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Goldenseal
A Gentleman in Moscow meets My Brilliant Friend in this novel of two estranged friends who reunite to confront each other and the devastating betrayal that tore them apart Downtown Los Angeles, 1990. Alone in her luxury hotel suite, the reclusive Lacey Crane receives a Edith is waiting for her in the lobby. Former best friends, Lacey and Edith haven't spoken to one another in over four decades. As young adults meeting at summer camp in Maine, and later making their way in the glitzy spotlight of postwar Hollywood, Edith and Lacey share a deep-rooted bond that once saved them from isolation and despair, providing comfort from the public and private traumas that they had each endured and which a newly optimistic world was eager to forget. Told through a continuous, twisting conversation that unfolds over the course of a single evening, in which each woman tells her story and reveals long-hidden secrets, the narratives of Edith and Lacey burn with atmosphere, mystery, resentment, and regret. Set against the vivid landscapes of Los Angeles and unfolding with the evanescence of a dream or a memory, Goldenseal peels away the layers of an intimate female friendship to reveal a stirring and haunting story about the search for connection and the lingering echoes of lost love.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 9, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
April 4, 2024
Falling into friendship, with Edith was also, for Lacey, inextricable, with falling in love with the northern summer. Never had she woken to birdsong, or plunged headfirst into cool water on a blazing day, or listened to the whispers of the oaks as a thunderstorm, swept in. Never had the sun felt so warm and golden, or rain soaked her so completely. The shrill of crickets, alarming at first, began to soothe her to sleep at night. A toad hunched by a log was so intensely ugly she cried out in shock, while a fox, slipping through the pines, looked like the tip of a paintbrush dipped in orange. Her hands and legs became tan and useful. She could tie three kinds of sailor knots, and she could kick her way up a river current. Her face in the spotty cabin mirror was freckled, it also looked rounder and full. She was gaining weight back, and when one night Edith observed, “You’re not coughing anymore,” Lacey realized it was true."When the stranger returned to the city..." are the opening words of Goldenseal, or could be of a fun Western. The description that follows is pure delight, set in 1990 Los Angeles, as Maria Hummel shows off her poet's gift for description. In The Rumpus interview she talks about having to tone that element down to spend more focus on moving the story forward. A loss for the likes of me. Edith Holle left Lacey, and Los Angeles forty-four years ago. She is back now on a mission known only to herself.
I was interested in creating a novel that had an allegorical Western feel. The stranger comes back to this city for the first time in forty-four years; “the stranger comes to town.” That’s the beginning of the classic Western, and Westerns play an important role throughout the story, as both subject and backdrop, especially in regard to gender. Because in the classic Western, the “stranger” is male, right? But here, it’s Edith, an old woman in a wrinkled skirt and sneaker boots. - from The Rumpus interviewIn addition to the western genre references, there is a mystery afoot here, well, a few. What was the nature of Edith's connection to Lacey? Why did she leave? Why is she back?
Maria Hummel - Image from her site
We get an up close look at Lacey’s discomfort, wondering what Edith is up to, stressing over what to wear, as if her sartorial selections might provide a layer of armor, but Lacey is also clearly dying to see her. Once the waiting is done, we get on with the bulk of the story. It is told in two time lines. First is an ongoing conversation between the two women, the frame. Second is the history they recount within it.
Lacey Crane was born in Prague, her parents fleeing before, but not because of, the future Nazi invasion. Middle class, they were able to experience success in the hotel business. We get a look at the impact of the Holocaust on her parents, particularly her Jewish mother. As girls, Lacey and Edith meet at a California camp, where Edith is a bit of a loner, the daughter of the camp caretaker, special for her talent at stage performance, among other things, but seen as too lower class for most of the privileged girls. Not for Lacey. They become instant besties. (see quote at top) Edith's home life is challenging, and Lacey wants to take her away from all that.
We follow the development of their friendship, and of their lives, together and apart. It is events in adulthood that split them, a final, dramatic schism. Dirty laundry is pulled from their memory bags, and held up for close inspection. Some garments are left unaired.
The contemporary conversation functions as a way for them to both examine the lives they have led. It also illuminates some of the changes women experienced in the 20th century.
The novel germinated over a protracted period, until all the elements finally came together. First was the Biltmore. When she and her husband moved there in the early aughts, Hummel was smitten with the LA hotel culture, particularly that hotel.
[This] combined with a book that I read that came out in American translation in 2001 called Embers …originally published in 1942, is a story about two old friends, males, an old general and a soldier, meeting in a castle in the Carpathians for the first time in forty years. They're also weighing out friendship. When I read that book, I thought, this is such a great treatise on friendship, but it's about male friendship. Female friendship is different. Wouldn't it be great to use this structure but set it in an American castle? There it is. Then the third piece was, as we all experienced, we lived like recluses, particularly for me, the academic year that was 2020/'21. I thought, I know how to write this character now, this person who's basically a hermit who lives in the hotel and never goes out and is locked in her tower. - from the Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books interviewUnderneath it all is that primal bond, forged in childhood, hardened in adulthood but seriously damaged. We are waiting for the high noon moment when the women unholster their revelations and take aim.
The Lacey-Edith intersection is, in a way, where Old World meets New. Lacey having been born middle class in Europe. Edith living a much more frontier-type of existence in the American far west. Lacey is relatively well-to-do, while Edith is a bit of a Cinderella character, responsible beyond her years, kept as something of a household slave by an unfeeling parent. Maybe Lacey can fit her up with a glass slipper, get her a carriage ride to something better? There are medical remedies from both the Old World and the New that present the strengths of both cultures. Familial tragedies echo across the divide.
Do we care? Each girl faces challenges at home. And both are portrayed as decent kids, so it is not hard to feel for them. The tale of their early friendship is incredibly charming and engaging, a major strength of the novel. The bond between these two is palpable and we want it to be eternal. Each girl finds relief from her personal stresses in having someone with whom to share. We get glimpses of their time together later, as teens, but these are fleeting, and lack the immediacy and impact of their camp days. Their time as adults is also presented in brief glimpses, stroboscopic flashes of events. Sure, there is angst, pain, heartbreak, betrayal, and disappointment, but having stepped back from Lacey and Edith, the impact is dulled. It is not a bad thing to leave readers wanting more of a character but it seemed to me that we got a bit short-changed and should not have needed that much more.
The narrative flow works quite well, switching back and forth between the contemporary and historical. But in a latter section of the novel, the conversation became much less...conversational, transforming into almost straight up exposition. I found this distancing, and thus off-putting.
There is a lot going on in Goldenseal. Thematically, it offers a trove of genre touches, coming of age, mystery, western, domestic drama and probably others. Hummel writes beautiful descriptions. I wish there had been even more of that. She gets us to care about her leads. And offers a persuasive explanation at the end, for most questions. It is a good read for sure, but maybe a Silver Seal instead of a Golden One.
Review posted - 03/29/24
Publication date – 01/09/24
I received a hardcover copy of Goldenseal from Counterpoint in return for a fair review. Thanks, folks.
This review will soon be cross-posted on my site, Coot’s Reviews. Stop by and say Hi!
=============================EXTRA STUFF
Links to Hummel’s personal and Twitter pages
Profile – from her website
Maria Hummel is a novelist and poet. Her books include Goldenseal, Lesson in Red, a follow-up to Still Lives, a Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine pick, a Book of the Month Club pick, and BBC Culture Best Book of 2018; Motherland, a San Francisco Chronicle Book of the Year; and House and Fire, winner of the APR/Honickman Poetry Prize… Hummel worked for many years as an arts editor and journalist, and as a writer/editor for The Museum of Contemporary Art, experience that informed Still Lives and Lesson in Red. She also taught creative writing at Stanford University and Colorado College, and is now a full professor at the University of Vermont. She lives in Vermont with her husband and sons.
Interviews
-----The Mark Twain House & Museum Program - GOLDENSEAL with Maria Hummerl and Barbara Bourland by Omar Savedo – Video – 58:15
-----Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books - Maria Hummel, Goldenseal by Zibby Owens
-----The Rumpus Friendship Sunset: A Conversation with Maria Hummel by Jenny Bartoy
Items of Interest from the author
-----Reading Group Guide
-----LitHub - The Shadow Self of Domestic Stories: A Reading List of Novels Set in Hotels
January 29, 2024
Just finished.
Review to come.
1-26-24
4*
I wrestled with rating this book.
The book was a good one although the subject of a friendship gone sour isn't always pleasant. I look back to a personal similar situation and in doing so, the emotions came back to write this review.
Coming from totally opposite backgrounds, two very young girls forge an unbreakable relationship.
Having a best friend from childhood through adulthood who suddenly disappears from your life is heartbreaking. Not understanding the "why"- is torturous.
Many times when this happens, one keeps playing all the different scenarios in their mind until finally, the cocktail of interpretation grows into the rationale for the story you have come to believe.
Fast forward forty-four years, Edith has been sitting in the lobby of the hotel all day, feeling as though this is some sort of a punishment. At 8pm, Lacey finally sends a message to let Edith know she will be received. Lacey is nervous and cant back out- she needs her one question answered.
The character development is splendid and it is here where the authors prose of two women is simply outstanding. The author melds many current topics in her story that give this story credence. Parental judgement is just one that stood out.
Review to come.
1-26-24
4*
I wrestled with rating this book.
The book was a good one although the subject of a friendship gone sour isn't always pleasant. I look back to a personal similar situation and in doing so, the emotions came back to write this review.
Coming from totally opposite backgrounds, two very young girls forge an unbreakable relationship.
Having a best friend from childhood through adulthood who suddenly disappears from your life is heartbreaking. Not understanding the "why"- is torturous.
Many times when this happens, one keeps playing all the different scenarios in their mind until finally, the cocktail of interpretation grows into the rationale for the story you have come to believe.
Fast forward forty-four years, Edith has been sitting in the lobby of the hotel all day, feeling as though this is some sort of a punishment. At 8pm, Lacey finally sends a message to let Edith know she will be received. Lacey is nervous and cant back out- she needs her one question answered.
The character development is splendid and it is here where the authors prose of two women is simply outstanding. The author melds many current topics in her story that give this story credence. Parental judgement is just one that stood out.
July 15, 2023
This shattered me. This novel is a gift to any woman who has ever lost a friend who continues to live. We all know that a friendship breakup hurts more than losing a lover or boyfriend or husband, and this book is the first time I have felt that truth honored in writing. Goldenseal shows the reader that time does not heal all wounds, that some pains last forever and live inside us for decades and shape us into the formidable, challenging, imperfect women we are. This is a masterpiece. It brought me to tears. The true magic of this book is that you can see yourself in both Edith and Lacey, as both the offended and offender, victim and perpetrator. Nothing is as black and white as we believe it is, we are not the heroes we tell ourselves we are, and Hummel shows us these truths with devastating clarity and beauty.
March 2, 2024
One night. Two (former) best friends.
In this short novel, Edith shows up on Lacey’s doorstep. After decades of not speaking to one another, Edith is ready to share what caused her to run at a moment when Lacey’s whole life was turned upside down. You hear both sides of the story and sympathize with both of them.
The dialogue was easy to follow, and the story had an interesting plot as you heard both women’s stories. While this wasn’t the most interesting novel to me, it did a good job of exploring the motivations of the two women. It also dug deep into how these two women’s relationships with other individuals were intertwined with each other's relationship. This led to interesting parts of their stories being exposed to one another. Overall, a decent read.
In this short novel, Edith shows up on Lacey’s doorstep. After decades of not speaking to one another, Edith is ready to share what caused her to run at a moment when Lacey’s whole life was turned upside down. You hear both sides of the story and sympathize with both of them.
The dialogue was easy to follow, and the story had an interesting plot as you heard both women’s stories. While this wasn’t the most interesting novel to me, it did a good job of exploring the motivations of the two women. It also dug deep into how these two women’s relationships with other individuals were intertwined with each other's relationship. This led to interesting parts of their stories being exposed to one another. Overall, a decent read.
January 30, 2024
2.5 stars
An interesting concept, and yet I felt myself waiting for another shoe to drop. Short and as a result rather surface level. I found it difficult to understand the characters with the small snippets on the page. Perhaps more length and thus a deeper dive into this story would have resulting in a more sweeping and moving novel.
An interesting concept, and yet I felt myself waiting for another shoe to drop. Short and as a result rather surface level. I found it difficult to understand the characters with the small snippets on the page. Perhaps more length and thus a deeper dive into this story would have resulting in a more sweeping and moving novel.
January 20, 2024
2.5. People don’t talk in pages-long monologues and I found suspending my disbelief over this fact really difficult.
December 29, 2023
I haven't read My Brilliant Friend, so I don't know of any similarities between this book and that, but being marketed as anything like A Gentleman in Moscow is a mistake. The only similarity is that the most current time line takes place inside a hotel where one of the MCs has sequestered herself. So don't go in expecting the adventures and complex relationships found in GIM. This story is fine, engaging enough. It's the story of two women (their past largely told through long monologues in the most current time line) and how their unbreakable bond is of course broken by a betrayal. I think more could have been shared about Mutti and Papi and about the hotel, more about Edith's childhood.
February 13, 2024
If you're looking for a page-turner, Goldenseal isn't going to scratch that itch.
But if you're looking for a novel that scratches at the question "what is female friendship?" on a sweeping scale, Goldenseal will do that. And ask you to what is left up to fate, what is our own choosing, and how much choice we ultimately have in the way our lives unfold.
I won't tell you that the characters aren't vexing at times. Or that there are easy answers in Goldenseal. But toward the end, when it becomes clearer why one of the women made her choices... well, I think it's worth the read to get there.
I've thought about Goldenseal several times since I finished it. And about the path women are asked (or allowed) to carve through the patriarchy, what motherhood means, and how to reconcile the inherent unknowability of other people with our deep well of love for them.
It's a contemplative novel. If that's your gig, grab a copy of Goldenseal.
Buy it here & support Bookish Atlanta: https://bookshop.org/a/4334/978164009...
But if you're looking for a novel that scratches at the question "what is female friendship?" on a sweeping scale, Goldenseal will do that. And ask you to what is left up to fate, what is our own choosing, and how much choice we ultimately have in the way our lives unfold.
I won't tell you that the characters aren't vexing at times. Or that there are easy answers in Goldenseal. But toward the end, when it becomes clearer why one of the women made her choices... well, I think it's worth the read to get there.
I've thought about Goldenseal several times since I finished it. And about the path women are asked (or allowed) to carve through the patriarchy, what motherhood means, and how to reconcile the inherent unknowability of other people with our deep well of love for them.
It's a contemplative novel. If that's your gig, grab a copy of Goldenseal.
Buy it here & support Bookish Atlanta: https://bookshop.org/a/4334/978164009...
January 21, 2024
A quick read that has a bit of a My Brilliant Friend vibe.
January 28, 2024
Everything A Gentleman in Moscow and My Brilliant Friend could have been. Wonderful book!
Shelved as 'dnf'
May 1, 2024DNF
Just wasn’t vibing. Not a fan of Old Hollywood stuff idk. Also didn’t really give it a chance but better books came along.
Just wasn’t vibing. Not a fan of Old Hollywood stuff idk. Also didn’t really give it a chance but better books came along.
May 31, 2024
3.25/3.5
June 21, 2024
Such a slowwwwwww book.
July 6, 2024
I enjoyed it at first, bit when the two main characters fell out, I wasn't as interested. It was a pretty sad book overall.
May 1, 2024
This book is BEAUTIFULLY written! It could make a great movie as well!
March 15, 2024
Such a beautiful and delicate novella. It was interesting to read it was greatly inspired by a Hungarian writer's book.
It was tough to put it down.
It was tough to put it down.
January 28, 2024
I really like Maria Hummel’s books, but apparently not this one. It was extremely slow, and when the story finally unfolded, I didn’t love it. Basically one friend slept with the other’s husband and they never resolved it. The story and its telling just didn’t work for me on this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 13, 2024
It was so bad. It seemed promising at the start with the girls meeting at camp. When it switches over to present day it is just a report of their lives in the decades since they have seen each other. So boring that I skimmed the last 50 pages.
January 18, 2024
Goldenseal is an utterly inventive novel that burns with atmosphere, mystery, and resentment as two estranged friends reunite to confront each other. The book begins with reclusive Lacey Crane, who receives a message that her former best friend, Edith, is waiting for her in the lobby of her luxury LA hotel. Lacey and Edith, who met as young adults at a summer camp in Maine, haven’t spoken in over four decades. The book unfolds from there, peeling back the layers that drew them together and the betrayal that tore them apart.
Goldenseal dealt with themes of aging, loneliness, friendship, and the impact of historical events. I found the author’s take on growing older and being simultaneously lonely particularly poignant. In this passage, Lacey is talking. "I know myself, and I am old and have few choices left. One of them is to fear death. All my life, I have feared it, that healthy fear everyone has, that death would steal something from me, my remaining years, my golden days, but I no longer need golden days. Tomorrow will be the same as this day and the day before that, and I could live them or I could let them go. You see, it's quite extraordinary what happens to you when you live alone for a long time with only your thoughts for company. A double self grows, a mirror self, the one who lives and the one who watches her life, and the second self begins to understand that the first is terribly ordinary, has always been, even if she was once beautiful and happy. The second self says, don't be afraid of death or the truth. They have been waiting for you all along." Goldenseal was the haunting story of betrayal and salvation, and I loved the time I spent with Lacey and Edith.
To listen to my interview with the author, go to my podcast at: https://www.momsdonthavetimetoreadboo...
Goldenseal dealt with themes of aging, loneliness, friendship, and the impact of historical events. I found the author’s take on growing older and being simultaneously lonely particularly poignant. In this passage, Lacey is talking. "I know myself, and I am old and have few choices left. One of them is to fear death. All my life, I have feared it, that healthy fear everyone has, that death would steal something from me, my remaining years, my golden days, but I no longer need golden days. Tomorrow will be the same as this day and the day before that, and I could live them or I could let them go. You see, it's quite extraordinary what happens to you when you live alone for a long time with only your thoughts for company. A double self grows, a mirror self, the one who lives and the one who watches her life, and the second self begins to understand that the first is terribly ordinary, has always been, even if she was once beautiful and happy. The second self says, don't be afraid of death or the truth. They have been waiting for you all along." Goldenseal was the haunting story of betrayal and salvation, and I loved the time I spent with Lacey and Edith.
To listen to my interview with the author, go to my podcast at: https://www.momsdonthavetimetoreadboo...
January 13, 2024
Set mostly in 1990 in a room in a grand Hollywood hotel, two old friends come together after more than forty years apart.
As a young girl, Lacey Crane and her wealthy parents (referred to as Papi and Mutti) emigrated from Prague to New York City. Her father was a wealthy hotelier born in Germany and her mother was Jewish. Their marriage was not well received by Mutti's family. When Lacey goes to summer camp in New England, she finds her first true friend in Edith, a poor, motherless girl with an abusive father. When the Crane family relocates to Los Angeles, Edith goes with them. After Lacey gets married to a successful movie producer, the dynamics of the friendship changes. And while Edith had to deal with the trauma of a troubled family life, Lacey had to see her parents devasted by family losses during WWII. Once the two women reunite in Lacey's suite in her father's old hotel, where she now lives and is a virtual recluse, the two aging women rehash their troubled history filled with secrets and betrayal but also love.
In Goldenseal, author Maria Hummel has created two interesting women, who, despite their differences, had the closest of friendships only to have that bond permanently broken. Over the course of one day, the two women try to come to terms with the past. It's an interesting character study with two women recalling their own versions of their shared history. I was moved by this relatively short, powerful book.
Rated 3.75 stars.
Review to be posted on MicheleReader.com.
As a young girl, Lacey Crane and her wealthy parents (referred to as Papi and Mutti) emigrated from Prague to New York City. Her father was a wealthy hotelier born in Germany and her mother was Jewish. Their marriage was not well received by Mutti's family. When Lacey goes to summer camp in New England, she finds her first true friend in Edith, a poor, motherless girl with an abusive father. When the Crane family relocates to Los Angeles, Edith goes with them. After Lacey gets married to a successful movie producer, the dynamics of the friendship changes. And while Edith had to deal with the trauma of a troubled family life, Lacey had to see her parents devasted by family losses during WWII. Once the two women reunite in Lacey's suite in her father's old hotel, where she now lives and is a virtual recluse, the two aging women rehash their troubled history filled with secrets and betrayal but also love.
In Goldenseal, author Maria Hummel has created two interesting women, who, despite their differences, had the closest of friendships only to have that bond permanently broken. Over the course of one day, the two women try to come to terms with the past. It's an interesting character study with two women recalling their own versions of their shared history. I was moved by this relatively short, powerful book.
Rated 3.75 stars.
Review to be posted on MicheleReader.com.
January 26, 2024
Maybe best for fans of Sigrid Nuñez. The book takes place largely over one night when one elderly friend visits another who is living as a hermit in a glamorous LA hotel once owned by her father. The women were best friends from the minute they met in summer camp although they had very different lives (Lacey was the child of Czech citizens who immigrated shortly before the Holocaust and who successfully made a life for themselves in the US while Edith was the child of the camp's alcoholic handyman). They have not spoken for 44 years and most of the book is spent reviewing their history together and the events leading up to their estrangement.
I enjoyed the book more in the early stages when I was trying to puzzle out what had caused the rift in the friendship. After that mystery was explained, I felt that the book took too long in coming to a resolution. Certainly, it was well-written and if you like books where the characters spend four hours eating a room service meal and talking (and I do!), this is well worth reading.
I enjoyed the book more in the early stages when I was trying to puzzle out what had caused the rift in the friendship. After that mystery was explained, I felt that the book took too long in coming to a resolution. Certainly, it was well-written and if you like books where the characters spend four hours eating a room service meal and talking (and I do!), this is well worth reading.
February 24, 2024
I was drawn to Goldenseal because someone described it as akin to A Gentleman in Moscow and My Brilliant Friend, two of my favorite books. It’s similarity with the former is they both take place in hotels; with the latter it’s that they are both about two lifelong friends. The comparison ends there. The bulk of Goldenseal takes place in shut-in, Lacey’s hotel room,where at first she reminisces about her friend from camp, Edith and later in the form of dialogue when Edith visits her. The story is static and more like a stage play. The relationship between the two girls is very interesting and of course something happened in their lives to cause alienation. What it was is the thrust of the novel. There is too much telling rather than showing. Lacey’s parents travel back to Prague to find that most of their family has been murdered by the Germans. We are not told much more about it than that. I could see the story as a play or movie with a lot of flashbacks.
July 1, 2024
I was not sure what to think after reading the reviews, but I loved this book. Friendships that last over 70 years will of course be complex, and the love and jealousy Lacey and Edith experience is sometimes haunting. Hummel uses dialogue for almost half of the book, with the two friends reuniting after many years for one night. The character development is deep, and the historical events of WWII help give a unique depth to the story and to Lacey’s family.
This book was written in such a unique way that I became emotionally invested in the characters and their story. You never knew what was going to be said or not said, and how a friendship between once close friends would be at the end of the book. Hummel weaves twists and surprise and hurt and happiness all in a book that I am so glad I picked up from my library’s new fiction shelf.
This book was written in such a unique way that I became emotionally invested in the characters and their story. You never knew what was going to be said or not said, and how a friendship between once close friends would be at the end of the book. Hummel weaves twists and surprise and hurt and happiness all in a book that I am so glad I picked up from my library’s new fiction shelf.
January 12, 2024
(𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 @𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 #𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬.) 𝗚𝗢𝗟𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗟 by Maria Hummel is an old-fashioned kind of story and not just because it’s historical fiction. Largely taking place at a hotel in 1990 Los Angeles, this is the story of two friends who’ve been estranged for more than 40 years. Opposites in so many ways, Lacey and Edith met as girls at a summer camp, and within a few short years, Edith was taken in by Lacey’s family.
The two were small parts of Hollywood in its heyday and always had each others’ backs, until a man and misunderstanding came between them. Now a recluse in the hotel her father once owned, Lacey summons Edith for the reckoning she’s long dreamed of, but Edith sees things differently.
The story just didn’t do much for me. I think I’m tired of this “friendship” trope where misunderstanding goes on and on. In this case for decades. Neither woman garnered my sympathy, though Edith was the more likable of the two. The reveal here was not insignificant, but for such a short book, it felt like it took way too long to get there. Sadly, I reached a point where I simply didn’t care and just wanted the book to be over
The two were small parts of Hollywood in its heyday and always had each others’ backs, until a man and misunderstanding came between them. Now a recluse in the hotel her father once owned, Lacey summons Edith for the reckoning she’s long dreamed of, but Edith sees things differently.
The story just didn’t do much for me. I think I’m tired of this “friendship” trope where misunderstanding goes on and on. In this case for decades. Neither woman garnered my sympathy, though Edith was the more likable of the two. The reveal here was not insignificant, but for such a short book, it felt like it took way too long to get there. Sadly, I reached a point where I simply didn’t care and just wanted the book to be over
January 15, 2024
I picked this up at Rainy Day on a whim - partly because the book itself is so beautiful! It’s slender and the pages are so luxurious, they feel good to turn. This novel about old-feeling Hollywood had me thinking of Evelyn Hugo and also the new old-Hollywood thriller by Alex Michaelides The Fury. This is about two female friends who had a falling out 40 years ago but are meeting now, today. One of the women has become a recluse at the hotel her family (and now just she) owns - so there are some Gentleman in Moscow vibes also.
February 4, 2024
Thank you Counterpoint press for giving me the chance to read this book before release.
Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy it. It took too long to get to the point of the story at which point I had lost interest. For a short book, it took me much too long to read. I can't really pinpoint why I didn't like it since I usually enjoy books about heavy subjects but I felt like I was plodding through it; when the secret came out, I thought "that's it?"
Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy it. It took too long to get to the point of the story at which point I had lost interest. For a short book, it took me much too long to read. I can't really pinpoint why I didn't like it since I usually enjoy books about heavy subjects but I felt like I was plodding through it; when the secret came out, I thought "that's it?"
August 20, 2023
It’s an intricate novel of friendship that does indeed unfold like a deep dream with slow realizations as well as sudden revelations. Lacey’s character was more relatable for me because I felt like a reader could invest more in her details, while Edith took more connecting with. However, the hotel backdrop is a character within itself and worth diving into this novel for.
March 14, 2024
This story of friendship gained and lost wrapped me up completely. An interesting way to tell a story - basically in the setting of one night with flashbacks from each character spanning 40-50 years. If you’ve ever had a childhood friendship and lost it, this will pull on your heartstrings. I can’t quite put my finger on why I loved this so much but I’m sad that it’s finished.
March 24, 2024
A conversation unfolding over 24 hours, highlighting the story of two women and their friendship and how they grew apart. I really enjoyed how different this book felt to me. It was a short story, but the dialogue was interesting, and it was a main character that despite being 60 years older than me, I could empathize with deeply.
March 5, 2024
Beautifully written with very lovely characters. I think these women will stay with me for a while. Something about the ending felt dissatisfying- which is the reason for 3 stars. Perhaps that’s not fair, but I’m going with it.
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