If you love character driven, slice of life, fish out of water, 1960's NYC stories then Women's Hotel will be your cup of tea. Following the women who live in The Biedermeier there is less plot than voyeurism as we see s portion of their lives unfold. From the rules of the hotel, to the relationships of the inhabitants, to jobs and romances and the daily struggle of surviving in NYC. It's very stream of consciousness and sometimes difficult to connect with, but the writing is delightful and it's a really enjoyable read,

like a string of pearls, a story driven more by the place than by the people, and more by the people than by any form of a plot. i found it interesting, but your read may vary. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

Full Disclosure: I received an Advanced Reader's Copy of Women's Hotel by Daniel M. Lavery from HarperVia via NetGalley. The book is available now.

I was really intrigued by the premise of Women's Hotel by Daniel M. Lavery. I have read about women's hotels in New York before. Having grown up in a small town in the Midwest, I often wondered what it would be like to pick up and move to the big city on my own. I would do that in my own way later, but these women were truly courageous to take such a chance. Even the concept of women's hotels is so fascinating with their rules to keep women's virtue intact. Although this is a fictional account about the different women living in one of the hotels, I'm sure it rings true for some who lived it. You get an interesting array of characters, all drawn to the city for different reasons, and with varying problems and life circumstances. I would be the woman who secretly has a cat in her room and also a hidden hot plate. It also made me excited for my next trip to New York! So much interesting history there to explore! If you like history, herstory, or New York, you should check this book out.

I’ve loved Lavery’s previous work, especially his most recent, Something That May Shock and Discredit You, which is part cultural criticism, part humor, and part memoir about his gender identity and trans journey. This new one is quite different in subject—it’s a novel set in 1960s New York City that follows the residents of a fictional women’s hotel called The Beidermeier. If you’re a plot girlie, I’ll go ahead and tell you that not much happens. But also, everything does. People move in, they look for jobs, they secretly go to AA meetings, they get arrested and have to be bailed out of jail, they befriend fire escape cats, they riot when the Beidermeier stops serving daily breakfast, they get bad haircuts, they get married, they move away. The focus here is on relationships and group dynamics, and the writing is incredible. Lavery is SO smart and wryly funny. I would definitely recommend Women’s Hotel if you like the dry humor of Jane Austen, the ensemble cast of Girl, Interrupted, or the way The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel puts a fresh spin on a past era.

This book has a fascinating premise and sharp, clever writing, but it didn’t fully come together for me. Set in a 1960s women’s hotel in NYC, the characters are intriguing, but the shifting perspectives and stream-of-consciousness style made it hard to stay connected.

While I enjoyed the rebellious, slice-of-life tone, the narrative felt too scattered to leave a lasting impact. Still, fans of character-driven historical fiction might find it rewarding.

I'm going to start by just saying that I don't think this was the book for me. I struggled to get through Women's Hotel—it's not the longest book by any means, but it still took me close to a month to finish it when normally I can finish a book within a week.

I actually quite enjoy slice-of-life novels and I was excited to get a peek into the various characters that lived within this fictional hotel. But, the writing felt erratic in a way that didn't quite work, I never felt invested in any of the characters, and often it felt wordy just to be wordy. The last chapter was by far the most interesting but, it shouldn't take the entire book to get there.

All that to be said—I was grateful to finish the book and finally move onto something different.

In the 1960's it was rare for a woman to live alone. The Women's Hotel provided a space for those in NYC that preferred a different life.

Plenty of interesting stories and vignettes are shared in this novel including the life of Katherine, the first floor manager and an ex-Ohioan and addict
What's most interesting to me is how hard the life was and the true lack of food. The tone was erudite and erratic in a sense that we only touched on people for a moment. This slice of life filled with eccentric, unruly and rebellious characters is a an interesting read - great for history lovers and heavy literature fans. Also highly recommended by Roxanne Gay!

#harpervia #thewomenshotel #danielmlavery

Women's Hotel was such a breath of fresh air in my Kindle library. The writing felt so personal and unique - unlike anything I've read lately. A must-read for this fall season (well, now, almost winter - but still, it fits).

Set in 1960’s NYC, The (fictional) Beidermeier is one of the last of the dying breeds of women’s hotels. Living there are quite the cast of characters from a woman looking for more partying than work, a woman who’s a terrible hairdresser, a political activist, a woman looking for a husband, and Stephen, the daytime elevator operator.
Initial write-ups of this book say it is funny (couple scenes, maybe) and as captivating as “Lessons in Chemistry” (nope). In 2016, Fiona Davis’ debut novel “The Doll House” about the Barbizon in 1952 which, in my opinion, was better.

Well-written but this was definitely a slice of life book where almost nothing happened (except in the final fantastic chapter) which is not usually my choice of book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the early copy!

I've been a fan of Daniel Lavery's for years and was really excited about this book! My experience reading it was weird because I put it off for a long time due to other life stuff, and so by the time I started it I was stressed about finishing it in time. I ended up switching to the audiobook really early on mostly due to the time constraint (and the several Netgalley books I needed to read in a short time period lmao). I do think that was a good choice for me because while the book is good and very interesting, I think I would have gotten a little bored with reading it not in audiobook form. I would have struggled to keep up momentum I think. That said, I think the book is really funny, entertaining, and well-written. I love Lavery's voice and style of writing and I'd definitely read another similar book by him.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperVia for the chance to read and review this ARC.

This was really fun. I recommend this to anyone in a female book club because everyone will be able to relate to a character and guessing each others character would be fun.

I have always liked Daniel Lavery's work; I think he is very smart and funny, and his humor tends to be rather subtle but successful. I loved this book, I loved all the eccentric characters, and I particularly liked getting deeply involved with their inner worlds. I think this was a fantastic read~!

Deeply reminiscent of Mary McCarthy and Barbara Pym, this snapshot of an itinerant collective at one of the many crossroads of social change was simultaneously cozy and stirring. The to-the-bone glimpses into the individual women's psyches gave a balanced rudder to a book that seemed to be as much about having a good time as reporting the quotidian impacts of unfolding historical moments.

If this book had been 2x shorter, it would have been 3x as enjoyable. Lavery successfully creates a quirky cast of 60's era "women's hotel" residents, but attempts to Mrs. Dalloway his way into a freeflowing, steam of conciousness narrative that lends moreso to confusion than charm. At the start of the story especially it is often to differentiate the narrators from one another as the POV can shift abruptly from one paragraph to the next. This would have been manageable had Lavery not expended enormous effort giving each resident multiple chapters of backstory. While this leads to compelling characters, it balloons the story to a size and complexity that is unsustainable, spending multiple chapters expounding on one character only for them to fade into the background while another takes the stage. This novel would have worked better as a series of short stories or vignettes about each resident. I can even visualize it as a movie or an episodic tv show: unfortunately the narrative delivery structure Lavery landed on is the only one that doesn't quite fit. If you enjoyed "Lessons in Chemistry" or are generally interested in a mostly forgotten area of (white) American woman culture, this book is enjoyable and educational, if challenging to parse.

I liked this and I didn't. The writing made me feel like I was in on some sort of joke, but I never really got invested in the characters. This also gave me The Stanley Parable vibes in a way that is hard for me to articulate. This story idea was really interesting, but there are just so many characters and little things without much plot to propel this story forward.

this has excellent writing — sharp, sly, clean — plus a beautiful cover and a great concept, but unfortunately it never coalesced for me. the writing, like i said, is truly great, but there is very little plot and too many characters for this to be a book that sticks with me.

I DNF'd at 20%. it was interesting but I never felt invested in the characters, there were so many to keep track of but not fleshed out enough

What a quirky, quirky book! I thought the book got off to a slow start, but it picked up and I actually did want to learn what happened to the characters by the end. The premise of the book is great and I think there is lots of good fodder here for a book; readers can meet the women, learn about their backgrounds, how they interact with each other, etc.

However, this book demands patience; the intricate prose and lengthy paragraphs require a committed reader who’s willing to push through. While it might not be for everyone, those who persevere will find themselves rewarded with a satisfying ending. Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy!

Women’s Hotel by Daniel M Lavery, I want to start this review by saying I am a big fan of books written about boarding houses women’s hotels halfway houses ATC anywhere there is a group of strangers forced to live together to me I find those situations are packed with hilarity. Unfortunately that is not what I got with the women’s hotel at all! I was sorely and sadly disappointed by the abundance of description in this book it took forever to get to some kind of situation that move the plot forward and that is when I finally got what the plot was about. I really wanted to like this book it really checked all my boxes but unfortunately I didn’t like it nor did I find it funny and I’m amazed that others do usually I can see how other people can like a book but this one has really stunted me, but to each their own however. #NetGalley, #DanielInLavery, #Women’sHotel,