Imperial Palace (novel)

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Imperial Palace
Imperial Palace (novel).jpg
First edition
Author Arnold Bennett
LanguageEnglish
Genre Historical fiction
Published1930
PublisherCassell & Company Limited
Publication placeEngland
Pages625

Imperial Palace is the last and longest novel by author Arnold Bennett. [1]

Published in 1930, the year before Bennett's death, the novel follows the daily workings of a hotel modelled on the Savoy Hotel in London. The central character, Evelyn Orcham, is the director of the hotel.

While the novel was successful in its time, it was overshadowed by Vicki Baum's best-selling novel, Menschen im Hotel (People in a Hotel) published the same year and later turned into the Academy Award winning film, Grand Hotel .

Bennett's second novel, The Grand Babylon Hotel published in 1902, was also set in an institution modelled on the Savoy Hotel.

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References

  1. Singh, R. B. (1994). English Novels During The Nineteen Thirties. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. p. 16. ISBN   978-81-7156-384-5. Later on when Arnold Bennett became intimate with politicians and journalists he wrote two novels in a satirical vein: Lord Raingo (1926) and, In Later Life (1930). Imperial Palace (1930), was his last important work, noted for its 'romantic human interest' and craftsmanship.