Stockholm Landmarks – serie

1901 - Stockholm is a city in flux.

While the rich dream of even grander homes, the poor dream of food on the table, a fair wage and fewer rats in the streets.

Grand Hôtel — the celebrated jewel of the city's tourist trade — stands on a fashionable waterfront opposite the Royal Palace. But the hotel is in financial trouble, and its board needs a woman of singular talent to raise it to new heights. Wilhelmina Skogh owns a string of successful hotels along Sweden's railways. She understands both the Grand Hôtel's potential and its problems. Yet she is a manager as equally feared as she is respected.

Ambitious Ottilia arrives from the countryside to begin her position at the fabled hotel. Together with a posse of other young women, she must battle injustice and obstacles in a male-dominated trade. Women, after all, are expected to keep the home — but what is a hotel, if not a home?

The Phenomenal Women of the Grand Hôtel — book one in the Stockholm Landmarks series — is a sweeping historical novel, rich with fascinating characters and a hearty dose of fighting spirit. Ruth Kvarnström-Jones, who was granted a unique glimpse into the Grand Hôtel's archives, takes us on a spectacular journey through Stockholm’s cultural past.

Stockholm, 1912 — the threat of a world war rumbles on the horizon.

But Joseph Sachs has made up his mind — he shall build the most luxurious department store in all of Northern Europe: Nordiska Kompaniet.

Märta's joy over the new department store swiftly turns to fear when her German fiancé returns home to defend his country. How will he manage? How will she manage? Her friends Torun, Beda, Ottilia, and Karolina comfort her as best they can. But Torun is also harbouring a very private heartache of her own.

Meanwhile, at the magnificent NK store, new bonds are being forged behind the scenes. The talented seamstresses in the French Couture Atelier — who hear the most tantalising rumours — work and gossip with equal diligence. Ellen Sachs ensures that Maria, the shy new head cashier, becomes one of the gang, and soon they are joined by young Victoria Ekman, who wants nothing more than to leave her boring country life for the bustle of the big city.

Over the course of fifteen years, NK and its women share triumphs and setbacks alike, in the luxury store where the customer is king — and the King is a customer.

Based on Nordiska Kompaniet’s own archives, The Resilient Ladies of the Luxury Store is a warm tale of friendship between the women who must soldier on through dark and dramatic times. It is the second installment in Ruth Kvarnström-Jones' international bestselling series Stockholm Landmarks.