Even before her illness Charlotte is isolated from the Heath family. What does the first scene convey about Charlotte’s personality? How does her reaction to seeing Hays with another woman capture both her spirit and her insecurities? What does it reveal about Hays and his attitude toward Charlotte?Ģ. Adding a wonderful new twist to the classic themes of sexual awakening and the journey toward self-knowledge and independence, the novel combines the engrossing pull of historical fiction and the pleasurable escape of a favorite fairy tale. At night, the handsome young men on the hotel’s staff appear in the guests’ bedrooms ready, willing, and exceptionably able to satisfy a gentle lady’s sexual and emotional needs.Ī richly detailed portrait of early-twentieth-century manners and mores, A Private Hotel for Gentle Ladies explores the forces-personal, familial, and societal-that spell disaster for Charlotte and Hays’s marriage, and reveals the hidden qualities that guide the couple to a new understanding of themselves and each other. The Beechmont, Charlotte soon discovers, offers a most unusual service. Quickly fleeing, she makes her way to Boston and to the Beechmont, a private hotel for gentle ladies where the Heaths’ recently fired housekeeper works as a cook. But Charlotte is the one who gets a surprise: she catches Hays just as he is about to kiss another woman. She sets out on a horse-drawn sleigh to surprise her husband Hays by joining him at a family wake.
IntroductionĬharlotte Heath has finally recovered from the mysterious illness that kept her bedridden for nearly a year. "About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.The introduction, discussion questions, suggestions for further reading, and author biography that follow are designed to enhance your group’s discussion of A Private Hotel for Gentle Ladies by Ellen Cooney-a sexy novel of self-discovery set at the turn of the last century about a married woman who impulsively embarks on a journey of escape and finds adventure, sexual satisfaction, and independence.
More famous for her sensuous novels, Michèle Roberts now writes a short, sharp and witty novel in the spirit of Muriel Spark. in the unfailing sensuality of her descr) Book Description: The real pleasure of Roberts's writing lies.
Guardian ( ‘Conundrums and their answers bombard the reader like a shower of carnival confetti in a novel whose characters resemble the cast of a modern-day commedia dell’arte. Roberts has constructed a fantastical Italian city, a capriccio of the sort beloved of Italian artists of the Renaissance, and makes the setting half realistic - imbued with the smel)įinancial Times ( ‘With her sudden offbeat collisions between reality and fantasy, Robert's sensibility is reminiscent of Jeanette Winterson’s, though undeniable shades of Muriel Spark prevail, of the writer fully in control of her measured, ironic tone, however much her n) Mail 'A triumphant tour de force ( Time Out‘Michèle Roberts is on sparkling form with her ludic 11th novel.
but don't be deceived: Michele Roberts has written something altogether darker and wittier. The scenario is that of a standard romance. A sizzling firework display of a book ( Sunday Times ‘A deliciously black and breezy affair, the perfect antidote to dull winter days.
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