About the Book
Book: The Lady in Residence
Author: Allison Pittman
Genre: Christian Historical
Release date: February 2021
Can a Legacy of Sadness be Broken at the Menger Hotel?
Visit historic American landmarks through the Doors to the Past series. History and today collide in stories full of mystery, intrigue, faith, and romance.
Young widow Hedda Krause checks into the Menger Hotel in 1915 with a trunk full of dresses, a case full of jewels, and enough cash to pay for a two-month stay, which she hopes will be long enough to meet, charm, and attach herself to a new, rich husband. Her plans are derailed when a ghostly apparition lures her into a long, dark hallway, and Hedda returns to her room to find her precious jewelry has been stolen. She falls immediately under a cloud of suspicion with her haunting tale, but true ghost enthusiasts bring her expensive pieces of jewelry in an attempt to lure the ghost to appear again.
In 2017, Dini Blackstone is a fifth-generation magician, who performs at private parties, but she also gives ghost walk tours, narrating the more tragic historical events of San Antonio with familial affection. Above all, her favorite is the tale of Hedda Krause who, in Dini’s estimation, succeeded in perpetrating the world’s longest con, dying old and wealthy from her ghost story. But then Dini meets Quinn Carmichael, great-great-grandson of the detective who originally investigated Hedda’s case, who’s come to the Alamo City with a box full of clues that might lead to Hedda’s exoneration. Can Dini see another side of the story that is worthy of God’s grace?
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My Thoughts:
This story, like no other in a very long time, had me jumping at every noise around. My daughter just setting her water mug down on the table scared the snot out of me, as that was the precise moment when the ghost was knocking on Hedda's door.
This was an intense mystery and it was a story wrapped in a story wrapped in a story. Mystery abounded in this timeslip novel as we went from the past to the future and back. All three of the women characters were sad and yet were tough and enterprising in their own ways. So what happens when Dini, in present time, has such a fascination with a woman from the early 1900's by the name of Hedda. And Hedda has a fascination of a woman who died some 40 years earlier by the name of Sallie. Fascination, obsession, and what blurs the line when you need to live your own life?
This was a fascinating and intriguing read that had me turning pages even late at night (though that was probably not a good idea with how jumpy I was). The way the story and stories were told kept me coming back for more and thinking about the story again and again till I could get back to it. If you are looking for a good mystery with a little chill, give this one a try. I also enjoyed the author's notes about this haunted hotel near the Alamo in Texas and what was true and what was fiction.
I was provided a copy of this novel from the publisher. I was not required to post a positive review. and all views and opinions are my own.
About the Author
More from Allison
From Haunting to Healing: How Stories Bring New Life to Old Ghosts
If you really think about it, every story is a ghost story. Not the floating spirits of the dearly departed kind, not bumps in the night or mysterious howling in the darkness—but the best stories come from examining a haunted heart. Memories that pursue the present.
A few years ago I took the walking tour of haunted San Antonio. It was a lark, a fun tourist-y thing to do with some visiting friends. I’m not a believer in ghosts, but I am a collector of stories. The tour opens at the Alamo—sacred ground of slain soldiers. The second stop is the Menger Hotel, listed as one of the most haunted hotels in the United States by those who measure and evaluate such things. And while the tour guide waxed on about the guests’ litany of haunted experiences (including Teddy Roosevelt raging through the lobby), my mind stuck with the story of Sallie White. Sallie White is the Menger Hotel’s most famous ghost—a chambermaid whose apparition is reported to be seen walking the halls, towels draped over her arm, or to be heard as an efficient two-rap knock on your door late at night. My mind, however, didn’t dwell on Sallie the ghost, but Sallie the woman—just a normal, hard-working, poor woman, murdered in the street by a man who claimed to love her. But for that, she would have passed into history unknown. Instead, her story is told every night as strangers gather on the very sidewalk where the crime took place.
Years after first hearing the story of Sallie white, I stayed in the Menger for a few days to gather details for The Lady in Residence. I booked what they call a “Petite” room—meaning it is a room that maintains its original structure. Read: tiny. Exposed pipes, creaky wooden floors, antique furniture—the only update, the bathroom fixtures. As it turned out, my room was directly above the place where Sallie White was murdered. One night I pressed my ear against the glass and listened to the ghost tour guide tell her story. The next morning, I stood in the exact spot with a fancy Starbucks drink, thinking about her. She lives on, not because people claim to see her walking and hear her knocking in the dead of night, but because she is a woman remembered.
So, is that beautiful? Is it ghoulish? Maybe it’s both, but when I was given the chance to write a story set in and around the Menger Hotel, I was determined to make Sallie White’s story a part of it. I didn’t want to write her story—that would have required embellishment beyond those few historic, factual tid-bits that such a woman left behind. Sallie White didn’t have correspondence to catalog or a journal to give us insight to her thoughts. Instead, I wanted to tell it to readers everywhere who might never make it to San Antonio to hear it for themselves. When you read The Lady in Residence, you are going to hear the true story of Sallie White, all of it taken from a newspaper account of the time. And then, I did what all historical writers do…I folded it into my own tale and folded that tale into another.
That’s really the joy of writing a split-time novel—being able to draw back and shoot a narrative-arrow straight through the hearts of two stories, threading them together, to bring a haunting to a place of healing.
Blog Stops
Book Reviews
From an Avid Reader, February 23
Artistic
Nobody, February 23 (Guest Review from Joni Truex)
Fiction Aficionado,
February 24
For the
Love of Literature, February 24
Where Faith
and Books Meet, February 24
Texas Book-aholic,
February 25
Mia Reads Blog,
February 25
Connie’s
History Classroom, February 26
Inspiration
Clothesline, February 26
Locks, Hooks
and Books, February 27
Books I’ve Read,
February 27
Abba’s
Prayer Warrior Princess, February 28
Ashley’s
Clean Book Reviews, February 28
Remembrancy, March 1
Bigreadersite,
March 1
For Him and My
Family, March 2
Hallie
Reads, March 2
deb’s Book
Review, March 3
Blogging With
Carol, March 3
By The Book,
March 4
Debbie’s
Dusty Deliberations, March 4
Truth and Grace
Homeschool Academy, March 5
The
Write Escape, March 5
Life of
Literature, March 6
Inklings
and notions, March 6
Godly Book Reviews,
March 7
Vicky
Sluiter, March 7
To Everything
There is A Season, March 8
Pause for
Tales, March 8
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Allison is giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Amazon gift card and a copy of The Lady in Residence!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://promosimple.com/ps/1086e/the-lady-in-residence-celebration-tour-giveaway
