I got this ex-library hardcover (minus its dust jacket) from Better World Books. I'd enjoyed the classic 1932 film based on the book, and wanted to read the original. (Another adaptation, Week-end at the Waldorf from 1945, was based on a stage adaptation of the novel.)

Later: I enjoyed the book, though its overall tone was pretty melancholy; several of the main characters are either living aimless lives in the aftermath of WWI, or are scrambling to maintain their careers and/or hopes for the future. A disfigured doctor spends a lot of time in the hotel observing the comings and goings of others; an employee frets over his wife, who's in labor; an aging prima ballerina has emotional ups and downs as she sees her career fading; a down-on-his-luck nobleman puts on a brave face and attempts to con his way into more money - by stealing the ballerina's jewels if he can... Those and more make up the intertwined storylines, with one of the more sympathetic characters being a much-put-upon office worker who's had a diagnosis of a terminal illness, and has promptly cashed in everything he could, with the intent of spending his final weeks living the good life!

The characters cross each other's paths and in some cases change each other - sometimes for the better, sometimes not so much. As the multi-character drama has become such a popular trope for movies, it's rather startling to realize that this novel may have been the inspiration for them all...

[There's a TV Tropes page on the film, with comments on the novel as well.]

Guidelines for safely visiting and stocking Little Free Libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the LFL site here.

I left this book in the Little Free Library; hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

*** Released for the 2022 Movie challenge. ***