A Private Hotel for Gentle Ladies, Ellen Cooney
A Private Hotel for Gentle Ladies, Ellen Cooney
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A Private Hotel for Gentle Ladies
A novel

Author: Ellen Cooney

Narrator: Cassandra Campbell

Unabridged: 10 hr 58 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/06/2005

Synopsis

It is 1900 in a small, prosperous Massachusetts town. Charlotte Heath, a lively, independent redhead of humble beginnings, is married to the scion of the powerful Heath family. When, on her first outing after a long illness, she spies her husband, Hays, bending to kiss another woman in the village square, impulsive Charlotte heads her horses straight out of town. Unsure where to go but certain that she wants to leave both Hays and the stifling, if luxurious, life of the Heath household behind, Charlotte makes her way to Boston and checks in at “The Beechmont: A Private Hotel for Gentle Ladies,” where she makes another startling discovery: the classy Beechmont is a rather unique institution, where handsome porters make discreet, late-night visits to its all-female clientele. Charlotte finds herself surrounded by a cast of characters that will delight the reader as she settles into life at this reverse brothel: Harry Alcorn, the hotel’s dashing and prescient proprietor; Miss Berenice Singleton, the bohemian painter who holds a kind of salon in her rooms; the scowling cook, Mrs. Petty, who once worked for the Heaths and is determined that Charlotte not stay on at the Beechmont; the charming and handsome “porter” Arthur, who both gives pleasure and makes trouble; and the venerable lady doctor Lily Heath, her husband’s aunt, whom Charlotte is amazed to find among the hotel’s regulars.

In the midst of a dizzying sexual enlightenment, Charlotte must puzzle out why she really left Hays and why he seems to have left her first. Her task is to determine whether she can forgive him and to discover where, if anywhere, she truly belongs–an adventure that takes her farther afield than she could ever have imagined.

Ellen Cooney has given us a remarkable portrait of a historical moment and an irresistible protagonist. Fresh, high-spirited, and wonderfully seductive in the telling, A Private Hotel for Gentle Ladies carries the reader along on a woman’s unforgettable journey to self-enlightenment.

About The Author

Ellen Cooney is the author of seven novels. Her short stories have appeared widely in magazines and journals, including The New Yorker, The Literary Review, and Glimmer Train. She has received fiction fellowships from the NEA and the Massachusetts Artists Foundation, and taught creative writing for 25 years in Boston and Cambridge, most recently as writer-in-residence at MIT. She now lives in midcoast Maine.Cassandra Campbell is an actress, director, and teacher who has performed in New York at the Public Theater, the Mint Theater, and the Clurman Theatre. She is an accomplished voice-over artist whose credits include numerous audiobooks, documentaries, and commercials in both Italian and English.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jenny

I'm not sure where to begin with this book. I feel a little like Charlotte in the story- Did I like it? Yes. Did I not like it? Yes. Was I keen to finish it? Yes. Did I care about her and her life? Yes. No. See? I can write just like Ellen Cooney, haha! I think my most biggest problem with this book i......more

Goodreads review by Lynn

Well, I picked this one off the shelf at the library and foolishly didn't come here to check on it. After a few peculiar CDs, I finally checked it out. A 2.79. Aargh. I don't even open a book these days unless it's at least a 3.5. Promptly quit. I'd been waiting for something to happen in this sort o......more

Goodreads review by Devon

Reviewed on amazon.com January 20, 2009 I was very excited to read this book after reading all of the great reviews I was expecting a funny and enlightening read about an early 1900's reverse brothel. The premise has the makings for a truly fantastic book. Yet, although it was an easy read and the pr......more

Goodreads review by DeAnna

I loved this novel and I'm surprised by the reaction some other readers have had to it. The writing is eloquent and layered, and I was completely swept up in the character's struggle and rich setting. I wonder if the novel's title and description might have set up false expectations for readers. The......more

Quotes

for A Private Hotel for Gentle Ladies:
“Charlotte Heath is the most enticing heroine I’ve met in some time: tenderhearted yet obstinate, genteel yet deeply sensual. The adventure she takes us on is wonderfully eccentric, deliciously observed, and ends with the kind of gratifying surprise that reminds me why telling stories, and reading them, is such an essential pleasure in my life.”
–Julia Glass, author of Three Junes

for Small Town Girl:
“This remarkably talented author writes in a refined, understated prose . . . in an eloquent, often brilliant narrative.”
–The New York Times Book Review

for All the Way Home:
“Ingeniously plotted . . . The richness of lives that are limited without being narrow is [Cooney’s] forte.”
–Ms.

for The Old Ballerina:
“Showcases the author’s talent for telling compelling tales and
creating flawed but lovable characters.”
–Library Journal

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