The Last Hotel for Women

By Vicki Covington

Book Overview

Step inside Birmingham, 1961--a city on fire, a nation on edge.

When the Freedom Riders roll into town, the Crescent Hotel becomes an unlikely refuge and the epicenter of a quiet revolution. In The Last Hotel for Women, Vicki Covington weaves a gripping tale of ordinary lives colliding with extraordinary history. Dinah Fraley, a hotel proprietor haunted by her family's scandalous past, and Pete, her steelworker husband desperate to bridge the racial divide, find themselves drawn into a struggle that will test their courage and convictions.

Enter Angel, a mysterious Freedom Rider whose presence sparks change, and Bull Connor, the infamous segregationist determined to crush it. Against a backdrop of violence and hope, Covington explores the fragile threads of reconciliation, redemption, and the dream of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Beloved Community.

With vivid characters, shifting perspectives, and moments of quiet heroism, such as a single baseball tossed across a color line, this novel captures the soul of a city and the heartbeat of a movement. The Last Hotel for Women is not just historical fiction. It's a story of grace, grit, and the power of one person to ignite transformation. For readers of civil rights history and unforgettable Southern storytelling--this is a novel you won't put down.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0817310037
• ISBN13: 9780817310035
• Release Date: July 1999
• Publisher: University Alabama Press
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Second best Covington is better than most writer's best

Vicki Covington has written a very good novel about the civil rights struggle in Alabama, that is not nearly as good as two of her previous novels, Gathering Home and Night Ride Home.The family characters,as well as a freedom rider,and especailly, the character of the journalist are all compelling. The problem is that Bull Conner, a well researched historical figure reads more like a well researched historical figure than like a believable character. Still, this is a quibble, because Vicki Covington is our greatest living Southern novelist,so we come to expect more from her than from others. I recommend that you buy this book, but also buy the two previously mentioned superior novels, especially Night Ride Home, which is as good as a contemporary novel gets