Hotel Girls is a romantic coming of age novel written by Nicole O'Connor. In March of 1976, Sandy's life changed drastically and forever with one terrible phone call. Before that, her biggest concerns were whether she would pass her compulsory second language class. She had chosen Afrikaans, thinking it would be easier than French or Latin, but her language skills seemed sadly lacking, as her teacher was very apt to tell her. Then the call came over the public address system, summoning her to the Headmistress's Office. Feeling definitely on edge and wondering if her antics in Mrs. Viljoen's class had earned her this summons, Sandy was trembling when she knocked on the Head's door. The Headmistress, who the girls called Bubbles because of her girth, was surprisingly warm and tender as she prepared Sandy for the awful news. Her mother, father and little brother were in an ambush earlier that morning and they were all dead. A friend of her mother's would pick her up from the school and take her home until arrangements could be made to send her to her grandmother's home in Durban. Her dreams of going to college to become an art teacher seemed impossibly far away now, and the thought that she'd never see her parents or brother again was unbearable.

Nicole O'Connor's romantic coming of age novel, Hotel Girls, is a fascinating historical look at Rhodesia and South Africa in the latter part of the twentieth century. Sixteen-year-old Sandy is suddenly orphaned and her parents' holdings seized by creditors, leaving her with only her parents' wedding rings as a bequest. I found myself appalled to witness the harsh and bureaucratic system in place at the time as first Sandy's parents' farm is repossessed, leaving her penniless and unsupported, and then her gran's apartment is sold out from under her to pay for her gran's medical bills. But Sandy's resilience and determination to work and save enough money to go to college is the kind of inspirational story that one can't help but admire under any circumstances. I loved following her as her work friend, Mary, takes her under her wing and teaches her how to survive on her own, and chuckled to myself as the somewhat naive young woman takes a hotel job where the customer benefits are not at all what she expects. Hotel Girls is heartwarming, funny and a joy to read. It's most highly recommended.

Losing one's entire family in one single day is more than anyone can bear. In Nicole O' Connor's Hotel Girls, sixteen-year-old Sandy had to do just that. The year is 1976. One day, while attending school in Salisbury, Rhodesia, Sandy gets an ill omen: a bird that she had just saved from being trampled dies. Things get worse. On the same day, the headmistress informs her that both her parents, as well as her little brother, had been killed in an ambush. In 1979, Sandy finds herself working as a receptionist at Leopard Lair Hotel in South Africa. The owners of the hotel would prefer it if their customers were kept happy at all times. When it comes to the male variety, Sandy is about to get a clear picture of exactly what this entails.

Sandy's family isn't there anymore. She has to learn how to make it in life on her own. She meets characters along her journey towards self-discovery that help her to grow. She learns that some people cannot be trusted, as well as how to turn the tables on those who think they've gotten the upper hand on her. The author hasn't made Sandy's first few days at Leopard Lair Hotel easy at all. The diabolical ways of certain baddies could've been explored a little more, but considering all of the obstacles that Sandy has been through, and the jaw-dropper of a surprise at the end, I would call this a well-written book for the reader who enjoys stories in which the universe conspires in unusual ways to bring two people together.

Hotel Girls by Nicole O’Connor is set in the troubled times that existed in Rhodesia in 1976. Sandy is sixteen, a boarder at school, when her parents and much younger brother are killed in a terrorist ambush. Penniless, due to a mortgage on the family farm, she is sent over the border to Durban in South Africa to her only living relative, her elderly widowed grandmother. Poverty ends Sandy’s schooling, and her ambition to become an artist. Homeless after Granny’s death, Sandy is befriended by Molly, one of the many influences on her. Rebellious and determined, but naïve, Sandy takes a job at a country club hotel, where “pleasing guests” involves more than a pleasant smile. Is Belinda, the hotel owner’s mistress, a friend or out to get her sacked? Is the drunk she sees fall from a balcony dead? Will STIs end her hopes of marriage, the only way out of a life of exploitation?

Nicole O’Connor has written a coming of age story packed with action, and solid descriptions of life before Zimbabwe became an independent nation, and of problems that existed in South Africa at that time. Terrorists, apartheid, racial tension, politics, poverty, unfinished education, and Sandy’s thwarted dream of developing her artistic talent drive Hotel Girls. Add to all that, Sandy’s naïve acceptance of men who expect sex as a room service and the match is lit for fireworks, and Ms O’Connor delivers them all. Women of any age, but especially young adults, will love Hotel Girls.

Hotel Girls is written by Nicole O'Connor. In 1976, sixteen-year-old high school student Sandra Robertson’s world is turned upside down when she receives word that her parents and baby brother have been killed in a militia attack. After the state sells her father’s farm in order to pay off her family’s outstanding debts, Sandra is forced to move to Durban, South Africa, and live with her grandmother. It is not long before Sandra realizes how sheltered her life had been on the farm, when she finds herself unable to enroll in school due to her limited linguistic skills, as well as being forbidden to socialize with the Black community. Sandra’s dream of becoming an Art teacher requires skill and money, neither of which she has, but when Sandra is fortunate enough to get a job at the local store in order to help pay her way whilst living with her grandmother, things start looking up. After her grandmother suffers a stroke and heart attack, however, Sandra suddenly finds herself alone and is forced to bluff her way through a job interview at a hotel which provides full board as part of the employment. Landing the job, she is ecstatic until she discovers that providing full service to the male clientele means a lot more than just making sure the client leaves happy. Sandra will need every bit of strength she has in order to endure, and with her faith quickly waning, it will take nothing short of a miracle.

Nicole O’Connor’s depiction of a young girl who does everything possible to meet tragedy with triumph makes for an absolutely compelling read. Having grown up on a farm, I found Sandra easy to relate to, in that life was simple and uncomplicated by the hard issues which city folk had to daily meet head-on. My heart broke when the devastating news came of her family’s murder, and again when her grandmother took ill. Sandra saw nothing but innocence and purity in dating a Black man, not realizing that it was not only frowned upon, but was an offence punishable by a prison sentence. Segregation is a tough issue to portray in any story, as it is still a very delicate issue today. Having lived through it as a Black woman, I can honestly say that Nicole O’Connor has painted a very clear and accurate picture of the harshness and pain it brings. I very much enjoyed Hotel Girls and recommend it to readers who enjoy realistic literature which encompasses drama, naiveté, humor and tragedy in a world where the only choice is to grow up fast, learning life’s lessons along the way.