Christmas at the Women’s Hotel

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.)