A Hotel Hamilton Novel

She wasn't supposed to be the one holding everything together. But when seventeen-year-old Clara Wilson discovers an eviction notice tucked inside her father's coat pocket, she knows that waiting for someone else to act isn't an option. Not with her father lost to grief and drink. Not with her sister counting on her. Not with the ghost of her mother's voice still whispering, believe in yourself.

Clara found her footing in the shadows of the Hotel Hamilton. Her sister has spent the months since trying to claw her way back into the spotlight. Vancouver, Canada, 1927. Five years after their mother's death, Clara and Louisa Wilson are still finding their way—one content to disappear into her work, the other counting the days until she's back on a stage instead of scrubbing someone else's bathtub. Clara has found a strange comfort in staying small. 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.