About the book
1901. Stockholm is a city in flux. While the rich dream of elaborate buildings and improved sanitation, the poor dream of fewer rats and feeding their families on a fair wage. The Grand Hôtel, the perfectly-polished jewel in Stockholm’s crown, is aptly located across the water from King Oscar II’s Royal Palace. But behind the glittering façade, pressed liveries and impeccably-cooked grouse, the Grand Hôtel’s eminent Board of Directors harbour a secret: this spectacular hotel is running out of cash.
Mrs Wilhelmina Skogh, the canny proprietress of a string of successful hotels along a key Swedish railway track, believes in hard work, tough discipline and excellent service. Feared and revered in equal measures by her staff, is Mrs Skogh the right woman to get the Grand Hôtel back on its own track?
Ottilia Ekman believes so. She’s currently Head Waiter at one of Mrs Skogh’s rural establishments but covets a position at the Stockholm’s Grand Hôtel. Set against the backstairs ongoings in a luxury establishment, Ottilia and her new female colleagues forge bonds and friendships as they battle against inequality and injustices in a patriarchal industry. Women are expected to run the home — but what is a hotel if not a home from home?
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WINNER! Storytel Awards 2024 – Feelgood
"In a time marked by change, reality meets fiction and a piece of women’s history is brought back to life. The fact that several of the story’s protagonists are based on real people, and that the backdrop can be still be visited today, adds extra flavour.
With an engaging sense of empathy and a sensitivity for both characters and circumstances, Katarina Ewerlöf’s narration elevates a story that is already something extraordinary. Through attentive narration and a pleasant tone of voice, she allows the characters to leap off the page regardless if they move through the exclusive parlours of the Grand Hotel, or if they pass through the staff entrance on Stallgatan."
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WINNER! Feelgood of the Year 2024
"An uplifting tribute to women's solidarity, strength, and morality. Together, the women in the novel form a micro-world where they strive and toil, without flinching when the men challenge them. With precise insight and great expertise, the author brings our ancestors to life, both the illegitimate and the abused, rich and poor alike. All within the framework of a well-written feelgood novel. The characters are so well captured and portrayed that we almost believe we glimpse Wilhelmina Skogh's silhouette in the window every time we pass Strömkajen in Stockholm. From there, she urges us to keep doing our best, but also to love and enjoy life. Just like 'The Phenomenal Women at the Grand Hôtel" by Ruth Kvarnström-Jones."
