Women's Hotel

Independent women from all walks of life...

This is a peek into the comings and going of the Biedermeier Hotel in the last days of women's hotels in 1960s New York City. Never on the level of the real-life Barbizon, the Biedermeier is in its last gasps at the opening of the book as the manager has just cut the previously promised breakfast from the residents board package. And while the cast is large it is not nearly what it would have been if the book was set earlier in the hotel's life. But the character studies are what drive the novel–Independent women from all walks of life, and all ages,with varying goals and issues. Whether it's the addict in recovery, the woman plotting to marry a much older widow, the political operative successfully making ends meet by working for opposing groups. It's funny, heartbreaking, offbeat and absurd. Also, a lovely audiobook.