A Private Hotel for Gentle Ladies

by Ellen Cooney

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. Upon arriving at The Beechmont Hotel, Charlotte makes a shocking The classy Beechmont is a rather unique institution where a different kind of hospitality awaits the all-female clientele. Seductive and high-spirited, A Private Hotel for Gentle Ladies is an unforgettable novel of one woman’s journey to self-enlightenment.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Romance, Book Club, Audiobook

320 pages, Paperback

Published January 23, 2007

About the author

Ellen Cooney is the author of eleven novels, most recently A Cowardly Woman No More (Coffee House Press, April, 2023). Her short stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Fiction, New England Review, and many other journals. She has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Artists Foundation. Born in Clinton, Massachusetts in 1952, she lived for many years in Cambridge, and taught writing classes and workshops at Boston College, Northeastern University, MIT, Harvard Extension School, and the Seminars at Radcliffe. She lives in Phippsburg, Maine.

Reviews

[Kayleen · Rating 1 out of 5]

The review made this look interesting. It is not. It's like being forced to follow a dithering idle housewife around for a week. And not only have the utter boredom of watching her, but having to listen to her inner thoughts: Do I like this? I don't. I do. I don't. Will I go home to my husband? I will. I won't. I will. (Did I mention "dithering"?!)

Don't bother reading this. Do. Don't.

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I had to sum this one up in a nutshell I’d say “A very well-written, lushly described book in which almost nothing happens, very few revelations are made, and there is almost no narrative progress”. I found this book frustrating. I liked the descriptions and the setting and the main character it just…NEVER went anywhere. Though I will say my utter impatience with this book may have been fueled by my recent encounter with The Alchemist's Daughter which had a similarly molasses-like pace but a much more engaging plotline.

For example, after getting a sense of what is going on in the Beechmont and quite a number of lengthy musings on her own sexual life (or lack thereof) with Hays, her husband, we finally get Charlotte in a room with the handsome and appealing Arthur. Some clothes come off, some cuddling ensues…and then we cut to an entire chapter of Arthur’s backstory. Huh?? Don’t get me wrong. I nearly die of blushing with books that are TOO explicit, but after all that faffing about and thinking about things, we get almost no actual information about how Charlotte feels about what just happened. Or at least we don’t in any reasonable amount of time. There are tidbits here and there as she ponders her life and what to do next.

Overall – this was just too darned slow for me and the narrative style was at times SO convoluted that I am still not 100% sure I really got what happened in specific moments. The ending with her parents seemed particularly unsatisfying and vague. Heck, I am not sure I really got until we went off looking for her parents that there was any question or mystery about her background. And that to me – introducing some central character-defining past history in the very end of the book –seems like poor storytelling to me.

[Angelica · Rating 1 out of 5]

So, I got about halfway through this book and I decided that I just can't go on with it anymore. It's poorly written, the protagonist is boring and confused and whiny, and it just isn't worth it. I hoped that it would get better, but it hasn't, so I have to put it (throw it) away.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 is that there was no point to it. It was kind of a coming of age story - but only halfway. I liked that it was set in 1900 but there wasn't a ton of cool time-place stuff. Why couldn't this have happened in 1870 or 1940? What was the purpose of Miss Singleton? Or Miss Blanchette? And I don't get why there was a twist at the end - why!?

I want my book club to read it so we can figure out the purpose of this story.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Such a good beginning: the likable protagonist observes her husband embracing another woman, and she takes off into the snowy landscape in her pretty little horsedrawn carriage. (See how engaging the whole scene is... at first?)

And it stays interesting for quite a while-- until we realize... sort of... that she has found herself in some sort of avant garde boarding house where handsome and intelligent young men make cozy love to the female residents. They seem to be simply very obliging fellows(if they were male prostitutes, there would be money changing hands, wouldn't there?)

About midway, nothing about this book mattered to me.

[Shannon K · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mediocre historical fiction in the vein of The Awakening but without the historical relevance. I found Charlotte to be predictable and the rest of the characters to be shallowly constructed. The premise promised intrigue and a bit more spice, but I was disappointed with both the Beechmont Hotel and Charlotte's supposed feminist enlightenment. Yes, she was physically and emotionally stronger by the end, but the book seemed to stop before Charlotte's potential was truly revealed. I was disappointed.

[Lynn Pribus · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 of Victorian ladies soft porn effort. Back it goes while I pick up a CD set of Leonardo da Vinci that was 5-starred by a reader friend with whom I usually agree on stars.

Interesting little factoid: The computer told me the CD set was on the shelf at my library so I descended into the basement holding the non-fiction and asked the librarian if it would be filed under D for da or V for Vinci. "Ah no," she said, "it'll be under L for Leonardo." Why we still need librarians!

[Devon · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 prose was done well, it was...well, boring.

'A PRIVATE HOTEL FOR GENTLE LADIES' centers around Charlotte Heath who just off of her sick bed discovers that her husband is having an affair. At a loss as for to what to do next Charlotte decides to take an extended holiday to visit her only friend, an ex-servant for the very wealthy Heath family. Unbeknownst to Charlotte this ex-servant is now working in a very private hotel where the guests are only women and the men that one may see wondering the halls at night get paid by the hour for their "services". Here Charlotte explores her marriage, herself, her family and what it means to be a true friend.

There was very little humor, that I found, in this novel. Where it could have been full of colorful and fun characters it was actually dull and the quirky characters were never fully explored. Also, I found the story to be extremely one sided in making the main character Charlotte's husband look like the bad guy when clearly the decline of their marriage was the fault of both of parties. I give this story three stars because it did pick up the pace a bit at the end and I was happy with the resolution but overall this was a below average read.

[DeAnna · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 story is about a woman striking out on her own after discovering her husband's infidelity. It isn't about questionable goings-on at the hotel for ladies where she takes refuge (though these are part of the story to a lesser degree). I can only imagine that is what triggered some of the lower ratings.

I would have rated this novel 4 1/2 if I could. I didn't give it a 5 because I wish the heroine would have resolved her problem a bit differently, but the conclusion she reaches is in no way unbelievable.

And I am very much looking forward to reading more from Ms. Cooney.

P.S. As some people question whether novelists work together to give each other undeserved praise, I'd like to state that I do not know Ms. Cooney, no one has ever asked me to comment on her work, and this is simply my sincere opinion.

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well.... thank goodness that's done. I forced myself through this book hoping it would get better and have some significant point. If it did, I missed it. My biggest complaint with the story however, is the incessant and tedious tangents into the thoughts of the main character that go on and on and on. There is no doubt that Charlotte is full of angst over her life, but these episodes could have been handled in a paragraph or two, not 5 pages. Lines like "I will, I won't, yes I will, no I won't" are cute the first time but the theme does not need to be repeated. Needless to say I think there are far better books out there you can spend your time reading. Skip this one.

[Amy 💖 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, first of all the cover of the version I had didn't look like this AT ALL! This story started out so well. I was taken in right away. I really felt for Charoltte Heath and was happy to go on this adventure with her. But along the way the story turned weird. I guess I missed that part in the book description. I couldn't understand why Charoltte, as she was presented in the beginning would make the choices that she made. It just didn't ring true for me. I guess I would have been a little more clear on the direction of the story if the cover had looked like this one.

[Ktbird · Rating 4 out of 5]

A woman's reclamation of her life after illness and seeing her husband's faithlessness. She learns about love and connection and fulfillment, and gains the courage to seek it for herself.

[Melissa M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think Charlotte is a character that most young people will have a hard time identifying with. A lot of reviews complain about her being a boring, uninteresting housewife. (what? Really? The poor thing barely *had* a life stuffed away in a houseful of uppity-ups).

Anyway, I see it more as she was swept away from herself before she got to find out who she actually was. She had to live with her husband’s family, and they weren’t nice to her. They looked down on her and hid her away, basically, when she became sick. She identified more with the maids. She was depressed. I would be, too! A lot of reviews mentioned having a hard time following her jumbled thoughts. That’s anxiety right there. Also, when you’re yearning for your past, what you *feel like* defines you, you make connections with everyday, present day things to your old concrete memories. I do it all the time. In the present and the past at the exact same time.

All that time in the sickbed, reflecting on relationships with her new family, she might have already reached the decision that she wanted out, wanted to leave that house with or without her husband. Perhaps she acted so impulsively after seeing her husband with the other woman because it was the justification she was waiting for. So off she went. She tried to get back in touch with her past but found to become so detached from it, to a point of no return. Leaving her husband meant a foreign world of liars, uncertainty, and loneliness. Perhaps she was better off with him, safe and secure. I’m not thrilled with her decision, but I hope she takes some of her newfound confidence and experience and stands up for herself.

[Charlotte · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could give this book zero stars, I would! This is the worst book I've read in years. This book has no real plot or direction, the characters are one-dimensional at best, and the author clearly had no idea where she was going with this book and decided to ramble on and hope a plot came to her (spoilers, it didn't!). The writing was disjointed and jumbled and made no real sense. One minute, the author would be describing what was happening to Charlotte at that very moment, and the next sentence, the main character would be thinking of something that happened twenty years ago, something that had nothing to do with whatever had been going on before, with no segue at all to this new thought or memory. And this happened every single page! She's in bed with Arthur, they're getting naked, and then suddenly, we're hearing Arthur's life story?? And she sets up this big mystery with Arthur's life story, there's a twist where we learn it's not even his story, presumably thrown in to make it all seem more interesting, and then the book just ends. No resolution to anything, except to apparently go back to a husband she believed cheated on her. It's very obvious the author was trying to make this a less tragic retelling of The Awakening, and it's just as obvious that she failed miserably.

[Tory · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 What a lovely surprise. You might think an easy read - historic novel about a silly sheltered woman. I'm shocked by the negative reviews - days later I'm thinking about the role of color, the symbolism. She wore red for the first time in a long time..what does it mean?

There were many depths - her ability to connect with all range of people. Her quiet understanding. The Shakespeare and acting references.
The business references (Hay would have a conversation starter. Hay would wear a token scarf to establish a connection). It made me think "I bet Hay thinks business is way over her head...but she has picked up on important parts!

And the indecisiveness rang very true - she would divorce him, he would leave her, she would stay... back and forth. Confused.

The description of turtles returning to their birthplace compared to Charlotte returning to her's, was lovely - "people said, back it would go, regardless of distance and dangers, as though the muck of its own private territory was sacred, and imprinted forever in its tiny turtle brain"

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, that was...odd.
I see several reviews that refer to this book as a "historical novel." It is set in the year 1900, but deals with neither situations nor people of any historical relevance.
As usual, the writer didn't bother to find out how people in 1900 expressed themselves, particularly Bostonians of good family. Most of the time the main character sounds like a third millennium woman, right down to using the phrase "This conversation is over." To a friend. She only just missed saying, "I'm not having this conversation."
Sigh.
Why did I read it? I have no idea. It was rather like getting caught up in a strange dream and trying to make sense of it. Or one of those iced-over paintings the main character likes so much, and which are an excellent metaphor for the novel itself.
But what do I know? In a few years they'll probably be studying it in university literature courses as a cultural document.
If they aren't already.

[Lizz · Rating 1 out of 5]

I honestly could not stand this book. It didn't capture my attention at any point even though I tried really hard to get into it. It honestly took me over a year to read simply because I didn't want to read it. The main character is bland and uninteresting, to me there was no clear plot or storyline or anything really going on in the book. If i could give it no stars at all, I would. Unfortunately once I start a book I feel the need to finish it at all costs, so I finally sucked it up and read it to the end hoping that at some point in this book SOMETHING would happen. However, it never did. I was utterly disappointed all throughout and do not recommend that anyone reads this disaster.

[Sylvia Abrams · Rating 2 out of 5]

This historical novel is light reading. Ellen Cooney has created an improbable setting for her heroine, Charlotte, to internalize the shock of coming to terms with her life and, more importantly, her husband. After a siege of what appears to be polio, in 1900 New England, Charlotte flees to a small hotel in Boston, where the former Family cook is employed. A frantic set of interactions occurs with the feel of an old-time comedy. For a while I thought the heroine would undergo some major transformation, but in the end the strictures of 1900 prevail.

[Laronda Blessing · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not great. After a promising start, with Charlotte fleeing to Boston after seeing her husband in the arms of another woman, the story just didn't go much of anywhere. There are a few incidents that occur where the plot actually moves, but most are broken into by long reveries or reminiscences that don't actually tell us much, don't move the plot along, don't lead to any development of the main character, etc. So much potential and yet it just didn't work for me. I ended up skimming the last 2/3 of the book just to see if it picked up (it didn't) and to find out how it ended. Meh.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to give this book only ⭐⭐⭐. I disliked the ending. I changed it to 4 , only because I was enticed, all through the muddle of stories, in between.
It starts with a difficult situation. Then there are many stories of many characters, not really related to the original problem.

I think Charlotte should have gone away somewhere. Why would she go back?
Did she feel guilty?

I would have liked to see her go off on her own. Many more stories could have come out of her new life. Sans Hays!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a bit tough to get used to the writing style of this book. There are a lot of instances of the narrator leaving the present moment and meandering through memories or backstories before returning to the present. Once I got past the first chapter however, this book really pulled me in and I had trouble stopping.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another historical fiction book with so much potential, yet which fell flat. The premise of the story has so much room for humor, wit, and hijinks, but you get none of that. What you end up with is a well-written but pretty boring stream of consciousness. Not much happens, and the main character is not very compelling either. A disappointing read.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know what? I really liked it. (which is what 4 stars mean) It's quirky. It's unpredictable. It is subtly complex, in that good guys aren't all good and bad guys aren't all bad. And the very best part of all is this: I was not struck by *any* anachronisms. New England in 1900 - it was great. (I have lived in the Blackstone Valley.)

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very good. It was about a woman who - after catching her husband in a compromising position - left, and began questioning her entire life. And in doing so, gave herself a taste of being a "modern" woman. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

[Laura Hine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unusual period piece

Although not as unconventional as the character in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Charlotte combines a delightful sense of rebellion with an understanding of, and willingness to tolerate, the mores of her time and place. The author’s style is refreshing as well.

[Susan Katz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite delightful! The characters were beautifully drawn, the story was compelling, and the ending was perfect! There were a few characters whose stories weren't as complete as I would have liked, and a few story lines that didn't reach a logical conclusion, but overall very enjoyable.

[Susanna Walsh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great concept, disappointing execution. Inner monologue of the character was fascinating but often disjointed and hard to follow. Ending was deeply disappointing and kind of killed any character development that had happened.

[Annika · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bizarre storytelling, probably not a bizarre story. But following Charlotte's loopy stream of consciousness thoughts was about to do me in. It was almost like an adult Alice in Wonderland but Wonderland is a hotel in Boston and the reader is completely in the dark with a loopy Alice.

[Sara Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beyond excellent!

Well-drawn characters who were very believable. Hated for this book to end and look forward to reading more books by Ellen Cooney.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable read. Almost wish it weren't a stand-alone as the storyline was well wrought and the characters full and intriguing.