Like The World According to Garp (1978), although with less violence, The Hotel New Hampshire mirrors contemporary concerns about rape and sexual identity. John Berry, the narrator, is the middle child of five in a family that establishes and lives in a series of hotels — in New Hampshire, Vienna, and Maine — suggesting the rootlessness of modern life. John's sister Franny is raped as a young girl, and the rage Irving feels about this crime, which he has called "the most violent assault on the body and the head that can happen simultaneously," is objectified in the character of Junior Jones, a young black football player who catches and punishes the rapists and eventually marries Franny. The rape has left its scars, however, and Franny denies her sexuality entirely until a brief incestuous relationship with her brother John restores her self-esteem. Homosexuality is also an issue...