Getting introduced to the characters living in Danny Lavery’s Women’s Hotel (aka The Biedermeier) felt like showing up to the dorms before school starts or summer camp or starting a new sitcom about a charming group of roommates.
Communal living often piques my interest. I love the idea of living in an intentional community where families have their own spaces but there are also lots of shared facilities for gathering and sharing life's loads. I am not always sure I have the temperament for that sort of thing, though.
I’m on page 85 and enjoying being in the Biedermeier more than real life right now.
My college days are way way behind me, but I absolutely loved living in a dorm. Not my first semester, when my roommate turned out to be, ummm, quite friendly to boys and was happy to open the locked door to our hall, because our room was right next to that door and we could hear the knocks. There was a lot of activity in our room. That part was no fun for me.
But then a single opened up at the other end of the hall and from then on I was in heaven.
Even now, I live in an apartment complex with my bf/partner and I love the community aspect of it. Seeing so many neighbors when I walk my dog, informal chats at the mailbox. I volunteered to manage new neighbor requests to join the complex email list, which involves clicking on a check by their name instead of an x. This little task lets me see who’s moving in, and appeals to my nosy heart.
So far, the main character in our book is Katherine, and I’m enjoying the mental gymnastics she goes through, probably because I’m similar! I enjoy the neighbor who lives downstairs, but if I’m in a rush, I don’t have time to start a conversation because she talks a LOT, but on the other hand, she’s kind and she’s helped me with my dog so maybe I should stop and talk but try to keep it quick, but what if she brings up the topic of her son, those conversations about him can go on and on…
Anyway, I’m enjoying the book because I like the internal monologues people have with themselves, and the way they rationalize their decisions.
I'm an introvert who has learned to extrovert, so I've never done well with dorm or apartment complex living because I'm not social enough. But I love being around people when I have my own space to retreat to - I think I'd like the Biedermeier, especially if I could spent time with Pauline or Lucianne. I love that Lucianne grounds herself with letters to her sister.
I guess I’m an extroverted introvert. As long as I have a private place to retreat to, I’m good. I’ve always been fascinated with boardinghouses, but in every book I’ve read that takes place in one, the food is pretty bad, and dinner always involves a chop. That would bug me. My mother had Alzheimer’s disease, and she lived with me for six months, when she was hallucinating a lot. From the day she moved in, she thought she was living in a boardinghouse of sorts. Every night at dinner, she’d ask, “Where’s everybody else?” And if she got mad at me when I was helping her get ready for bed, she’d open her bedroom door and call out, “I need help!!!”
I like the novel for similar reasons. It's a great book for a depressing time. I'm almost finished with the novel, and it gets funnier and more insightful as it goes on.
I loved dorm living, too! Loved the goss, loved all the VERY different people I met. That being said, I could have done without the shared bedrooms.
Even for the introverted I feel like getting to know our neighbors and treating the buildings/neighborhoods we live in like they're communal. We have to take care of each other!
Omg I've had so many roommates over the years. My freshman dorm was apartment style with six girls in 3 bedrooms and 1 shared bathroom, that had 2 showers and 2 toilets in it. Got intimate real fast and once we had to solve the case of who didn't flush their massive turd.
There was Yasmine who spent the first several hours of our sharing a room loudly sobbing and yelling on the phone. She liked to play songs on repeat from the speakers of the desktop computer she had in the shared living room. She took mirror selfies in communal spaces as well, while other roommates had friends over. She was narcoleptic. I wonder how she's doing . . .
Ariana was the last roommate I shared a room with. She was so nice but that girl drove me up a wall. She'd set her alarm for like 4am to "get up early and study" but guess who was the only one waking up to her alarm clock. :/ She was SUCH a small person but took up SO MUCH SPACE. And one time she tried reheating rolls in a glass baking dish over 2 stovetop burners. Thank god she walked away and there was no one in the kitchen when that heavy glass pyrex EXPLODED and shot large shards all the way into the living room. I was like oh my god someone could have gotten KILLED. She was pre-med and i'm like girl do you not know the difference between conduction and convection???? Anyway I hope she's thriving.
As the story goes on, I’m loving the role of Stephen. Elevator guy, friend to all, content with this job because he doesn’t have to work hard. And he’s “working on” getting a college degree, so he’s made it okay in his mind that he has this job, which isn’t likely to lead to anything beyond what it already is. He’s good with it.
I hope to finish the book today. Things in the real world have been just a tad distracting lately. But I’m spending Saturday in The Biedermeier.
Communal living often piques my interest. I love the idea of living in an intentional community where families have their own spaces but there are also lots of shared facilities for gathering and sharing life's loads. I am not always sure I have the temperament for that sort of thing, though.
We tested it out for a little bit during the pandemic and I think you did well! Corinne and I loved being your neighbors lol
I’m on page 85 and enjoying being in the Biedermeier more than real life right now.
My college days are way way behind me, but I absolutely loved living in a dorm. Not my first semester, when my roommate turned out to be, ummm, quite friendly to boys and was happy to open the locked door to our hall, because our room was right next to that door and we could hear the knocks. There was a lot of activity in our room. That part was no fun for me.
But then a single opened up at the other end of the hall and from then on I was in heaven.
Even now, I live in an apartment complex with my bf/partner and I love the community aspect of it. Seeing so many neighbors when I walk my dog, informal chats at the mailbox. I volunteered to manage new neighbor requests to join the complex email list, which involves clicking on a check by their name instead of an x. This little task lets me see who’s moving in, and appeals to my nosy heart.
So far, the main character in our book is Katherine, and I’m enjoying the mental gymnastics she goes through, probably because I’m similar! I enjoy the neighbor who lives downstairs, but if I’m in a rush, I don’t have time to start a conversation because she talks a LOT, but on the other hand, she’s kind and she’s helped me with my dog so maybe I should stop and talk but try to keep it quick, but what if she brings up the topic of her son, those conversations about him can go on and on…
Anyway, I’m enjoying the book because I like the internal monologues people have with themselves, and the way they rationalize their decisions.
I'm an introvert who has learned to extrovert, so I've never done well with dorm or apartment complex living because I'm not social enough. But I love being around people when I have my own space to retreat to - I think I'd like the Biedermeier, especially if I could spent time with Pauline or Lucianne. I love that Lucianne grounds herself with letters to her sister.
I guess I’m an extroverted introvert. As long as I have a private place to retreat to, I’m good. I’ve always been fascinated with boardinghouses, but in every book I’ve read that takes place in one, the food is pretty bad, and dinner always involves a chop. That would bug me. My mother had Alzheimer’s disease, and she lived with me for six months, when she was hallucinating a lot. From the day she moved in, she thought she was living in a boardinghouse of sorts. Every night at dinner, she’d ask, “Where’s everybody else?” And if she got mad at me when I was helping her get ready for bed, she’d open her bedroom door and call out, “I need help!!!”
I like the novel for similar reasons. It's a great book for a depressing time. I'm almost finished with the novel, and it gets funnier and more insightful as it goes on.
I loved dorm living, too! Loved the goss, loved all the VERY different people I met. That being said, I could have done without the shared bedrooms.
Even for the introverted I feel like getting to know our neighbors and treating the buildings/neighborhoods we live in like they're communal. We have to take care of each other!
Here’s my neighbor nightmare story. It’s fiction but, unfortunately, it’s not too far from the truth! Hopefully it’ll provide some laughs!
https://www.hobartpulp.com/web_features/from-once-nice-people
Omg I've had so many roommates over the years. My freshman dorm was apartment style with six girls in 3 bedrooms and 1 shared bathroom, that had 2 showers and 2 toilets in it. Got intimate real fast and once we had to solve the case of who didn't flush their massive turd.
There was Yasmine who spent the first several hours of our sharing a room loudly sobbing and yelling on the phone. She liked to play songs on repeat from the speakers of the desktop computer she had in the shared living room. She took mirror selfies in communal spaces as well, while other roommates had friends over. She was narcoleptic. I wonder how she's doing . . .
Ariana was the last roommate I shared a room with. She was so nice but that girl drove me up a wall. She'd set her alarm for like 4am to "get up early and study" but guess who was the only one waking up to her alarm clock. :/ She was SUCH a small person but took up SO MUCH SPACE. And one time she tried reheating rolls in a glass baking dish over 2 stovetop burners. Thank god she walked away and there was no one in the kitchen when that heavy glass pyrex EXPLODED and shot large shards all the way into the living room. I was like oh my god someone could have gotten KILLED. She was pre-med and i'm like girl do you not know the difference between conduction and convection???? Anyway I hope she's thriving.
As the story goes on, I’m loving the role of Stephen. Elevator guy, friend to all, content with this job because he doesn’t have to work hard. And he’s “working on” getting a college degree, so he’s made it okay in his mind that he has this job, which isn’t likely to lead to anything beyond what it already is. He’s good with it.
I hope to finish the book today. Things in the real world have been just a tad distracting lately. But I’m spending Saturday in The Biedermeier.
Hell yeah. Simply love to disappear into a book and this one is delightful