On today’s episode Ryan, Julia, and I will be discussing a novel set at the glittering intersection of two seemingly disparate events-a massive Ponzi scheme collapse and the mysterious disappearance of a woman from a ship at sea in The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel. This one’s got acid paint, opioid addiction, and Canada. In this episode, we will discuss the first half of the book. Our final rating will come in the next episode to give you enough time to read along with us.  

Today we’ll be pairing our read with a glass or three of a 2019 white blend called Big Salt from Ovum. Pour yourself a glass and stay tuned.

Link to book: https://amzn.to/2R3qaDm

Link to wine: https://madwine.com/white-blends/92138-ovum-deep-water-big-salt-white-blend-2019.html

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

It’s 301 pages in length. For this episode, we read to page 160.  I pulled this description from online:

Vincent is a bartender at the Hotel Caiette, a five-star lodging on the northernmost tip of Vancouver Island. On the night she meets Jonathan Alkaitis, a hooded figure scrawls a message on the lobby’s glass wall: “Why don’t you swallow broken glass.” High above Manhattan, a greater crime is committed: Alkaitis is running an international Ponzi scheme, moving imaginary sums of money through clients’ accounts. When the financial empire collapses, it obliterates countless fortunes and devastates lives. Vincent, who had been posing as Jonathan’s wife, walks away into the night. Years later, a victim of the fraud is hired to investigate a strange occurrence: a woman has seemingly vanished from the deck of a container ship between ports of call.

About the author:

St. John's my middle name. The books go under M.
Emily St. John Mandel's fifth novel, The Glass Hotel, was recently published in Canada and the US, and is forthcoming in the UK in August. Her previous novels include Station Eleven, which was a finalist for a National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, and won the 2015 Arthur C. Clarke Award among other honours, and has been translated into 33 languages. She lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.

Ovum Deep Water 'BIG SALT' White Blend 2019 

BIG SALT is a white wine that tries to capture a day at the beach in a bottle. Fresh, dry, breezy the bright aromas of the wine are met with a dry, almost salty textured palate that's well suited for sitting in the sun and hanging with friends. Sustainable and Organic vineyards throughout Oregon are the building blocks for Big Salt.

Get in touch

Our sommelier, Emily Rutan: @emilythesomm
Lauren Popish: @laurenpopish
Julia Popish: @juliapopish
Ryan Consbruck @specialrobotdog