The Guest in Room 120: a bit of mystery, history, romance and haunting

 he Guest in Room 120 by Sara Ackerman is a story of the mysterious death of Jane Stanford, co-founder of Stanford University. 1905, Jane Stanford is a woman with an iron will and has her share of enemies. After an attempted poisoning attempt in her San Francisco mansion. With medical advice for warmer climates, she flees to Honolulu with two companions to the new Moana Hotel. On the island, Iliahi Baldwin is a young girl working at the hotel as she takes care of her younger brothers. She forms an unlikely friendship with the intimidating Jane Stanford and witnesses events that would expose the truth. 2005, Zoe Finch is a bestselling author who attends a writer’s conference at the Moana Hotel. She soon begins to experience mysterious dreams and events which puts her on the path to discover the shocking events which occurred at the hotel one hundred years ago. 

I did not know anything about Jane Stanford before reading this story. I knew she and her husband created the university to honor their late son. I was intrigued as her death remains a mystery to this day. From the opening chapter to the final page, I was pulled into a story that was a bit of mystery, history, romance and a haunting without being overbearing or too much of one over the others. The story is told from the perspective of all three women as readers see the events leading to Jane’s death, the immediate aftermath and the experiences which lead Zoe to investigate. The haunting aspect was not scary or terrifying. I enjoyed reading about the island in 1905. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It is a story of betrayal, secrets and a death that echoes and connects three women across time. I highly recommend The Guest in Room 120. 

The Guest in Room 120 is available in hardcover, paperback, eBook and audiobook

Radar Girls: a great story about a forgotten piece of WWII history

Radar Girls by Sara Ackerman is a story inspired by the real women of the Women’s Air Raid Defense (WARDs). Daisy Wilder is a woman who prefers horses to people, bare feet and the ocean to high heels and parties. As an outsider, she was always told she wasn’t smart enough, wasn’t important enough. Then, in the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack, she enlists in a top secret program. Under the constant fear of another invasion, the WARDs guide pilots into the blacked out airstrips and track unidentified planes across the Pacific skies. Not everyone is convinced the women are not smart enough to handle the job. They must rise above their differences to band together and work side by side, to show that a woman can do the task at hand. With the lives of the pilots, and America’s future on the line, Daisy is determined to prove herself worthy. She cannot fail, especially when the man she loves is among the pilots depending on her. 

Just when you think there are no more stories to be found from World War II, there comes the radar girls. When researching the women of WARD, the author came across a quote from one WARD, who said, “When the fly boys got lost, we brought them home.” A great statement to the important place these women had in the war effort and a place in our history.  Radar Girls is a beautiful story of determination, friendship and love in wartime. Set in the beautiful islands of Hawaii, the readers take a journey from radar towers on remote mountaintops to underground bomb shelters where these women answer the call of duty and help win the war. It is a story of self-discovery, to rise above the opinions of others that one is not good enough, to find strength and courage to prove them, and yourself, wrong. I loved all the characters who, by the end of the book, felt like family and dear friends, I was sad to see them go. I loved Radar Girls and highly recommend it. 

Radar Girls is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook.