THE GIRL FROM THE SAVOY
A Novel
By Hazel
Gaynor
William
Morrow Paparbacks
May 31, 2016
ISBN: 9780062403476; $15.99
E-ISBN 9780062403483 * $10.99
Presenting a dazzling new
historical novel … The Girl From The Savoy is as sparkling as champagne and as
thrilling as the era itself.
‘Sometimes life gives you cotton stockings. Sometimes it gives you
a Chanel gown …’
Dolly Lane is a dreamer; a
downtrodden maid who longs to dance on the London stage, but her life has been
fractured by the Great War. Memories of the soldier she loved, of secret shame
and profound loss, by turns pull her back and spur her on to make a better
life.
When she finds employment as a
chambermaid at London’s grandest hotel, The Savoy, Dolly takes a step closer to
the glittering lives of the Bright Young Things who thrive on champagne, jazz
and rebellion. Right now, she must exist on the fringes of power, wealth and
glamor—she must remain invisible and unimportant.
But her fortunes take an unexpected
turn when she responds to a struggling songwriter’s advertisement for a ‘muse’
and finds herself thrust into London’s exhilarating theatre scene and into the
lives of celebrated actress, Loretta May, and her brother, Perry. Loretta and
Perry may have the life Dolly aspires to, but they too are searching for
something.
Now, at the precipice of the life
she has and the one she longs for, the girl from The Savoy must make difficult
choices: between two men; between two classes, between everything she knows and
everything she dreams of. A brighter future is tantalizingly close—but can a
girl like Dolly ever truly leave her past behind?
We start The Girl From The Savoy with Dorothy Lane whom
calls herself Dolly; Saying goodbye to her beloved Tommy as he heads off for
the Great War from their small train
station in Mawdesley, Lancaster. Little does either of them know just how much
their live will change.
We jump forward in time and Dolly has now moved to London
and experiencing life as a maid in Grosvenor Square, but she wants to
experience more! She want to be a dancer on the stage in the West End, but knows she will never get discovered by being
a household maid. So she heads off for employment at the the flashy hotel The
Savoy. But when Dolly literally crashing
into struggling composer Perry Clements, she doesn't realize the chain of
events that she has started.
After struggling on her first few weeks at The Savoy, Dolly
finally settles into life, but the past keeps Dolly from moving forward, and
after another chance meeting with Perry, turns horribly wrong, when he
abandons her in a coffee shop; Dolly
dreams of becoming a dancer on the stage get overtaken by pains of the past.
Loretta May is really the daughter of Earl, the sister of
Perry Clements and the secret widow of a soldier; but what everyone knows her
for is being one of the biggest stars on the West End Stage! But Etta is hiding
a bigger secret than being a widow…Etta is dying, but she will not be labeled a
tragedy. So when her brother mentions this girl from the Savoy and his terrible
treatment of her. Loretta is determining to meet this girl that has caused such
a reaction from her brother; but what she wasn't expecting is a girl who has
been through so many trials but is determined to better herself.
So Loretta takes Dolly under her wing and makes her her
protégé and Dolly soars! But will her past swoops in and holds her back?
If you are looking for a book that ends in a Happily Ever
After! You will not find this here. If you want a book that starts with real
life as a maid in 1900's ends with happiness and peace then this is a book for
you. But I will warn you that this story includes (but doesn't go into detail)
rape, forced adoption (of sorts), war, illness, death and love. I will say that
this book has a high Kleenex count.
I loved Dolly's story of love and heartbreak, I loved that
this book in split into acts, I loved that all of the details of everyone's
story doesn't come until that last act and I love that the story gives everyone
an ending. Loretta story was heartbreaking, but in the end I was thrilled that
she was finally with Rodger. I'm happy that Perry finally released all of his
demons from the war and finally can go after the women he loves. I am sad that
Clover was tricked into something that ended up hurting her, but I'm thrilled
that she finds a new lease of life, and I am just happy that Tommy found
"his little one". I will honestly say that these group of characters
have never inspired me, caused me despair, made me cry and in the end left me
happy and at peaceable this group of characters have
I have never read this author's work before; but I loved her
writing, the plot was inspired and I loved the way that everything was tied up
with a bow, although I wish the Tommy got on the boat in Liverpool! But I think
that is the hopeless romantic in me.
I give The Girl From The Savoy 5 stars!
Hazel Gaynor is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling
author of A MEMORY OF VIOLETS and THE GIRL WHO CAME HOME, for which she
received the 2015 RNA Historical Novel of the Year award. She was selected by
US Library Journal as one of ‘Ten Big Breakout Authors’ for 2015 and her work
has been translated into several languages. Hazel is a contributing author to
WWI anthology FALL OF POPPIES: Stories of Love and the Great War. As features
writer for national Irish writing website writing.ie Hazel has interviewed
Philippa Gregory, Sebastian Faulks, Kate Mosse, Jojo Moyes and Cheryl Strayed,
among others.
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