Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The holiday season fails to provide the necessary sparkle in Lavery's underdeveloped companion to Women's Hotel. As Christmas 1964 approaches, the residents of New York's Biedermeier Hotel for Women land much needed seasonal work and manage to cover their back rent, but not without facing new challenges. Among the cast are Pauline Carter, who has a gig looking after lost children at the World's Fair, and strives to break fellow Biedermeier resident Josephine Marbury of her pickpocketing habit, which Josephine has taken to out of desperation. There's also Katherine Heap, 10 years sober, who faces a moral dilemma while attempting to reconnect with her younger sister, and Lucianne Caruso, who starts a dating service for young ladies and strictly enforces her rules, chief among them that "the evening ends at her front door." Meanwhile, tenants Carol Lipscomb and Patricia De Boer have been acting secretive, and hotel manager Mrs. Mossler worries it may be connected to the recent jewel theft at the American Museum of Natural History. The character sketches are appealing but the narrative never finds its footing, as promising story lines such as the one involving the World's Fair fail to materialize and others are left unresolved. Admirers of the last novel might appreciate the extended view into the women's lives, but others can take a pass. Agent: Kate McKean, Morhaim Literary. (Oct.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
The residents of the Biedermeier gear up for the holidays in this winsome follow-up toWomen's Hotel (2024). It's December 1964 and the protagonists of Lavery's previous novel are much as we last left them: scrimping and saving and carving out small but meaningful lives in New York City. Third-floor resident Lucianne Caruso is attempting to rectify a recent reduction in income through entrepreneurial spirit--while modern women no longer need chaperones to go out and about, she figures they might pay a small fee to be introduced to a decent and reliable date. Residential manager Katherine Heap, who's a recovering alcoholic, has been steeling herself for another winter estranged from her family but is surprised by a letter from Ohio. Retired caricaturist Josephine Marbury and out-of-work typesetter Pauline Carter--both of the second floor--have been out of sorts ever since the latter caught the former in the midst of some light pickpocketing. The 11th floor's Carol Lipscomb and Patricia De Boer are harboring stone eagles in their room and Mrs. Mossler, the building manager, might be catching wise. Mild scrapes ensue, without the slightest doubt that they will be resolved by Christmas. This is exactly what it appears to be: an unnecessary but nonetheless pleasurable seasonal return to a beloved cast and setting. Lavery maintains the wry tone and eye for period and character detail that madeWomen's Hotel so appealing--for instance, regarding Lucianne and her various club memberships: "That is not to say that she took the Register at all seriously; it was merely sacred to her." There is plenty of holiday spirit to be found in the Biedermeier, but marvelously little treacle. As warming as hot cocoa but not so sweet that it will make your teeth ache. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
