A Private Hotel for Gentle Ladies

Charlotte Heath, a lively, independent redhead of humble beginnings, is married to the scion of the powerful Heath family. When, on her first outing after a long illness, she spies her husband, Hays, bending to kiss another woman in the village square, impulsive Charlotte heads her horses straight out of town. Upon arriving at The Beechmont Hotel, Charlotte makes a shocking discovery: The classy Beechmont is a rather unique institution where a different kind of hospitality awaits the all-female clientele. Seductive and high-spirited, A Private Hotel for Gentle Ladies is an unforgettable novel of one woman’s journey to self-enlightenment.

Ellen Cooney is the author of five previous novels, most recently Gun Ball Hill, a story rooted in the unrest in the American Colonies just before the Revolutionary War. Her short stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Glimmer Train, Story, and The New England Review, among many other publications. She has taught creative writing at MIT, Boston College, and Harvard University. She lives in Phippsburg, Maine.