The Girl from the Savoy

Author: Hazel Gaynor
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins Publisher, 2016
Pages: 448
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: 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 glamour—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?

Review: Well, it wasn't A Memory of Violets, nor was it the best attempt at telling a story from multiple perspectives. It's a three-star read.

What I liked most about this novel were the little bits of wisdom sprinkled throughout. I read them, and then I had to re-read them. For example,"Hope is a dangerous thing, darling. It is usually followed by disappointment and too much gin." Unfortunately I have more complaints than praises; the characters didn't reveal their secrets in a timely enough manner, I did not buy into the authenticity of Loretta, Teddy's chapters did nothing to move the story forward either, and the twist didn't have an emotional impact.

Ugh, I just didn't love this, and I had wanted to be swept away like I had been in A Memory of Violets. Disappointing maybe, but not a terrible read. I expected more from Hazel Gaynor.

NOTE: Gaynor also wrote a short story for this collection, The Fall of Poppies, set during World War I.