SOLVED. novel about scandal in hotel in 20s/30s? [s]

[Kristin]

Hi, this is a book I haven't read but meant to, but now I can't remember the name. It's about a situation where woman is seen coming out of a hotel with a man and it's an innocent situation, but gossip gets started and ruins her reputation and I think that her acquaintances are complicit in the gossip and the aftereffects is what the book is concerned with. It might be a novella. It takes place in the early 20th century, maybe the 30s, and I'm thinking in the States, but it could be England.

[Jackie "the Librarian"]

Maybe The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton?

[Kristin]

Hey Jackie, thanks for the super speedy response. It's not The House of Mirth, though. It's written recently, maybe in the last ten/fifteen years, though it's about an earlier time period.

[April Ann]

Sweet Water by Kathryn Kramer, 1998

[Kristin]

No, it's not that one either. It's about a group of females in society and a lie they tell or gossip they spread that ruins one woman's reputation. I don't think the romance or whatever is a large part of the story.

[Kristin]

Wow, who would have guessed how many similar stories there are out there--I read a synopsis of the movie and it's not that, either.

[CLM]

It sounds a bit like Judy Blundell's What I Saw and How I Lied. Have you looked at that?

[Kristin]

Nope. The novel (or novella) is all about the effects of this one particular situation where a woman and a man come out of a hotel together and how it ruins that woman's reputation. There isn't a backstory like in Blundell's book. Thanks for the guess, though.

[April Ann]

One Sunday Morning A Novel by Amy Ephron, 2005.

Summary: Attending a bridge party in Jazz Age New York, four women find their lives forever changed by gossip, indiscretion, secrets, and betrayal after they witness a beautiful mutual acquaintance leaving a nearby hotel with a man who is not her husband. By the author of A Cup of Tea.

[Kristin]

That's it! Thanks April

[April Ann]

Ya welcome!