Book dossier

Mrs. Eckforf O'Neill's hotel

by William Trevor

What was the tragedy that turned O'Neill's hotel from a plush establishment into a dingy house of disrepute? Nosy professional photographer, Mrs Ivy Eckdorf is determined to find out. She has come to Dublin convinced that a tragic and beautiful tale lies behind the facade of this crumbling hotel. Owned by deaf-and-dumb Mrs Sinnott, soon to be ninety-two, the hotel is home to a cast of oddballs and degenerates: drunken gambler Eugene who lives only in his dreams; the pimp Morrissey who hires rooms for his girls; O'Shea, the hall porter, trying to keep it all together. But, rather than finding out the truth about O'Neill's, Mrs Eckdorf instead discovers something deeper, darker and closer to home than she ever expected.