The Hotel Balzaar | 誠品線上

The Hotel Balzaar

內容簡介

內容簡介 在備受好評的《The Puppets of Spelhorst》之後，凱特·迪卡米洛（Kate DiCamillo）以智慧而神奇的筆觸再次回到了諾倫迪（Norendy），這是一個故事交織的土地，每個瞬間都是一個故事的開始。在巴爾札酒店（Hotel Balzaar），瑪塔的母親在黎明前起床並穿上制服，告訴她要自由地探索……但要安靜無聲，就像一隻小老鼠。當母親在打掃房間時，瑪塔悄悄溜下後樓梯來到壯麗的大廳，與行李員聊天、研究壁爐上天使翅膀的畫作，並觀察一隻貓在古老的鐘面前追逐一隻老鼠，同時心中懷念著她的士兵父親的回歸。有一天，一位神秘的女伯爵帶著一隻鸚鵡入住酒店，她承諾會講故事——事實上，總共有七個故事。隨著故事的展開瑪塔開始思考：父親失踪的秘密是否隱藏在女伯爵的故事中？In a wise and magical follow-up to the critically acclaimed The Puppets of Spelhorst, Kate DiCamillo revisits the land of Norendy, where tales swirl within tales – and where every moment is a story in the making.At the Hotel Balzaar, Marta’s mother rises before the sun, puts on her uniform and instructs her to roam as she will ... but quietly – invisibly – like a mouse. While her mother cleans rooms, Marta slips down the back staircase to the grand lobby to chat with the bellman, study the painting of an angel’s wing over the fireplace, and watch a cat chase a mouse around the face of the grandfather clock, all while dreaming of the return of her soldier father. One day, a mysterious countess with a parrot checks in, promising a story – in fact, seven stories in all. As the stories unfold, Marta begins to wonder: could the secret to her father’s disappearance lie in the countess’s tales?

作者介紹

作者介紹 Kate DiCamilloAs a childKate was often ill as a child. She says, “You name it, I got it. Pneumonia, impetigo, pink eye, scarlet fever, mumps, measles, chicken pox. And because I got it, I missed a lot of school and spent a lot of time at home by myself. I am grateful for all that illness. Because I was alone for so much of the day, I learnt to entertain myself. I lived in my imagination. And I lived in books. For a writer, it was an excellent beginning.”As an adultKate studied English at the University of Florida, and then worked on a whole series of very different jobs. She says, “I worked at Walt Disney World (telling people to watch their step), I sold tickets at Circus World (I did not have to dress like a clown), I called bingo at a campground, and grew plants in a greenhouse. I cleaned bathrooms (I wasn’t very good at it) and sold advertising (I was even worse at that).” But all the while Kate she knew that what she really wanted to do was write.As an artistWhen Kate was almost thirty years old, she had what she calls “a small epiphany: if I wanted to tell stories, I was going to have to do the hard work of sitting down and writing them. I started to write. For six years I wrote and wrote and wrote. And most of what I wrote was bad. But here is the beautiful thing about doing something every day; you are bound to get better. And this is true, even for someone as dense as me.” When Kate was thirty-five years old, she sold her first short story, This is Me, Lona Bretweiser, Leaving the Amusement Park of Love. That same year, she sold her first novel, Because of Winn-Dixie. “Now,” Kate says, “I feel as if I have been extraordinarily blessed; I tell stories for a living.” Kate's The Tale of Despereaux won the prestigious Newbery Medal in 2004, and she won the honour again ten years later with Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures. Later books include the New York Times number one bestseller The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.Things you didn't know about Kate DiCamilloShe doesn’t know how to cook.She refuses to learn how to cook.She loves to eat.She is an aunt to a dog named Henry. He is not a good dog.She is a neat freak.Her favourite movie is Planes, Trains and Automobiles.She wanted to be a vet when she grew up.She has never grown up.She used to dress up her poodle, Nanette, as a disco dancer.When unobserved, she likes to dress the aforementioned Henry up in strange outfits.

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最佳賣點

最佳賣點 : 紐伯瑞金獎作家　凱特．狄卡密歐繼《諾然地傳說: 老船長的木偶》後的第二部曲

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