WELCOME TO THE HAMILTON

A young Canadian woman in the 1920s learns about herself as she gets her first job in Williams’ historical novel.

In 1927 Vancouver, 17-year-old Clara Wilson, who’s still mourning the death of her mother five years prior, finds out quite suddenly that she, her father, and her slightly older sister, Louisa, are about to be evicted. She decides to go apply for a job at the Hotel Hamilton, a luxury hotel set to open the next month, and Louisa tags along against Clara’s wishes. As Clara fills out an application, she meets a spoiled young woman named Jane Morgan. All three young women make it through the application process to train to be maids. It turns out that snobbish Jane turned down the suitor that her parents picked for her, so she’s working in order to avoid being shipped off to England to live with an elderly relative. Clara sympathizes, but Jane’s privilege and laziness get on her nerves and nearly sabotage a test they must pass together. Clara’s afraid to complain to those in charge, as Jane’s uncle knows the hotel’s owner. However, when Jane shifts blame for her own mistakes onto Clara, the latter panics and acts in ways that may cost her the job she so desperately wants. The sisters also must deal with their father’s heavy drinking and unemployment and have only a month to cover their outstanding rent. Williams’ depiction of the complexity of the often tense relationship between the sisters is the highlight of the novel as a whole. Clara’s interactions with Louisa, an aspiring actress, are frequently fraught, as Clara feels obligated to watch out for her sibling but is jealous of her beauty and her seeming ease with navigating the world around her. They frequently antagonize each other but also help each other out. There are some nice period details throughout the novel, too, including bits of 1920s slang and headlines about Charles Lindbergh’s trans-Atlantic flight in the Spirit of St. Louis. The story can be slow in spots, bogged down by unnecessary detail, but it has a satisfying ending.

A pleasant coming-of-age tale with well-developed main characters.