42 pages • 1 hour read
Emily J. TaylorHotel Magnifique
Emily J. TaylorFiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2022A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Home and Belonging
Several characters in Hotel Magnifique long for a home and a sense of belonging while living in a place that is transient and that robs them of their memories of home. This desire drives Jani’s character arc as well as Bel’s.
The characters’ memories of home (or absence thereof) contribute to their sense of self, connecting to the concept of Memory and Identity as paramount factors in understanding the concept of home. Jani lives in Durc at the beginning of the story. However, she longs for her hometown of Aligney, which reminds her of happier times. This leads her to seek employment at the Hotel Magnifique, where she hopes to earn money and eventually travel back to Aligney. However, she later realizes it’s impossible to return home, or at least home as she knew it.
The book shows that home is not so much about it a place so much as it is about connection. When Jani visits her hometown as an adult, she realizes that she has been romanticizing her memory of it: “All I felt was a deep ache for the past, how things used to be, and never would be again” (271). Because she was unhappy in Durc, Aligney came to symbolize childhood innocence and hope for Jani. However, she comes to understand that her definition of “home” relies on her relationships. As she explains to Bel,
I’d spent years trying to get home, but I knew without a doubt that Aligney would never be home without Zosa.
‘Don’t you get it? Home doesn’t mean anything to me without the people I love’ (222).
At the end of the story, Jani is able to reconcile her desire for travel and adventure, symbolized by the cosmolabe, with her sense of belonging. She and Bel both realize that adventure and home are not mutually exclusive. Bel, like the other hotel workers, has no memories of his home, which challenges his self-identity. Throughout the story, Bel tries to see through the enchanted moon window, which is supposed to reveal one’s home, without success. At the end of the story, he recovers his memories but decides to stay at the hotel with Jani to provide the same sense of belonging to other suminaires. Jani concludes, “I did want to take Zosa to Aligney, more than anything, but it’s not where we belong. Right now, this place is my home as much as Aligney or Durc ever was. All the people I care about are here. This place…I want to make it a home for anyone who wishes to stay” (384).
Memory and Identity
Memory—and the absence of memory—figure prominently in the novel. Under Alastair’s rule, guests retain memories of their homes when they enter the hotel but forget any details about their stay as soon as they leave. Bézier, for instance, only returns from her stay with “a feeling of devastating happiness” (8-9). In contrast, workers are made to forget everything about their lives outside the hotel, including relationships and memories of home. Béatrice and her sister, Margot, for example, do not remember each other’s existence. By wiping away memory, workers become more closely tied to the hotel’s authority and lose their identity as pawns under Alastair. As Jani comments, “We were no better than ghosts floating through the world. No, that wasn’t true; people remembered ghosts. Outside of the hotel, our lives had no permanence, no meaning, no power” (182).
Throughout Hotel Magnifique, the concept of memory is used to represent a character’s sense of self and agency. Memory spells have a significant impact on characters, who often experience a sense of unease when confronted with the missing parts of their lives. Jani notices that, unlike herself, Bel does not remember his family or home and that “it [is] obvious he want[s] what [she] still ha[s]” (151). Memories of the past provide characters with a strong sense of home and belonging and a developed self-identity.
The narrative suggests that memories of past experiences ground a character’s sense of self, enabling them to grow and exercise agency. However, it also shows that the past is not all-powerful. When Bel recovers his memories, he conveys to Jani how his former home has lost its hold on him. Instead of reclaiming his birth name, he decides to remain Bel: “Bel has been my name for most of my life. It’s who I am now” (386).
Jani also implies that one’s origins exude limited power. She suggests that one has the agency to create one’s identity anew and become more resilient. When Jani returns to her hometown, she reflects positively on her growth and self-assurance:
For the past few weeks, all I’d wanted was to crawl inside the memories of this village and live in them. But now they almost felt like someone else’s life—someone I barely recognized anymore. A girl who would have been knocked down and left breathless by everything I’d gone through over the last four years.And yet, I was still standing, still me. If I was honest with myself, I was probably more me than ever before (272).
Power and Responsibility
The idea of power, and the responsibility it creates, is developed throughout Hotel Magnifique. Characters use power literally, as some are imbued with magical abilities. Characters also use power symbolically, as some exercise control over others. In this regard, Jani and Alastair are opposites: Jani possesses magic, but Alastair does not have any magic of his own. Jani feels a responsibility for and duty to her sister. Alastair uses the magic he steals—not to help people, but to abuse them.
Jani is protective of Zosa. When she realizes that Zosa is in danger at the hotel, Jani blames herself: “This place was supposed to be my shortcut out of Durc, and I was supposed to be the older sister who did something right for once, who took us home, kept us together” (124). Sometimes, Jani is so protective that she overlooks Zosa’s desires. Ultimately, Jani realizes that her responsibility is not just about protecting her sister—it’s about ensuring that Zosa can protect herself and encouraging Zosa’s agency. Jani demonstrates her emotional growth during their confrontation with Alastair when she asks her sister for her input:
‘What should we do?’ I asked. It was her life too, after all. Tears broke over my lashes when she flew up and pecked at the talon, nudging it down, toward Issig.
Her choice (365).
In contrast, Alastair denies his guests’ and workers’ agency, asserting his control over them through enchanted contracts. By removing their sense of home, belonging, and memory, Alastair ensures compliance through coercion. As Jani points out, “We were no better than ghosts floating through the world” (182).
Although Alastair’s power seems all-encompassing, he does not have his own magic. This contrasts with Jani’s status as a powerful suminaire. Magic represents an individual’s natural abilities and talents. Alastair’s authority is entirely fictitious, his power resulting from greed and exploitation. He is the antagonist and Jani’s foil, illuminating her heroism through his villainy.
Céleste is a distorted version of Jani. Both she and Jani feel guilty about the impact of their decisions on their respective siblings:
‘It’s not your fault,’ I said as calmly as I could. When I touched her arm, she pulled it away and shot up.
‘It is. He’s my little brother.’
The look on her face made my stomach clench. She blamed herself like I did every day for not keeping Zosa in Aligney. ‘You only did what you thought was best’ (317).
Céleste and Jani are also foils, or characters who illuminate one another through contrasting qualities. While Céleste disappears from Alastair’s life, Jani learns to embrace her responsibility toward others. Not only does she respect her sister’s free will, but she also frees the trapped hotel workers and decides to create a safe home for them. At the end of the story, she takes over Alastair’s position as the maître d’hotel, trading his overpowering control to empower others.
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