The aim of the article is the analysis of the liminal phase of Edith Hope, the protagonist of Anita Brookner's novel Hotel du Lac. Moreover, the study is an attempt to investigate the results of liminality in the late twentieth century society, which still imposed the pressure of getting married on a middle-aged woman. Edith, placed in the liminal space characterised by humility, seclusion and sexual continence of a subject, is able to defy social expectations. This becomes possible mostly through the act of writing. Recording her thoughts in the form of letters serves the creative function of constructing her individuality which turns out to be the foundation of her new status.