtle novel, a term rarely applied to Stead."