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The White Octopus Hotel

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Journey to a magical hotel in the Swiss Alps, where two lost souls living in different centuries meet and discover that behind its many doors, they may just find a second chance.

‘Have you travelled a long way?’ she asked carefully. A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. ‘Well, yes,” he said slowly. ‘Yes, you could say that. But it was worth the wait.’

London, 2015

When reclusive art appraiser Eve Shaw shakes the hand of a silver-haired gentleman in her London office, the warmth of his palm sends a spark through her.

His name is Max Everly – curiously, the same name as Eve’s favourite composer, born one hundred sixteen years prior. And she can’t shake the feeling that she’s held his hand before . . . but where, and when?

The White Octopus Hotel, 1935

Decades earlier, high in the snowy Swiss Alps, Eve and a young Max Everly wander the winding halls of the grand belle epoque White Octopus Hotel, lost in time.

Each of them has been through the trenches – Eve in a family accident and Max on the battlefields of the Great War – but for an impossible moment, love and healing are just a room away . . . if only they have the courage to step through the door.

© Alexandra Bell 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

 Fantasy Genre Fiction Magical Realism Science Fiction Time Travel War

Critic reviews

Effortlessly weaves mystery, romance, and a hint of magic into a captivating tapestry of love, tragedy, and time.
Beautiful and bittersweet . . . The convincing, emotional love story, lavish settings, and a wealth of spooky side characters make this sing.
An exquisite, fantastical puzzle box of a novel in which love, art, and magic are inescapably bound up with the trauma of childhood loss and war.
A delightful read for lovers of time-slip fiction, vintage aesthetics, and whimsical mysteries.
The White Octopus Hotel is not like anything you’ve ever read before. It’s a completely fresh, brilliantly imaginative way of welcoming us, with all our fear, grief, and guilt, into a fabulous, unpredictable, enchanting world where love is the magic that transforms us all.
I may have cried while reading this in public. But that’s just proof of how good it is!
All stars
Most relevant
Just when I thought I was too old for magic. This was pure escapism with a hit of poignancy and thought provocation. Absolutely loved every minute. Gutted it’s finished

Totally enchanting

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One of the best books I have read in many years. Full of magic and mystery in the most elegant way. I loved the setting and the characters. It was not predictable and left me feeling moved. I could not put it down but now I’m sad it’s over. I hope it’s made in to a movie the visuals would be stunning

Hauntingly beautiful

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