A Hotel Hamilton Novel

Clara Wilson found the eviction notice. Finding the courage to save her family is another matter. She's seventeen, yet waiting for someone else to act isn't an option—not with her father lost to grief and drink, her sister counting on her, and the ghost of her mother's voice still whispering, believe in yourself. So when a newspaper ad announces a grand new hotel opening in 1927 Vancouver, Clara does the only thing she knows how to do—she shows up. What she doesn't expect is her sister showing up right behind her.

Vancouver, 1927. Five years after their mother's death, Clara and Louisa Wilson are still finding their footing—one sister embraces staying small, the other is counting the days until she's back where she belongs, in the spotlight instead of scrubbing someone else's bathtub. Clara has found a strange comfort in the shadows of the Hotel Hamilton. So when the hotel matron begins grooming her for more responsibility, it unsettles her more than it excites her.

Clara and Louisa Wilson, maids at the illustrious hotel, are swept up in the thrill of The Hamilton’s first holiday season. Louisa, buoyed by the excitement of her theatrical debut, sets her sights on Hollywood and befriending a director staying at the hotel. Meanwhile, Clara, newly promoted to a prestigious eighth-floor position, navigates the complexities of her role while a blossoming romance stirs her heart.

Vancouver, 1928. Change is sweeping across Canada as the courts prepare to decide whether women are to be recognized as “persons” under the law. Inside the gilded walls of The Hotel Hamilton, Clara and Louisa Wilson grapple with questions of love, ambition, and the roles they are expected to play—decisions that could alter the course of their lives as profoundly as the verdict unfolding in court.