To the consternation of many and the incredulity of the author, it won the Booker Prize that year. Hotel du Lac was Anita Brookner’s fourth novel, published in 1984. You can see them coming a mile off.’ Immensely private, she had a wonderful way of deflecting enquiries about her personal life by uttering oracular statements so bald as to silence the enquirer – ‘I could probably go into the Guinness Book of Records They think you can be made to fit in with their lives if they lop off certain parts of yours. In her most laconic style she commented: ‘Men have their own agenda. There had been proposals but none had seemed right. She loved teaching and was a revered and respected tutor.īut by the time she was 50, some reassessment was being made. Later, in 1987, she became the first female Slade Professor of Fine Arts at Cambridge. A First in Art History led to a doctorate at the Courtauld, then ten years in Paris – ‘the happiest time of my life’. Her upbringing, though comfortable, was not happy. She was born in Herne Hill in 1928 to Polish Jewish parents whose original name was Bruckner. So it is pleasing to know from a work colleague that, for the whole of the next day, Anita was completely elated.īear in mind that writing novels was her second brilliant career. Not just elegant, insightful and thought-provoking, but still, after many readings, laugh-out-loud funny. Hotel du Lac is the work of a supremely gifted novelist at the top of her game.

One of the judges, the late great Sir Malcolm Bradbury, consoled Julian Barnes, also shortlisted, with the words: ‘Bad luck, Julian – the wrong book won.’ With the greatest respect, Sir Malcolm, there are those of us who disagree.

The photograph taken after the announcement shows an author wide-eyed with disbelief. Urn:oclc:186402465 Scandate 20100708222824 Scanner du Lac was Anita Brookner’s fourth novel, published in 1984. OL15390923W Page-progression lr Page_number_confidence 89.39 Pages 200 Ppi 400 Related-external-id urn:isbn:0676503381 Internetarchivebookdrive External-identifier Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 18:19:32 Bookplateleaf 0002 Boxid IA122201 Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II City New York Donor

Hotel du lac brookner