THE INNKEEPER'S DAUGHTER

by Barbara Cohen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 1980

Once again Barbara Cohen is back in the 1940s, at the suburban New Jersey hotel that was the setting of R My Name Is Rosie (1978). In this older and more unified book, the focus is on Rosie's 16-year-old sister Rachel, a bookish, nicely responsible sort--fittingly called the innkeeper's daughter. The hotel atmosphere, with its exotic privileges for the family (having maid service, eating meals in the hotel kitchen) and its built-in responsibilities (being the maid in emergencies) is deftly and engagingly captured. And in this milieu Rachel passes an important year, growing step-by-step toward maturity. She goes to a party as an outsider (becomingly but inappropriately dressed) and decides she'd rather remain outside. She falls in love with an impressively literary 27-year-old who, understandingly, gives her confidence in her looks and her brains. And she comes to accept her mother's wish to marry again despite the children's opposition. An era ends when the hotel is destroyed by fire, leaving the family stunned but by no means beaten--and the reader, in admiration, hopes to see them return on these or other premises.

Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Lothrop

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1980

Categories: FICTION