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THE PHENOMENAL WOMEN OF THE GRAND HOTEL

Ruth Kvarnström-Jones

Words by Antonella Dellepiane Pescetto

The Phenomenal Women of the Grand Hotel is a book you can’t stop reading! With her compelling and natural prose, Ruth Kvarnström-Jones describes the fascinating story of Wilhelmina Skogh, the first female manager of the Grand Hotel in Stockholm in 1901, and the daily life of some interesting girls who are employed at the hotel. The story begins in a cold December night, with the eminent Board of Directors, composed of course only of men, which discuss how to restore the grand hotel’s finances, which are currently desperate. Will Whilelmina Skogh be able to turn around Sweden’s most important hotel? We had the pleasure to interview the brilliant author of this fascinating book.

 

What was it like moving to live in Sweden from the UK? How did you enrich your English culture with the Swedish one?

I had lived in Sweden for a total of 15 months while studying Scandinavian Studies at London University and spoke Swedish fluently, so the leap from staying here for several months to moving here permanently wasn’t that big. Except now I had to stand on my own two feet without the safety net of a university to call upon if things went wrong. I managed to secure employment fairly easily but finding a flat was another story altogether. Luckily, I could stay with a Swedish friend until something turned up. Which, of course, it eventually did.

I already listened to Swedish music and ate Swedish food, but once I’d moved here permanently I could follow the ice hockey league and weekly television shows secure in the knowledge that I would still be here when the season ended. I also made a conscious effort to move within Swedish rather than ex-pat circles.

Which aspects of your home culture and of your adopted culture are reflected in what you write?

I think my British background perhaps influenced my first series — the Halleholm series — more than my Stockholm Treasures series. The Halleholm series is set in a small Swedish town with a British pub. Many Swedish towns do have British pubs but I’ve never read a book set in Sweden by a Swedish author that has a British pub. That’s not to say that there aren’t any such novels, but I’ve never read one. The bakery in Halleholm also made a point of baking some British pastries. I don’t know any Swede who is particularly fond of British cakes and this too was reflected in the book!

What kind of studies and work background did you pursue?

I left London the same week that I finished my degree in Scandinavian Studies. I then worked at Berlitz International in Stockholm for several years before starting my own company. We offered translation and copywriting in a number of European languages. I worked as a copywriter for almost 30 years.

What strikes you most about the people you meet in your everyday life? What do you most spontaneously portray, through writing, about humanity?

I’m hot on loyalty, fairness and common sense. A sense of looking for the solution rather than for blame in a tricky situation. I’ve realized that I seldom describe a character’s physical appearance — even though I know exactly what they all look like — unless their features or colouring are relevant to the story. It’s who they are by nature that matters. This was not a conscious decision, and I only realised when folk asked about the characters in my first book, but I’ve continued to work that way. It suits me.

Your prose is extremely compelling and fluid. I couldn’t tear myself away from the book “The Phenomenal Women of the Grand Hôtel”. Has this prose always come to you spontaneously or has it been the result of study and work over time?

Some of the technical know-how has been learned along the way by reading and listening to other writers. Margaret Atwood, for example, offers an excellent Masterclass course. But sentence construction, dialogues and pacing come naturally. That’s just the way I write and luckily people seem to enjoy it.

How did you come across the story of Wilhelmina Skogh and her fundamental role as manager of an early 20th century hotel, as a woman?

I worked at Grand Hôtel during summer 1982. Wilhelmina’s portrait hung in the lobby (it still does) and I learned about her then. She’s an impossible woman to forget once you’ve heard about her.

Which female characters, among those you have described, do you feel most empathy with?

Margareta and Karolina. They are both in pretty sad situations caused by the very men who are supposed to love them. In Margareta’s case, her husband. In Karolina’s, her father.

What role did men play in a novel celebrating the strength of women?

They represented the men of the era. Some were arrogant, others cruel. Many were kind. Most were hard-working. The men controlled the law of the land and thereby the women. Why would they allow votes for women? From their point of view, there was little to be gained. But the women persevered. We owe them a good deal.

How did you approach the work of sourcing for the novel?

I knew that a book about the Grand Hôtel would be impossible without access to their own archive. Thankfully, the Wallenberg family who own the hotel believed in the idea and gave their full support. So did the current Hotel Director and CEO, Mrs Pia Djupmark. Pia is another amazing woman that the Grand Hôtel has had the good sense and good fortune to employ.

Your novel has become one of my top reading recommendations for all the people in the Orlando team. The story of the lives that intertwine within the structure of a hotel is exactly what I am trying to build with my magazine. What do you find most fascinating about the idea of the hotel and the life inside it?

Thank you! I think part of the fascination is the number and variety of people within the hotel walls.  Even two seemingly similar room maids are very different when one scratches the surface. Perhaps one lost her mother at an early age, perhaps the other harbours a terrible shame. Or big dream. Those differences are multiplied again and again, both among the staff and the guests. But they are all living under the same roof. The best hotels make each guest feel individual.

The second book of this hugely successful historical novel is coming out very soon, can you give us any previews?

Yes, it’s called Kindred Spirits at Nordiska Kompaniet. The Nordiska Kompaniet department store was built during WW1 by a gentleman named Josef Sachs. He set out to build the most glamorous store in Northern Europe. And he did.

In some ways a department store is similar to a hotel. The staff are the constants while the customers come and go. Friendships among the women at Nordiska Kompaniet run deep, particularly during the war years. The same goes for our phenomenal ladies from the first book. Their friendships continue into book two.

Do you think there will also be a third book?

Definitely. And a fourth.

 

Lastly I want to thank you for have written this book. I hope to continue the path of these extraordinary women and write my own, to empower more and more women in arts and culture, as an entrepreneur, mother, wife, daughter, sister.

Thank you very much.

Ruth Kvarnström-Jones

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