Fiction
The Savoy
The Rise of a Family
by Maxim Wahl
I. 1932: the Savoy Hotel is London’s premier address. For thirty years, it has been run by the Wilders. When the family patriarch has a stroke, his son Henry believes his moment has come, but his father has different plans: he entrusts Violet, his illegitimate granddaughter, with the management of the hotel. Violet is torn. On the one hand, her dream of making a career as one of the first women in radio seems to be coming true; on the other, she’s waited her whole life for the chance to be accepted by her family … II. 1936: Violet is running the Savoy. In addition to her never-ending duties, she is weighed down by a crushing sense of guilt. She blames herself for driving her beloved John to suicide. Desperately lonely, she longs for a bit of happiness. A French nobleman seems to give her this, and she accepts his invitation to the Olympic Games. For Violet, Berlin proves to be a brutal experience, which in reality serves to distract her from the mysterious goings-on at the Savoy Hotel. III. 1940: Against Violet’s will, the Savoy has become a hotbed of political intrigue. Still, she does her best to offer her international guests the luxury to which they are accustomed. This balancing act is put to the test when the British king arrives as a guest: Violet is expecting a child with Max Hammersmith, and his wife, Susan, is the lady-in-waiting accompanying the visitors from Buckingham Palace. Soon, however, these problems fade in the face of political reality: the Second World War is raging, and even the Savoy Hotel may fall victim to German air raids.
