Maggie Burkhardt, an 81-year-old woman, arrived at the Royal Karnak Palace Hotel three months ago. Her late husband left her in good financial shape, allowing her to travel and plan to stay there for good. Everything seemed fine at first. She is nice, sweet, thoughtful, and kind-hearted. However, she also tends to intervene in the lives of other hotel guests, claiming she simply wants to help people be happy and free. This is where I initially put a hold on the book. It's reminiscent of having a nosy neighbor who pries into everything. I thought it was just her nature to care too much, especially after losing her beloved husband and daughter. Perhaps her behavior was exacerbated by the global disaster during the pandemic, which made her overly involved in the personal lives of the hotel's guests. 😅
In the second half of the book, I began to see how reckless Maggie had become, particularly when a young mother, Tess Seeber, and her son, Otto, arrived at the hotel alone. Maggie notices the difficulties between them and the absent father. Despite her attempts to ignore it, Otto makes her uncomfortable, revealing himself to be a manipulative child who tries to blackmail her! This leads to an episode of behavioral changes, emotional instability, and struggles with decision-making for Maggie, resulting in chaos and unnecessary death. What a havoc!
The book explores themes of grief and unravels how even good intentions can lead to devastating consequences when taken too far. The writing style heightened my emotional engagement, transitioning from calm to spiraling recklessness at a slow-motion pace.