If you are looking for an amusing and easy to read novel, with lots of mystery, political conspiracy, espionage and interesting characters all bound together with a splash of romance and humor, then The Grand Babylon Hotel by Arnold Bennett can be a satisfying choice. Written in 1902, this is a pretty fast paced novel, with plenty of silly action and has a certain charm of simplicity, that is common with the plots and mysteries of the books from the early 1900s.
At the beginning of this story, the reader is introduced to the protagonists, Theodore Racksole, an American millionaire and his daughter Nella, while they are dining at the luxurious Grand Babylon Hotel in London. When Nella’s order of a filleted steak and a bottle of Bass beer is turned down by the pretentious head-waiter of Grand Babylon, in a spontaneous reaction Theodore Racksole purchases the entire hotel from it’s current owner.
After acquiring the hotel a string of strange happenings occurring at its premises start to intrigue Racksole. The disappearance of some of the hotel staff; the death followed by the disappearance of the dead body of a guest at the hotel; the mysterious case of a missing Prince who was supposed to be a guest at the hotel all makes Racksole start suspecting about some foul play. When the Racksole’s decide to investigate about what is happening at their hotel they soon gets embroiled in a big political and criminal conspiracy, leading to a thrilling adventure spanning across the Europe.
Despite the plot being highly preposterous, ‘The Grand Babylon Hotel’ with it’s narrative style matching a fantasy – this style of narration was the plus point of this book – can occupy the reader with a leisurely reading experience, and the pandemonium that the author generates with his narrative keeps the entertainment level pretty high. Recommended for fans of lightweight adventure mysteries from the early 1900s; fans of modern fiction may find the level of adventure and mystery a bit flat.
