Sjoerd Kuyper
Hotel de grote L
Kos lives with his father and three sisters in a romantic, but almost bankrupt hotel by the sea
It’s the kind of day “for writing your name across the moon with a spray can”. Kos scores an impossible goal in front of a talent scout for the Ajax football team – and in front of Isabel, the most beautiful girl in the world. His dad is so overjoyed that he has a heart attack. From that point on, Kos seems to be the only one using his common sense – or at least trying to…
Things haven’t been going well at the hotel since Kos’s mum died, but without his dad there, it becomes impossible. How can you run a hotel and still keep on going to school? How can you paIt’s the kind of day “for writing your name across the moon with a spray can”. Kos scores an impossible goal in front of a talent scout for the Ajax football team – and in front of Isabel, the most beautiful girl in the world. His dad is so overjoyed that he has a heart attack. From that point on, Kos seems to be the only one using his common sense – or at least trying to…
Things haven’t been going well at the hotel since Kos’s mum died, but without his dad there, it becomes impossible. How can you run a hotel and still keep on going to school? How can you pay off a big loan when you have hardly any paying guests? Even the name of the hotel isn’t finished: they only got as far as the letter L.
And then there are his peculiar sisters. The youngest is in love with a seal, the eldest has fallen for the depressed village poet, and the middle one is keen on the captain of the Tuvaluan youth football team, who are staying at the hotel during a competition. When the hotel’s financial problems still aren’t solved, there’s only one option: winning the local beauty contest. And who’s going to take part? Exactly: Kos. Disguised as a girl, he ends up in the final with his beloved Isabel.
However comical these events may appear, ultimately the book is all about honesty, loving one another and daring to be yourself. It’s just as well that Kos pours his heart out to the microphone of an old tape recorder every evening – and that Isabel listens to the recordings and writes them down. Because that means everything turns out well in the end, and that we can enjoy it all in the form of this irresistible book.
