| The Hotel Albatross is a run-down, small 'pub' in the rural town of Black in the Australian outback.
The book is written from the perspective of one of the female owners. The vast majority of the book is full of little anecdotes about characters who frequent the pub, like Bev, the large wife of the president of the football club who sells meat raffle tickets every Friday night. It also tells of the several workers in the pub, like the cook who can make extraordinary meals out of the very ordinary ingredients. There is little plot but a lot of subtext - a social commentary on Outback Australia. For example, the story discusses the prejudice suffered by the Australian Aboriginies, and the decline of the status of pubs due to drive-through bottle shops and random breath-testing. Half way through, I get the impression that the author wanted to introduce a plot, and so adds the story of how the pub was acquired during the financial days of the 1980's, and the owner's struggle to adapt to rural life. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of book? - thoughtful Time/era of story - 1980's-1999 Life of a profession: Ethnic/Regional/Religion Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Job/Profession/Status story Yes Ethnic/regional/gender life Yes Main Character Gender - Female Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Nationality Unusual characteristics: Main Adversary Identity: - none Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 4 () Asia/Pacific Yes Asian country: - Australia Misc setting Writing Style Lot of foul language? Yes Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog |
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