Review: Christmas at the Women’s Hotel

Christmas at the Women’s Hotel by Daniel M. Lavery
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

As soon as I started reading this novella, I sensed something odd. It was almost like I had already read this book. Well, of course I hadn't; however, I had read the first book about this hotel, and in my opinion, this novella wasn't any better.  Oh, it had its moments, but not enough of them. I'm sure you already read the summary. If you have, put it out of your mind since this book is nothing like the summary.

This heavy-handed short novel does not make me feel like I'm living these women's lives. I fully expected  an amusing, nice, holiday-themed story about the women who used to stay in places of this sort. Instead, I got endless paragraphs of repetitive drivel that did nothing but ramble. There is nothing cohesive about this novel. We do get an extensive look at one of the women staying, and while she had her amusing moments, it was still unengaging.

What should have taken me a couple of hours to read (144 pages) took me two days of rather unhappy reading.

*ARC provided by the publisher HarperVia, the author, and ATTL/Edelweiss.

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Summary: "New York Times -bestselling author Daniel M. Lavery returns to the fabulous world of Women's Hotel in this delightful and heartwarming novella about one especially boisterous Christmastime at the beloved Biedermeier.

Christmas at the Biedermeier Hotel means employment, and employment means walking-around money. For ten months out of the year, jobs come fitfully and infrequently to Biedermeier residents, but between Advent and Epiphany any girl who wants something to do between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. has her pick of Holiday window dresser, salesgirl at the card stores on 42nd Street, Broadway usherette, assistant laundress at the Lincoln Center Nutcracker, Pinkerton security at the World’s Fair exhibition halls in Queens.

Katherine considers the possibility of making amends with her siblings in Ohio after a Gaudete Sunday service at Old First Presbyterian. Lucianne goes into business for herself at last, trying to run a telephone-order male escort agency (strictly above-board and Social Register only) out of her room, while Mrs. Mossler attempts to solve the mystery of the Biedermeier’s skyrocketing phone bill and frets over Christmas tips for the hotel’s few remaining employees.

And while the three thieves who stole twenty-four gems worth three million dollars from the American Museum of Natural History on October 29th have recently been caught, not all of the jewels have been recovered—and Patricia and Carol have behaved terribly strangely for the better part of a month. Christmas is a season of wonder and mystery, after all"