If you’ve ever picked up a John Irving book, you know the drill. There’s going to be wrestling. There’s definitely going to be a bear. Someone is probably getting their heart broken in Vienna, and someone else is dealing with a bizarre, life-altering tragedy that feels both hilarious and devastating. The Hotel New Hampshire is the absolute peak of this formula. Honestly, it’s one of those books that people either obsess over or find completely baffling.
Published in 1981, it followed the massive, culture-shifting success of The World According to Garp. That’s a tough act to follow. But Irving didn’t play it safe. He leaned into the weirdness. He gave us the Berry family—a clan so strange and tight-knit they basically have their own language.
What is The Hotel New Hampshire actually about?
At its core, the story is a family chronicle narrated by John Berry, the middle son. It’s about his father, Win Berry, a man who is basically a professional dreamer. Win has two big illusions: that bears can survive being human, and that humans can survive living in hotels.
The plot kicks off in the summer of 1939. Win and his wife Mary meet at a resort in Maine. There, they encounter a Jewish man named Freud (not the Freud) and his performing bear, State o’ Maine. This meeting sets the trajectory for the next few decades of their lives. Win eventually decides to buy an old girls' school in their hometown of Dairy, New Hampshire, and turn it into the first Hotel New Hampshire.
It’s a disaster. Or a masterpiece. Sorta both.
The Berry kids—Frank, Franny, John, Lilly, and Egg—grow up in this drafty, eccentric building where the toilets are too small and the hallways are filled with ghosts of the school’s past. Their lives are defined by a mantra: "Keep passing the open windows." It’s a family code for survival. It’s about not giving up when things get dark. And boy, do things get dark.
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The Three Hotels and the Chaos Between
The book isn't just set in one place. It moves through three distinct versions of the "Hotel New Hampshire," each representing a different phase of the family’s grief and growth.
The First Hotel: Dairy, New Hampshire
This is the childhood home. It’s where the siblings form their intense, sometimes controversial bonds. Frank is the grumpy, gay older brother. Franny is the beautiful, foul-mouthed leader of the pack. Lilly is the writer who stops growing physically. Egg is the youngest, a permanent toddler in a world of giants.
This section contains some of the most brutal moments in Irving’s bibliography, specifically the gang rape of Franny. It’s a scene that changes the family forever and drives John’s obsession with weightlifting—he wants to be strong enough to protect her, even though he was too late.
The Second Hotel: Vienna, Austria
After a plane crash kills Mary and Egg, the surviving family moves to Vienna. Why? Because Freud (the bear guy) has a hotel there. This second Hotel New Hampshire is even weirder. One floor is occupied by radical terrorists; another is full of prostitutes.
This is where we meet Susie the Bear—a woman who wears a bear suit because she feels safer that way. The family navigates a world of political violence and sexual awakening. John and Franny finally confront their incestuous attraction to one another, a plot point that has made the book a "banned book" staple for decades.
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The Third Hotel: Back to the Coast
The final act sees the survivors returning to the United States. They end up at the very resort where Win and Mary first met. It’s a full-circle moment. By now, the "hotel" is more of a state of mind than a business.
Why people still talk about it in 2026
You might wonder why a 40-year-old novel still pops up in digital book clubs and Literature 101 courses. It’s because Irving understands something about family that most "realistic" writers miss. Families aren't normal. They are insular, weird, and often traumatized.
The Berry family is an exaggeration of that truth. Their loyalty to each other is fierce to the point of being dangerous. When the world treats them like freaks, they just lean harder into their own internal mythology.
The "Sorrow" Motif
One of the most famous (and morbid) parts of the book is Sorrow, the family dog. Sorrow has terrible gas. After he dies, Frank has him stuffed in a "life-like" pose. Sorrow keeps showing up—popping out of closets or appearing in the middle of tragedies—as a physical representation of the family’s inability to let go of their pain.
It’s a dark joke. But it’s also deeply sad. That’s the John Irving sweet spot.
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Real Places vs. Fiction: Is there a real Hotel New Hampshire?
Fans often go looking for the "real" locations. While Dairy, New Hampshire, is a fictionalized version of Derry (or perhaps Exeter, where Irving went to school), the hotels themselves are inventions.
However, the 1984 film adaptation starring Jodie Foster and Rob Lowe used the Hotel Tadoussac in Quebec for its exterior shots. If you want to feel the vibe of the first hotel, that’s the place to visit. It has that same sprawling, slightly isolated aesthetic that fits the Berry family perfectly.
Key Themes for Your Next Book Club
If you’re diving into this for the first time, look for these threads:
- The Fear of Falling: Whether it’s literal (the plane crash) or metaphorical (failing to "pass the open windows"), the characters are constantly fighting gravity.
- The Protective Shell: Susie’s bear suit, John’s muscles, Lilly’s writing. Everyone is building a wall against a world that wants to hurt them.
- The Validity of Unconventional Love: Irving doesn't judge his characters. He presents their love—even the incestuous or "bizarre" kind—as a necessary survival mechanism.
Next Steps for the Irving-Curious:
If you’ve finished the book and want more, watch the 1984 movie. It’s not as good as the book (nothing is), but Jodie Foster’s performance as Franny is legendary. Alternatively, check out The World According to Garp or A Prayer for Owen Meany. They share that same New Hampshire DNA and "life is a tragicomedy" perspective.
Start by making a list of the recurring motifs you find—wrestling, Maine, bears—and you'll see how Irving has been building this universe for over fifty years.