The Last Chelsea Girl
A Novel
Upmarket fiction, The Last Chelsea Girl combines the bohemian setting and coming-of-age characters of Just Kids with the theatrics, female friendships, and fight of City of Girls.
In New York City’s legendary Chelsea Hotel, the home of American counterculture, a shy aspiring writer - Jules Thomas (22) - is hiding out from her abusive ex. As Jules tries to put her life back together, she befriends her fellow residents: the real-life rock stars, artists, bohemians, and misfits from the hotel’s notorious history.
Famous Chelsea girls (e.g. Janis Joplin, Edie Sedgwick, and Nancy Spungen) take her under their wing, and soon a whole new world opens up to Jules. She parties with superstars, assists a dominatrix, pens a gossip column, and even starts a burlesque speakeasy on the roof with Ruben Wells, a charismatic, pot-dealing showman.
Then her ex moves into the Chelsea. His father's company is attempting to take over the landmark hotel, gentrify it, remove the residents, and turn it into a generic chain hotel. Challenged to step up to her new-found power, Jules leads the fight to save her adopted home, community, and blossoming relationship before it is too late.
Blending fiction with history, heart, and humor, the book is complete at 92,000 words. It will sit nicely on the shelf next to books like Daisy Jones & the Six and The Girls.
Inspired by real-life experience, I was fortunate to live in the penthouse of the Chelsea Hotel during its final three years before it closed in 2007. The new owners hope to reopen in 2022.
I have won two international writing awards in nonfiction, and I write for publications including WIRED, Forbes, IBC, and The Huffington Post.
In New York City’s legendary Chelsea Hotel, the home of American counterculture, a shy aspiring writer - Jules Thomas (22) - is hiding out from her abusive ex. As Jules tries to put her life back together, she befriends her fellow residents: the real-life rock stars, artists, bohemians, and misfits from the hotel’s notorious history.
Famous Chelsea girls (e.g. Janis Joplin, Edie Sedgwick, and Nancy Spungen) take her under their wing, and soon a whole new world opens up to Jules. She parties with superstars, assists a dominatrix, pens a gossip column, and even starts a burlesque speakeasy on the roof with Ruben Wells, a charismatic, pot-dealing showman.
Then her ex moves into the Chelsea. His father's company is attempting to take over the landmark hotel, gentrify it, remove the residents, and turn it into a generic chain hotel. Challenged to step up to her new-found power, Jules leads the fight to save her adopted home, community, and blossoming relationship before it is too late.
Blending fiction with history, heart, and humor, the book is complete at 92,000 words. It will sit nicely on the shelf next to books like Daisy Jones & the Six and The Girls.
Inspired by real-life experience, I was fortunate to live in the penthouse of the Chelsea Hotel during its final three years before it closed in 2007. The new owners hope to reopen in 2022.
I have won two international writing awards in nonfiction, and I write for publications including WIRED, Forbes, IBC, and The Huffington Post.
©MISS AMELIA 2021
