the secret rooms book review

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The Secret Rooms: A True Gothic Mystery by Catherine Bailey - review

W hen Catherine Morland, her imagination fuelled by Gothic romances, visits the Tilney family home in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey , she hopes to find a suite of "secreted" rooms in which "something is certainly to be concealed." Her wish is granted when she is shown the chamber in which, nine years before, Mrs Tilney had died. Hearing that the lady's death was sudden and that the room has since remained untouched, "Catherine's blood ran cold with … horrid suggestions." Was Mrs Tilney murdered by her husband? The room, Catherine decides, contains a delicious mystery.

Catherine Bailey also likes bloodcurdling secrets. In her previous book, Black Diamonds , she delved into the archives at Wentworth, the Yorkshire home of the feuding Fitzwilliams, and found a skeleton in every cupboard. In The Secret Rooms , Bailey takes her magnifying glass to Belvoir Castle , home of the Dukes of Rutland. Her original plan had been to research a book about the ploughmen and fieldworkers from the Belvoir estate who had served in the first world war. The archives she needs are stored in the castle's five locked muniment rooms, and when Bailey is told that in 1940, John, the ninth duke, died of pneumonia in one of them, her own blood runs cold with horrid suggestions. Why did John choose to die here rather than in any of the 320 more opulent rooms in the castle? Why has the room since been untouched? A former servant tells Bailey that at the time of the duke's death, "a culture of secrecy pervaded the castle." John had been closeted in these "secret rooms" for a decade; organising the family papers was "his life's work". Bailey's interest in history gives way to her passion for mystery, and she discards the sensible book she had been planning to write this silly one instead.

Deciding that John had "died in mysterious circumstances", she now can't throw a stone without hitting a secret. The "secret rooms" are filled with "top secrets", "dark secrets", boxes marked "secret" and secrets people have "taken to the grave". Disappointingly, none of these secrets is a secret at all, merely something that no one has so far bothered to venture into. Neither does the book contain the gothic mystery promised in the subtitle: the story Bailey tells seems instead to be a quintessentially Edwardian one of class obsession, hypocrisy and constipated emotion.

Reading the family correspondence, Bailey discovers that John has edited his own biography. There are gaps in the otherwise complete letter runs, one of which coincides with the death, when John was seven, of his elder brother, Haddon. A plaque next to Haddon's tomb – an exquisite life-size effigy modelled in plaster by his mother, Violet – states that he died of TB, but there is also the suggestion that Haddon died, as Violet put it in a letter, "after twisting something inside". Either way, after his brother's funeral, John was sent to live with his uncle Charlie. Seeing his "dismissal" from Belvoir in the darkest possible light, Bailey inevitably wonders at the "chilling possibility that John had actually killed his brother" in some kind of accident. But Violet, a considerably more interesting woman than Bailey presents her, might just as plausibly have removed her young son from the grief-stricken house as an act of kindness. The distribution of children around the family was, until recently, an unremarkable event, and Charlie clearly provided a far happier home for John than the wretched one he had left behind.

Letters written in cypher between John and Charlie once again get the drums rolling. Decoded, they describe a row between father and son in which John describes his father, at one point, as "Asshole, C***". The ferocity of his words, Bailey writes pensively, "suggests a darker reality behind the glittering surface of their lives", except that the surface of family life at Belvoir Castle had never remotely glittered.

The final and most striking gap in the archive begins in 1915, when John, who is meant to be with his battalion in France, simply vanishes from the records. In her search for his whereabouts, Bailey describes every blind alley and quotes in full a series of irrelevant letters. The mystery is resolved when she reads the Belvoir visitor's book: John has gone home. His return to the safety of the castle for the duration of the war is the secret described on the book's cover as "so dark that it consumed the life of the man who fought to his death to keep it hidden". It is certainly a grim story, but has hardly been hidden. The fact that Violet kept her son back from the war is a matter of public record. Not wanting to lose the heir to the estate, she pulled strings to ensure that John was given a fraudulent medical discharge before his battalion saw action. It was the evidence of his "desertion" that, Bailey suggests, he was trying to erase before he died.

One is reminded of Oscar Wilde's short story about an enigmatic woman whose furtive activities are shrouded in mystery. After her death it transpires that she had "a passion for secrecy" but nothing to hide; she was, Wilde concludes, "a sphinx without a secret".

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THE SECRET ROOMS

A true story of a haunted castle, a plotting duchess, and a family secret.

by Catherine Bailey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 2014

A compelling exposé on the once-almighty laws of ducal inheritance.

A British documentary producer and historian creates a bang-up detective story around mysterious gaps in the archives chronicling the sad tale of the ninth Duke of Rutland.

The master of the Belvoir Castle, commanding thousands of acres and priceless treasures dating from the 11th century, the Duke of Rutland—John Henry Montagu Manners—died of pneumonia in the bowels of his keep in April 1940, not long after a top-secret convoy of royal documents was delivered to the castle for safekeeping during the war. Bailey is truly a dogged detective in getting at the essential questions surrounding the reclusive duke’s labored death: What was he so keen on finishing before he would give up the ghost? An obsessive archivist, he had spent the last decades of his life carefully sifting through and cataloging the records pertaining to his family history, even before King George VI had sanctioned the evacuation of important national documents to the castle. In 2008, Bailey was allowed access to the duke’s private sanctuary, which had been sealed after his death. In her tireless digging, she discovered three important omissions of material encompassing three distinct dates in John’s life: August 1894, when he was 8 and his older brother, then heir to the dukedom, suddenly took ill and died; June 1909, when he was 22 and corresponding with his uncle in cipher about his father, who had attempted to sell off his inheritance; and, finally, during much of 1915, when he was supposed to be serving on the western front but instead returned home to Belvoir at the instigation of his mother. What Bailey essentially uncovers is an entire moribund way of life in the great aristocratic families and the shockingly self-serving privilege put before the sense of national purpose.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-14-312473-3

Page Count: 464

Publisher: Penguin

Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013

CURRENT EVENTS & SOCIAL ISSUES | HISTORY | WORLD | ISSUES & CONTROVERSIES | GENERAL CURRENT EVENTS & SOCIAL ISSUES | GENERAL HISTORY

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by Catherine Bailey ; illustrated by Lauren Eldridge

by Catherine Bailey ; illustrated by Alex Willmore

by Catherine Bailey

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KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

The osage murders and the birth of the fbi.

by David Grann ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 18, 2017

Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.

Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.

During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorker staff writer Grann ( The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession , 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.

Pub Date: April 18, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017

GENERAL HISTORY | TRUE CRIME | UNITED STATES | FIRST/NATIVE NATIONS | HISTORY

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by David Grann

BOOK TO SCREEN

by Elie Wiesel & translated by Marion Wiesel ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 16, 2006

The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the...

Elie Wiesel spent his early years in a small Transylvanian town as one of four children. 

He was the only one of the family to survive what Francois Maurois, in his introduction, calls the "human holocaust" of the persecution of the Jews, which began with the restrictions, the singularization of the yellow star, the enclosure within the ghetto, and went on to the mass deportations to the ovens of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. There are unforgettable and horrifying scenes here in this spare and sombre memoir of this experience of the hanging of a child, of his first farewell with his father who leaves him an inheritance of a knife and a spoon, and of his last goodbye at Buchenwald his father's corpse is already cold let alone the long months of survival under unconscionable conditions. 

Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2006

ISBN: 0374500010

Page Count: 120

Publisher: Hill & Wang

Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006

BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | HOLOCAUST | HISTORY | GENERAL BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | GENERAL HISTORY

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by Elie Wiesel ; edited by Alan Rosen

by Elie Wiesel ; illustrated by Mark Podwal

by Elie Wiesel ; translated by Marion Wiesel

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The Secret Rooms: A True Story of a Haunted Castle, a Plotting Duchess, and a Family Secret

Written by Catherine Bailey Review by Mary Tod

Catherine Bailey went to Belvoir Castle on the Rutland family estate to “research a book about this small corner of England in the years of the First World War.” Immediately struck by an air of secrecy shrouding the castle, she instead plunged into detective work to solve a mystery involving one of England’s richest families.

Over the centuries, Belvoir had become a repository for the nation’s most important documents “stamped with the seals and signatures of every monarch since William the Conqueror.” John Henry Montagu Manners, the 9 th Duke of Rutland, had been a dedicated steward of these documents so Bailey finds it particularly puzzling to find significant gaps in the family’s carefully catalogued personal documents; gaps no one can explain.

The Secret Rooms reads like a novel with exciting twists and turns and carefully- doled-out clues. Characters come alive: John’s manipulative mother and domineering father; Charlie, the uncle who looked after John for much of his life; Diana, John’s sister, a renowned and high-spirited beauty; and John himself. The result is narrative non-fiction that grips a reader’s attention while at the same time providing a meticulously researched perspective on British high society and historical events from the 1880s to WWI.

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Review: ‘The Secret Rooms’ by Catherine Bailey

Review: In April 1940, John Henry Montagu Manners, the ninth Duke of Rutland, was diagnosed with pneumonia. But rather that spending time recuperating in his elegant personal rooms, John resisted the orders from his doctors and locked himself in a suite of dank, musty rooms in the bottom corner of his family’s vast castle. John had been in the rooms, the home of his family’s vast archives, almost constantly for months, but no one in the castle seemed to know what he was doing.

John died, likely alone, in the archives on April 21, 1940. Immediately after, his son had the rooms sealed. They remained closed for sixty years until historian Catherine Bailey became one of the first people allowed inside. As she combed the archives, Bailey discovered there were deliberate gaps in the collection. While organizing the archive, it seems John carefully destroyed all of the correspondence for three distinct periods. What secrets were so devastating he would sacrifice his life to make sure they never got out? Those are the stories that Bailey set out to tell in The Secret Rooms .

One of the things I loved about this book is that it’s a story of the process of uncovering a mystery as much as it is a book about the mystery itself. After setting up the Duke’s strange behavior at the end of his life, Bailey backs up to share how she stumbled across the mystery and her extensive process exploring, proving and disproving theories to explain the gaps that John put into his family history. If you are not into that kind of storytelling style, then I bet the book will be more frustrating than satisfying… but I totally loved it.

Unfortunately, the book started to lose a little momentum for me during the final third, when Bailey started to uncover the secret behind the third gap in John’s letters. The missing time period had to do with John’s service in World War I and his mother’s attempts to keep him away from the front in France. The book spent a lot of time filling in details about British and French strategy at the beginning of the war, a topic I find, to be honest, pretty dull. And without giving away too much, I’ll just say that the motivation Bailey uncovers for the final scandal John was trying to hide wasn’t nearly as surprising as I think Bailey tries to make it.

On the whole, I thought this book was a great read. The first two-thirds are awesome — gripping, mysterious and entertaining all at the same time. The final third is a little dull, but not so much that it took away from my overall enjoyment of this book. If you like historical mysteries and the tribulations of the rich and crazy, this book is worth picking up.

Other Reviews: Bookalicious Babe | Lovely Treez Reads |

If you have reviewed this book, please leave a link to the review in the comments and I will add your review to the main post. All I ask is for you to do the same to mine — thanks!

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Comments on this entry are closed.

Oooh, that does sound good!

I am looking forward to this at some point!

Sounds good! I’m all for books about mysteries.

I am intrigued! I need to know what the secrets were!

I’m really intrigued by this one now. But I’m torn. I am not a fan of lots of buildup followed by anticlimactic events.

It was a tricky book. I was really into it for the first two thirds, then the last third petered off. I think it’s still worth reading, but with slightly tempered expectations.

This is nonfiction? How interesting, based on the title!

Yep, it’s nonfiction. I love the title — it’s one of the reasons I picked up the book!

It had me at “plotting duchess”, although if the plot is just to keep her son off of the front lines, that sounds a bit anticlimactic. I’m a sucker for a good nonfiction historical mystery though so I’ll probably read it anyway!

The dutchess has a few plots going, but I’d say the main one of the book was her plan to keep her son safe during the war (for some pretty selfish reasons beyond that she cared for him). It’s a great mystery though — I think you’d like it!

I’d really recommend her previous book, Black Diamonds, about the coal fortune amassed by the Fitzwilliam family, and their home, Wentworth House which was – and remains – the biggest in Great Britain: 365 rooms, 5 miles of corridors, and a frontage twice as wide as Buckingham Palace. They also had family secrets they were determined to keep secret, by destroying all family papers in a huge bonfire, but Catherine Bailey does a fine job unearthing them – much scandal, with divorces, children possibly born out of wedlock and disputes over wills to rival Jarndyce v Jarndyce…incidentally, I read last week the house is for sale, if any of you are feeling flush…

Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll look for that one!

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The Secret Rooms

A True Story of a Haunted Castle, a Plotting Duchess, and a Family Secret

By Catherine Bailey

Category: historical figure biographies & memoirs | european world history.

Dec 31, 2013 | ISBN 9780143124733 | 5-1/2 x 8-7/16 --> | ISBN 9780143124733 --> Buy

Dec 31, 2013 | ISBN 9781101636749 | ISBN 9781101636749 --> Buy

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About The Secret Rooms

For fans of Downton Abbey , t his New York Times bestseller is the enthralling true story of family secrets and aristocratic intrigue in the days before WWI After the Ninth Duke of Rutland, one of the wealthiest men in Britain, died alone in a cramped room in the servants’ quarters of Belvoir Castle on April 21, 1940, his son and heir ordered the room, which contained the Rutland family archives, sealed. Sixty years later, Catherine Bailey became the first historian given access. What she discovered was a mystery: The Duke had painstakingly erased three periods of his life from all family records—but why? As Bailey uncovers the answers, she also provides an intimate portrait of the very top of British society in the turbulent days leading up to World War I.

Also by Catherine Bailey

About Catherine Bailey

ROBIN PETRAVIC and CATHERINE BAILEY are the co-owners of Heath Ceramics, the iconic tableware and tile company founded by Edith and Brian Heath in 1948. Prior to taking the reins at Heath in 2003, each honed their skills and passion… More about Catherine Bailey

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“Bailey is a truly dogged detective… a compelling exposé” – Kirkus Reviews  “Bailey deserves commendation for her meticulous research as well as her storytelling.” – Publisher’s Weekly  “Gripping. Reads like the best kind of mystery story. It is a tale of mistresses and heirlooms, cowardice and connivance.” – The Sunday Times (London) “Compelling. A remarkable piece of research which throws a bright shaft of light on powerful people, hypocrisy and the First World War.” – The Guardian  

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The Secret Rooms: A True Gothic Mystery by Catherine Bailey

Like many an enthralling novel, this book starts with a death from natural causes yet in odd circumstances which initially leaves several questions unanswered. In fact, in spite of the subtitle, and also knowing nothing about the family whose story it tells in part, I had to look through the book thoroughly before reading, to satisfy myself that it actually was non-fiction.

The death in question, and in fact the character of whom this is in effect more or less a biography, is John Manners, ninth Duke of Rutland. He died in April 1940 in his mid-fifties, almost alone, lying in a cramped suite of rooms in the servants’ quarters at his family home, Belvoir (pronounced Beaver) Castle. That he should have chosen, in fact insisted, on seeing out his days in such surroundings was puzzling to say the least. The mystery was compounded when his son sealed the rooms after his death, and nobody was allowed in them for several decades afterwards.

The author initially came to Belvoir to research a book about the area during the First World War, and the men from the estate who joined up to go and fight. Instead, astonished by what she found when she arrived, she ended up writing a completely different work – this one – in its place. Sorting through the family archives, and exploring the castle, including several rooms which elderly retainers and servants initially told her rather frostily were out of bounds to the likes of her, led her to stumble on a story which had never been told and needed unravelling. The late Duke spent a large amount of time personally cataloguing several thousand family documents, in addition to collecting archaeological fragments, birds’ eggs, photographs and the like. It all suggested to the author some kind of refuge, a compulsive interest indicating a desire to escape into a private world, perhaps pointing to a character who had been emotionally deprived or even abused in infancy. He had also done his best to try and ensure that the full story would never be told, and that there were three large gaps in his archive, namely from the years 1894, shortly before his eighth birthday, 1909, when he was working in Rome, and 1915, during the First World War. Some of the letters were encrypted, which added to the air of mystery.

Needless to say, the author immediately rose to the challenge. She has managed to get to the root of several mysteries. Who was the intruder who broke into the castle shortly after the Duke’s death, and left apparently without taking a single document or even any other item? (You will find no spoiler in this review). What was the truth about the death in childhood of his elder brother, Lord Haddon, and did their parents deliberately falsify the official version of events? Why was little John, now heir to the title, sent away from home by his parents to be brought up by an uncle? The ramifications of the firstborn’s short life and its aftermath continued to haunt the family for a long time.

His mother Violet evidently never really recovered from the death of her adored elder son. Even so, the author pulls no punches in her portrayal of a very manipulative woman who believed that even in the early twentieth century aristocratic families were still above the law. There was evidently no love lost between mother and second son, who never really understood each other, and the result was a family rift which seemingly never healed. As for his father, he was a gentler, more reasonable character, but belonged to an age long since vanished, believing he had to live in a certain style which the income from his estates could no longer support in the post-war world. In many matters, especially those pertaining to their family, he was presumably overruled by a determined wife. It might be noted in passing that there were three sisters, the youngest being Diana, later Lady Diana Cooper, actress, socialite and mother of historian John Julius Norwich .

The events of 1909 in Rome are also examined in some depth, as are the wartime episode and a broken engagement. However there was a more or less happy ending to this, when the young but plainly unsuited lovers moved apart and John found the real Miss Right. (Their marriage in 1916 endured, although ultimately it did not prove a happy one, and the Duchess later confided in a friend that she thought the Rutland family was not one which should be perpetuated). In the process, to coin a phrase, John Manners ended up abandoning his duty to King and country.

The text is supplemented by three sections of black and white plates, a genealogical table, a plan of the Belvoir estate in 1914, and ground plans of all three floors.

They say that each person’s mystery dies when he or she passes on. John, ninth Duke of Rutland, went to great lengths to try and ensure that his did as well. Catherine Bailey has gone to enormous lengths to establish the truth of what lay hidden beneath his efforts for so long. How she did so, and what was then revealed, makes for an extraordinary story that in places could almost be the stuff of fiction.

If this book appeals then we think you might enjoy We Danced All Night: A Social History of Britain Between the Wars by Martin Pugh

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• Catherine Bailey
• Reviewed by John Van der Kiste
• 4.5 Star Reviews
• November 2012

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The Secret Rooms: A True Gothic Mystery Review

The Secret Rooms: A True Gothic Mystery by Catherine Bailey is out 1 st November 2012

Using never-seen-before archive material, Bailey investigates the mysteries of Belvoir Castle, where in 1940 the Duke of Rutland, one of the richest men in Britain attended by the king’s physician, ended his days in isolation.

After his death, his room was locked - with all his secrets in it. His son sealed off the rooms and until author Catherine Bailey entered them years later, no-one else had seen them.

The Duke had complex collections of birds’ eggs, photographs and family correspondence dating back hundreds of years. But, Bailey found, crucial years were missing. Why? Especially when everything else was so meticulously recorded?

Bailey discovers that the Duke, John, had a brother, Haddon, who died in mysterious circumstances at the age of nine when John was seven. All the letters dating from that time are missing.

It transpires that John was sent away from home after Haddon’s death because his mother could not bear to look at him.

Later, his parents never once visited him at school and he only really existed for his parents again once he was due to go to France as an army officer. But their concern for not for his welfare but for the loss of an heir for the estate if he were to die.

A fascinating portrait of the emotional life of an upper-class family.

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‘Secret Rooms’ is an Exposé of the Wealthy (Book Review)

August 12, 2014 by Allison Hiltz 6 Comments

In 1940, John the 9th Duke of Rutland, locked himself in the servants quarters of his  356-room castle with his papers and journals and refused to leave, jeopardizing his health and ultimately leading to his death. What he did in these rooms, known as the Muniments Rooms, was a mystery until a few years ago, when the rooms were unsealed for the first times since his death and Catherine Bailey showed up to research a book about the villagers who died fighting in World War 1. What she ended up discovering was that John spent his last days erasing three periods of his life from the collections of letters and diaries he locked himself away with (interestingly, he erased a total of 356 days, which is exactly how many rooms the castle has). Upon learning this, Bailey shifted her focus to the Rutland family, in particular to John, in an effort to find out what horrific events he sought to remove from history.

The Secret Rooms by Catherine Bailey is the story of John, a sad and neglected man who found comfort in his compulsive need to collect things from bird’s nests to family letters. An introvert who would rather study old artifacts than adhere to social norms, his shunning of high society led him to be a constant disappointment to his family. Unfortunately, his family, and in particular his mother, was accustomed to getting their way and had no qualms with using their political and social connections to achieve their goals.

It is against this backdrop of family dynamic that The Secret Rooms takes place, and the book is better off for it. Without Bailey’s extensive research into the Rutland family, John’s efforts to erase aspects of his past would be unexciting. The book is set up in three sections, with each placing an emphasis on a missing piece from the puzzle. Although told independently, they intertwine and weave a complex tale of family, betrayal, and influence in a time when men were killed at war by the tens of thousands. Filled with cliffhangers and at times speculative, Bailey keeps the reader at the edge of their seats until the very last page.

If I have one complaint, it’s that I feel guilty while I reflect back on the book. The Secret Rooms offers an in-depth look into John’s private life, insecurities, and inner demons that he died trying to protect. Yet, there I was, reading the most intimate parts of his life eagerly while passing judgment on him and his family. Had I known how vehemently opposed he was to these secrets getting out, I might not have picked up the book. Of course, I didn’t know that going into it and once I started, I was unable to put the book down while I was reading it. In hindsight, the book is very much a historic e xposé , so if you like reading about the secrets no one wanted made public, then this is the book for you.

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The Secret Rooms: A True Gothic Mystery MP3 CD – Unabridged, 19 July 2016

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In April 1940, the ninth Duke of Rutland died in mysterious circumstances in one of the rooms of his family estate, Belvoir Castle. The mystery surrounding these rooms holds the key to a tragic story that is played out on the brutal battlefields of the Western Front and in the exclusive salons of Mayfair and Belgravia in the dying years of la belle époque. Uncovered is a dark and disturbing period in the history of the Rutland family, and one which they were determined to keep hidden for over 60 years. Sixty years on, The Secret Rooms is the true story of family secrets and one man's determination to keep the past hidden at any cost.

• Language English
• Publisher Audible Studios on Brilliance
• Publication date 19 July 2016
• Dimensions 16.51 x 1.59 x 13.97 cm
• ISBN-10 1531843638
• ISBN-13 978-1531843632
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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Audible Studios on Brilliance; Unabridged edition (19 July 2016)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1531843638
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1531843632
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 16.51 x 1.59 x 13.97 cm

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Catherine bailey.

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• Nov 13, 2023

Review: The Secret Rooms

Updated: Dec 18, 2023

The Secret Rooms: A True Story of a Haunted Castle, a Plotting Duchess, & a Family Secret , by Catherine Bailey (2012)

False advertising. The title and book jacket description are entirely misleading. I thought it was going to be such a fun true-crime-esque mystery! Instead, here's my title re-write:

The Sealed-Off Rooms of Belvoir Castle: A True Story With No Hauntings, An Overbearing Mother, & the Insignificant "Secrets" of an Arrogant Aristocrat.

I read about half of this, and skimmed the rest. I heard from a friend that the "secrets" were pretty mundane and disappointing, so I wasn't that invested anyway. And after a while I became quite annoyed with Bailey's slow pace, repetition of the facts, and sensational way of doling out banal information. Plus, the family she's talking about? Kind of all just spoiled aristocratic Brits, all fighting for money and mummy's attention (that may be a bit harsh, but let's just say that I didn't like anyone in the book).

Basically, John Manners, the 9th Duke of somewhere with a big castle called Belvoir - which is pronounced BEAVER! - dies mysteriously in the house. "Mysteriously" because he shuts himself off into a grouping of small, dank, cold servants' quarters and refuses treatment because he's working on "something he must finish." After his death, his family seals off the rooms and, as the current inhabitants say too often, "no one goes in there." A decade later, Bailey gains access to the rooms for research purposes. She soon finds three large gaps in the otherwise meticulously kept records, and embarks on the project of trying to fill in those gaps. She succeeds for two of them.

I won't spoil anything specific about what she uncovers, just in case you're interested enough to read the book, but, in my opinion, they didn't reveal all the much, besides arrogant people doing things to better their positions and leave a legacy that looks shinier than it is.

Someone interested in early 20th century history (British, in particular), the English aristocracy, and the theater of war (WWI) would probably enjoy this much more, cuz there's a lot of those things.

And as I already mentioned - so repetitive. In every chapter it seemed like Bailey assumed it had been 6 months since the reader looked at the previous chapters. Or maybe she's trying to win a bet on how many times she could say that there were three gaps in the paper trail. You could choose any page at random in this 400+ page book and one of those facts is probably on it.

I read this for book club, and I can't wait to hear what other people thought!

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'The American Society of Magical Negroes': You don't wanna join this club

Aisha Harris

Aren (Justice Smith) and Roger (David Alan Grier) in The American Society of Magical Negroes. Focus Features hide caption

Aren (Justice Smith) and Roger (David Alan Grier) in The American Society of Magical Negroes.

Lately, I've been musing on the concept of time and its relationship to Black art and identity. I keep bumping into this question: What time do we all think we're living in right now?

In the year of someone's lord 2024, a recent episode of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans conjured up James Baldwin – the same James Baldwin who once wrote, "I don't like people who like me because I'm a Negro; neither do I like people who find in the same accident grounds for contempt" – as a Magical Negro to Truman Capote.

50 Years Of NPR

The best of james baldwin: favorite pieces from the npr archive.

A straight-faced excavation of this old Hollywood trope, which has been on the wane for some time, is startling enough. But now there's also Kobi Libii's feature debut, The American Society of Magical Negroes, which attempts to skewer it. The comedy writer and performer imagines an underground network of Black mystics who dedicate their lives to placating white people for the safety of Black people everywhere. "White discomfort," as one character opines, is the "nemesis" of Black existence.

If this all sounds like the premise for a classic Key & Peele sketch, you wouldn't be too far off . The trouble is, as far as I can tell, no one involved with writing Key & Peele had anything to do with the Society of Magical Negroes .

Code Switch

'key & peele' is ending. here are a few of its code switch-iest moments.

The movie has at least two crucial factors working against it. For one, the Magical Negro trope isn't anywhere near as pervasive in Hollywood as it was when Spike Lee coined the term more than two decades ago. So despite being set in the present day, Libii's social commentary brings with it no new enlightenment on the dominant stereotypes Black people face now, despite a nearly two-hour runtime.

Second, it has no Black characters. To be clear, there are real Black performers playing these roles on screen. But one would think fully human, complexly written roles ought to exist in a movie where the goal is combatting multiple centuries' worth of one-dimensional representation. Here, they decidedly do not.

The Illuminati, but make it respectable

In Society of Magical Negroes , Justice Smith plays Aren, a dull and depressing L.A. artist whose specialty is dull and depressing abstract yarn installations. His latest work is on display at an art show, but no one "gets" it. When a white collector mistakes him for the waitstaff, Aren obliges and gets the man a drink instead of trying to convince him to buy his art.

A member of the actual waitstaff has been observing him all night and introduces himself. It turns out he's Roger (David Alan Grier), a jolly older man who's arrived to recruit Aren into the American Society of Magical Negroes, a "firm" that views itself as a group of world-class superheroes. He leads him to their secret headquarters, tucked away behind a Black barbershop, with hallowed rooms and halls that resemble Hogwarts or the Clue mansion. The visual world-building in this regard is the film's sole inspired choice.

Egotistical tech bro Jason (Drew Tarver) is Aren's first "client." Focus Features hide caption

Egotistical tech bro Jason (Drew Tarver) is Aren's first "client."

Each Society member is assigned a white "client" who's experiencing some sort of crisis and is dangerously close to taking out their anxieties on innocent Black people. (A "white tears meter" assists in monitoring the threat level at any given moment.) The Magical Negro's job is to befriend and counsel their client through all their issues until they get whatever it is they want. Aren's first guinea pig is Jason (Drew Tarver), a disgruntled, egotistical tech bro at a software company called MeetBox, who's angling for a promotion he almost certainly doesn't deserve. Aren is hired at MeetBox and immediately gets to work practicing his skill of being a personality-less doormat, which has a great effect on clueless Jason.

Did I mention this is also a workplace rom-com? Sure, why not? Aren discovers one of his other new colleagues is Lizzie (An-Li Bogan), a woman with whom he had the gawkiest and most unsexy of meet-cutes at a coffee shop earlier in the day. Lizzie happens to be Jason's "work-wife," but he's also into her, so that complicates Aren's adherence to his Magical Negro responsibilities and tests his commitment to The Cause.

Author Interviews

'magical negro' carries the weight of history, maybe we're all just magical negroes.

So many disparate ideas and tones are being mashed up here, and none of them gel. Libii spends a ton of time obsessing over the details and internal rules of these proud, respectability politicians. Yet he also has a slippery grasp on the trope he seeks to interrogate. In this world, the Magical Negro is broadened out from its very specific real-world definition – Spike Lee was referring to movies with "magical, mystical" Black characters in films like The Legend of Bagger Vance and The Green Mile – to an all-encompassing label that includes any Black person who's ever merely decided "Not today, Satan" and resisted the bait when dealing with racial microaggressions at work and Crispus Attucks.

Movie Interviews

Spike lee: black people have 'been fighting for this country from day one'.

Those muddled conflations would be less jarring if Aren were written as anything other than a convenient vessel for showcasing a convoluted premise. We know nothing about him besides that he's a failed, self-loathing Rhode Island School of Design alum who's so spineless he'll awkwardly hold the door for a parade of oblivious exiting passersby before finally entering a coffee shop for himself. Before becoming a Magical Negro (I can't believe this is an actual sentence I'm writing), he has no community to speak of – no friends, no real job, and no family, except a white mom he offhandedly mentions. (This is somehow both very illuminating and not at all illuminating at the same time.) Where did he grow up? How can Aren afford to be a struggling artist with a decent apartment in Los Angeles in this economy? Has Aren ever spent any time with Black people? (Magical Negroes don't count.)

Lizzie (An-Li Bogan) and Aren (Justice Smith) have a tedious meet-cute at a coffee shop. Tobin Yelland/Focus Features hide caption

Lizzie (An-Li Bogan) and Aren (Justice Smith) have a tedious meet-cute at a coffee shop.

His character arc, if you wish to call it that, concludes with him superficially liberated. In the film's climax, he gives a grandstanding speech that's What It's Like to Be Black 101, a far more grating version of Barbie 's climactic Feminism 101 monologue. The moment is wholly unearned, and the epiphany lands with a thud because Aren didn't really start from any place real to begin with. There's nothing radical or daring about his journey to self-discovery, which hinges almost entirely on his romantic pining for Lizzie. In fact, Libii's script doesn't even try to engage with Black radicalism because if it did, The Society would have to come under far more rigorous scrutiny than the film is interested in pursuing. The Magical Negroes, so proud to have single-handedly "raised the Black life expectancy," at least according to society head Dede (Nicole Byer), exist in a world where the likes of Harriet Tubman, Marcus Garvey, the Black Panthers, and Bree Newsome never existed. The movie's finale seems content with that omission.

What time are we living in now?

Nicole Byer is Dede, head of the American Society of Magical Negroes. Focus Features hide caption

Nicole Byer is Dede, head of the American Society of Magical Negroes.

So: What time are we living in now? It depends on who you ask and where you look. Not unlike American Fiction , Society of Magical Negroes is convinced Black people on screen and in real life are, by and large, contending with the same stereotypes and barriers that we were 20 years ago. But that's its own kind of retrograde nostalgia trap to fall into, the kind that can only be constructed by ignoring key parts of history and the present reality.

There are pressing issues like pay inequities and Black-created TV shows being canceled far too soon. But there's also been so much exciting work being made by filmmakers on every level over the last decade – emerging voices like Nikyatu Jusu , Raven Jackson and Juel Taylor ; newly-minted titans like Issa Rae and Jordan Peele; established vets like Gina Prince-Bythewood. They've told stories spanning a breadth of genres, sensibilities and character studies, the stuff their predecessors dreamed of. Amid this landscape, it's hard not to view the Magical Negro as – thankfully – a relic.

Writing more than 25 years ago, bell hooks lamented how a dominant white supremacist environment forced too many Black artists to be hyperfocused on producing "resisting images," thus overwhelming their creative and upsetting artistic integrity. At the time, she observed that Black filmmaking was still a "fertile frontier" because of the lack of radical images, but that she foresaw a "far distant future" where Blackness will be "overworked, overdone" just as whiteness has been. We're a little bit closer to that future than we've ever been. But evidently, we've still got some ways to go.

10 Things To Do In Hogwarts Legacy Most Players Never Discover

• Hogwarts Legacy features hidden interactions, like tipping a street musician who gains new instruments over time.
• Players can find secret rooms and chests behind fireplaces and explore locations like the Hogwarts Kitchen.
• There are puzzles to solve, such as using the clock tower pendulum and casting spells to access hidden areas.

Hogwarts Legacy is full of characters to meet, locations to explore, and secrets to uncover - but there are a few hidden interactions that players might not realize are there. Of course, considering the massive open-world map, which contains both a detailed replica of Hogwarts and a sprawling expanse of land full of caves and camps beyond the school walls, finding every last interaction is no small task. However, there are a few secret things to do in Hogwarts Legacy that are particularly worth noting, as they're especially fascinating.

Although there is a large variety of quests in Hogwarts Legacy , regrettably, it can still become easy to get caught up in the repetitive nature of many of the easily found side quests that revolve around a simplistic fetch quest theme. These basic pursuits ask the player to retrieve an item and return it to the NPC or area that needs it, and they can feel a bit tiresome. For the most curious of witches and wizards, however, Hogwarts Legacy also features some hidden activities and missions that have some unique attributes but are easy to overlook at a simple glance.

10 Incredibly Subtle Details Hidden In Hogwarts Legacy

Street musician with growing instrument collection, located in hogsmeade and surrounding hamlets.

One of the most immersive and charming features of Hogwarts Legacy is the incredible attention to small details that developers added to the game, many of which are overlooked by most players. The traveling street musician, Ernie Lark, is a prime example of this. When players see him playing a catchy tune on his floating instruments, they have the option of tipping him 10 Galleons.

Each time the player sees Ernie and tips him 10 Galleons, they may notice that he will gain a new instrument at the next encounter if they pay close attention. While he starts with a single French horn, he'll eventually be able to use a violin, lute, accordion, drum, and even a strange, snake-like flute. It's a very small detail, spaced out over some time, so some Hogwarts Legacy players might not notice this heartwarming progression.

Every Hogwarts Legacy Ending Explained (In Detail)

Finding a secret room and chest behind fireplace, located in the hogwarts library.

Throughout the game's events (and throughout the Harry Potter series as a whole), the library has been consistently proven to contain some of the wizarding world's most fascinating secrets. One lesser-known tidbit, however, is that it's possible to go through the fireplace and reach a secret chest in Hogwarts Legacy . All that players will need to do is cast Glacius to extinguish the flames, then duck through to the secret room behind it. If not just for the excitement of discovering this hidden area, the large chest behind the fireplace provides an additional incentive.

Hogwarts Legacy's Demiguise Statues Locations Never Made Any Sense

Visiting the hogwarts kitchen, entrance located near hufflepuff's common room.

The Great Hall always has some delicious food on the tables, and sadly, the responsibility falls on the hardworking house elves who are made to prepare all the meals behind the scenes. Unbeknownst to some witches and wizards, visiting this iconic location in Hogwarts Legacy is possible . The entrance to the Hogwarts Kitchen is cleverly disguised as a painting near the Hufflepuff common room, but if players "tickle the pear," they'll be allowed in. The kitchen contains a few chests with valuable loot, but it also provides a peek into the everyday lives of Hogwarts house elves.

Puzzling Bridge With Hidden Chests

Located on the bridge in the viaduct courtyard.

In Hogwarts Legacy 's magical world, nothing is ever as simple as it seems, and not even something as seemingly normal as a bridge is excluded from this sentiment. Not merely for decorative purposes, the braziers and manhole on the bridge in the Viaduct Courtyard sneakily conceal a puzzle in plain sight. By casting Incendio on each of the braziers and matching the numbers to symbols on the manhole cover, the puzzle becomes solved, and rewards are granted. The manhole will open, revealing a ladder to the viaduct containing multiple chests below.

How To Solve The Bridge Puzzle In Hogwarts Legacy

Climbing the clock tower, and more chests, located within the clock tower.

Hogwarts Legacy is full of mysterious puzzles, including many that are not necessary to complete the main quests in the game but are cool side activities. While players will have visited the clock tower location to duel other students in the Crossed Wands tournament, they were probably too busy casting spell combinations to notice that the giant, swinging pendulum is the key to another puzzle.

By freezing the pendulum in accordance with the symbols on the ground (which correspond to those on the various doors), it's possible to climb all the way up the iconic Clock Tower . If that isn't reward enough, players will find a handful of chests as they make their ascent.

Hogwarts Legacy: How To Solve The Clock Tower Puzzle

Well-hidden art studio behind another fireplace, located in the south wing faculty tower.

As it turns out, the secret room behind the library fireplace isn't the only one of its kind. By using Glacius on the fireplace in the South Wing Faculty Tower, another secret passage becomes clear, with a spiraling staircase that leads to a room. This incredibly well-hidden room appears to be an art studio and is full of hand-drawn sketches depicting various buildings and architecture.

There are also a couple of collectibles located therein, such as a Field Guide page and a Collection Chest - but more excitingly, this unique artwork is something that most Hogwarts Legacy players never discover.

Secret Werewolf Tapestry Room That Tells A Sad Tale

Located in the bell tower wing.

While some students may be under the impression that they've visited every room in the castle, one particular room in Hogwarts is disguised in plain sight. In the Bell Tower Wing, a faded tapestry with a large letter K serves as a doorway to a secret corridor and room. Therein, the player will be met with a collection of mysterious statues, a chest, and even a short, entertaining story. If they cast Lumos on each of the tapestries in the back room, they'll magically shift to tell a cautionary tale about a witch bitten by a werewolf.

The Book Of Admittance & Quill Of Acceptance

Located at the headmaster's office in hogwarts.

Solving the Key of Admittance puzzle is quite tricky, which therefore makes finding the Book of Admittance in Hogwarts Legacy one of the hardest things to do. To overcome the obstacle that is the unthinkably complex door-locking mechanism, players will need to have completed the late-game quest, " Polyjuice Plot, " and unlocked Level 3 of the Alohamora spell. It's worth taking the trip after completing these requirements, however, as it's possibly one of the coolest locations in Hogwarts Legacy - featuring the Book of Admittance and Quill of Acceptance, alongside a stunning view of the castle from Headmaster Black's office.

All 13 Brooms In Hogwarts Legacy, Ranked Worst To Best

The ghostly deathday party, located below the lower grand staircase in hogwarts.

While witches and wizards celebrate their birthdays, the ghosts of Hogwarts celebrate their deathdays instead - and the player can crash one such deathday party in Hogwarts Legacy . This gloomy banquet can be found in the Slytherin Dungeon, locked behind a Level 1 Alohamora spell. Inside, a group of ghosts will be dancing together, and one of Hogwarts Legacy 's funniest NPC interactions can be witnessed. This ghastly party is a sight to behold, but since it's carefully tucked in an unassuming corner of the castle, most students will miss out on the fun.

Hogwarts Legacy Review: A Living, Breathing, Wizarding World

Well, well, well quest, located near aranshire hamlet.

" Well, Well, Well " is a particularly evasive Hogwarts Legacy quest that even some of the most experienced witches and wizards may never find. It can only be obtained by exploring the wilderness near the Aranshire hamlet in Southern Hogwarts, in which the player can discover a talking, magical well . The well will spit up an almost comically vague treasure map, depicting a tree in a dilapidated structure (which could realistically be anywhere).

For this reason, not many players will find the end location for Hogwarts Legacy 's " Well Well, Well " quest, which is located underneath a tree slightly southwest of Irondale, near an ancient magic hotspot. Thanks to the overgeneralized nature of the map, which is of little to no help, most players won't solve - or even discover - this secret in Hogwarts Legacy .

Source: TheBrothersGrim117/YouTube

Hogwarts Legacy

Franchise Harry Potter

Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, Steam, Xbox One

Released 2022-02-10

Developer(s) Avalanche Software

Publisher(s) Warner Bros. Games

Genre(s) Open-World, Action RPG, Adventure

Mode Single-Player

Editor’s Note: Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling has been accused of transphobia by those in the LGBTQ+ community. Although not directly involved in the development of Hogwarts Legacy, Rowling does stand to earn royalties from the game. We would like to reiterate our support for trans rights and that trans identities are valid. Support services are listed below for trans people impacted by discussions of transphobia.

In the USA:

• Trans Lifeline : (877) 565-8860
• The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386
• Trans Lifeline : (877) 330-6366
• Youth Line : 1-800-268-9688
• Switchboard : 01273 204050
• Mermaids : 0808 801 0400

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RuPaul Serves Some Confounding Truths in ‘The House of Hidden Meanings’

Chronicling the high-heeled path to drag-queen superstardom, the new memoir also reveals a celebrity infatuated with his sense of a special destiny.

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By Saeed Jones

Saeed Jones is the author of three books, most recently “Alive at the End of the World.”

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THE HOUSE OF HIDDEN MEANINGS: A Memoir, by RuPaul

As “The House of Hidden Meanings” is RuPaul’s fourth book and his first straightforward memoir, it’s understandably being marketed as an opportunity to see the pop culture icon in a new light. The striking, almost intimidating, black-and-white cover photograph notably subverts the expectation of seeing Ru in glamorous technicolor drag. All the artifice has been stripped away, we’re being told: This is RuPaul stripped bare.

But the meanings laid bare in the text contradict RuPaul’s narration again and again. What’s revealed is a striver high on his own supply who tries to spin his story as empathetic wisdom draped in Instagram-ready captions.

About 70 pages in, RuPaul — at the time, a Black high school dropout driving luxury cars across the country to help a relative flip them for profit — declares without irony, “Americans have always been frontiersmen, people who are open to a new adventure, and I felt this as I drove cars alone, back and forth, across the United States.”

I wearily recalled an earlier section of the book. Explaining the conservative environment of his childhood in San Diego, RuPaul summarizes the Great Migration in a paragraph that would be considered too concise even for a Wikipedia entry, then declares, “All the Black people in our neighborhood were transplants from the South, and so they had inherited a kind of slave mentality, which was based on fear.”

Aside from breathtaking dismissiveness of the decades of racial violence that made the migration necessary, it’s chilling to see a public figure known as a champion of the marginalized so easily dismiss survivors of Jim Crow-era terror as people who “hold onto their victim mentality so fiercely; it becomes a defining feature of their identity.”

The way we tell our stories has a way of telling on us. The memoir reveals an author who thinks he understands outsiders when, really, all he understands is that he wanted to become famous and eventually became famous. And given RuPaul Charles’s truly extraordinary talent, that would be fine if the book (and his brand) weren’t so invested in trying to convince the rest of us that he has unique insight into the joke called life.

Whether your introduction to RuPaul was his 1989 appearance in the “Love Shack” music video , his breakout single “Supermodel (You Better Work)” or, more recently, his Emmy Award-winning run as the executive producer and host of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” currently in its 16th season, you know that RuPaul isn’t just famous, glamorous and funny; he’s interesting.

At his best, he has reminded us that “fierce” is a warning, not just a compliment. (I’ll never forget sitting cross-legged in my living room, watching RuPaul onstage at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards, confronting Milton Berle’s anti-gay disrespect in real time while they presented an award together.) And as the self-declared “Queen of Drag, ” an art form and pop phenomenon that remixes identity, music, fashion, comedy and politics into a fantasia that’s wickedly entertaining and often radical, RuPaul has lived a life, honey. Without question.

But living a life and coherently expressing a life story on the page are two very different arts. Rather than patiently allowing his tale to unfold, he struggles not to remind us that everything that has ever happened to him happened for a reason.

Then again, maybe he has a point. When RuPaul’s mother — one of the book’s truly standout characters — was pregnant, a psychic told her that she would have a boy and that he would be famous. As RuPaul writes, “With that in mind, she gave me the name RuPaul because, as she put it, ‘Ain’t another [expletive] alive with a name like that.’ Fame, for me, was less a dream than a predestination.” In other words, “The House of Hidden Meanings” is less a memoir than a prophecy unpacked in reverse.

And so, via a fire hose of anecdotes, minor characters and ready-made wisdom (much of which longtime fans will recognize from TV and other books), “Hidden Meanings” traces RuPaul’s curlicue path from early life in San Diego to the Black Mecca of Atlanta in the late 1970s and ’80s, to the club kid scene in New York and, finally, to the early years of true fame brought into focus by the success of “Supermodel.”

For readers who approach the celebrity memoir as a scavenger hunt, there are some fun finds here. A friend comes back from an Atlanta bar and quotes Lakesha Lucky, a drag queen there, saying, “You’re born naked, and the rest is drag,” during her act. The mantra has since become a RuPaul staple.

Madonna glares at RuPaul one night at the Pyramid Club. Elton John, Crystal LaBeija and Susanne Bartsch make brief appearances. Liza Minnelli drifts through a paragraph and is gone before the paragraph is over.

More than half of the book is set in Atlanta, where RuPaul and a revolving cast of “bohemian scallywags” embraced public-access television, drag bars and dilapidated apartments to create a punk scene. In successfully bringing this world to life, the book allows us to see an outsider embracing his fellow outsiders, by necessity, sure, but also out of deep love.

The most compelling chapter comes at the two-thirds mark, after what looks like a promising start in New York City falls through, and Ru ends up back in his mother’s California home.

Though he spends much of the book on the thin side of poverty, this protracted ordeal is the first time we see the glimmer in his eyes start to flicker. The precarity of this moment is all the more moving because RuPaul hits it big in the next chapter. He just has to hold on a little longer.

With 30 pages left to go, he meets Georges LeBar, the man who eventually becomes his life partner. The search for love is a consistent theme, which makes such a rushed depiction of its turbulent arrival all the more confusing. The moment our author — a triple Scorpio for those of us keeping tabs — actually finds love, he cuts himself off in the middle of the story.

Throughout “The House of Hidden Meanings,” RuPaul doesn’t hesitate to mention that luck was on his side. He nods to the specter of H.I.V./AIDS, the crack epidemic, even his run-ins with the police, then quickly turns back to his once-in-a-generation fortune.

But in this chapter, we’re reminded that the true miracle isn’t that he became famous, but that he survived an era that claimed the lives of countless young gay Black men, many of them just as talented, funny and interesting. Perhaps they are the meaning this country has worked so hard to keep hidden from us.

THE HOUSE OF HIDDEN MEANINGS : A Memoir | By RuPaul | Dey Street | 256 pp. | $29.99

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James Baldwin wrote with the kind of clarity that was as comforting as it was chastising. His writing — pointed, critical, angry — is imbued with love. Here’s where to start with his works .

Do you want to be a better reader?   Here’s some helpful advice to show you how to get the most out of your literary endeavor .

Each week, top authors and critics join the Book Review’s podcast to talk about the latest news in the literary world. Listen here .

The best Secrets Resorts & Spas for a relaxing, adults-only getaway

From Mexico to St. Martin, Spain to Jamaica — and quite a few destinations in between, including Bulgaria — Secrets Resorts & Spas have remained a primary player in Hyatt's push toward both luxury and all-inclusive resorts . The luxury brand continues to be one of the best of its kind, impressing Hyatt loyalists and travelers in search of the kind of vacation where you don't have to think about your wallet even once. On top of that, all of the properties are adults-only .

Consisting of 24 resorts across seven destinations (Mexico, St. Martin, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Spain and Bulgaria), Secrets promises to deliver an elevated, worry-free vacation in a picturesque seaside setting, and per its "Unlimited-Luxury" guarantee, everything (including food, alcoholic beverages, room service, most activities, entertainment and even in the in-room minibar) is included in the nightly rate. At Secrets' relatively newer, ultraluxe imprint, Impression, guests can expect the "Endless Privileges" promise, which includes amenities that go above and beyond, like bottles of top-shelf liquor upon arrival, personal butler service, three-times-daily maid service, 48-hour laundry service, a daily bottle of sparkling wine and more.

Fortunately, TPG can actually speak to these promises, as several members of our staff have had the chance to visit and review quite a few Secrets Resorts & Spas (a handful of which you'll see on this list) and can attest to the impressive level of service and comfortable accommodations.

Related: The best Hyatt all-inclusive resorts in the world

Need help choosing the Secrets getaway of your dreams? We've got you covered. Read on for our take on the best Secrets resorts around the world.

If 500 acres of beachfront along the Yucatan Peninsula sounds like heaven to you, then Secrets Maroma Beach Riviera Cancun is your best bet. Just a hop, skip and a jump away from Cancun International Airport (CUN), the resort boasts 412 suites, starting at 624 feet, each with king or double beds and varying views of either the sparkling ocean or the property's lush and manicured vegetation.

Guests can expect mixed wood furnishings contrasted with a muted palette and pops of color throughout the space. Depending on the suite, wooden shutters may open onto a private patio or even a pool or outdoor soaking tub. Luxe amenities include marble bathrooms, 42-inch satellite TVs, Nespresso machines and even a pillow menu. For an even more sumptuous experience, look to the club-level suites, some of which span over 1,000 square feet and have swim-up access. Club-level suites will also get you access to a private beach club, exclusive liquors and a personal concierge.

When it comes to dining, as with most all-inclusive resorts, there are plenty of options to choose from, including a buffet, a grill, a casual cafe and three cuisine-specific restaurants (Bordeaux for French fare, El Patio for Mexican and Oceana for fresh seafood).

Wellness lovers will be happy to know that, true to form, this Secrets outpost has a Spa by Pevonia, perfect for a post-sun-and-sand relaxing treatment (for an extra fee). For those looking forward to outdoor activities, plenty are included in the nightly rate. Other than swimming in the two beautiful pools, you can participate in excursions like kayaking, fitness classes like yoga or unique experiences like a taco-making class.

All-inclusive rates at Secrets Maroma Beach Riviera Cancun start at $620 or 25,000 World of Hyatt points per night for two guests.

With its striking design and beachfront perch, Secrets The Vine Cancun is just the spot for those looking for a luxurious, adults-only experience in the heart of Cancun's vibrant Hotel Zone.

Ideal for enjoying both sunrises and sunsets, the 497 accommodations — both rooms and suites are available — at Secrets The Vine Cancun start at 475 square feet. Sleek touches like Italian porcelain floors, teak room furnishings and white glass in the bathrooms make these spaces feel particularly elevated. We think that suites with ocean views and private balconies are worth the splurge, given the waterfront location.

Of the nine restaurants on the property, five are a la carte, and there is also a buffet, a grill and a more low-key cafe. Dragons offers Far East cuisine in an elegant setting; Nebbiolo, an Italian restaurant, has both indoor and outdoor seating options; and Sea Salt Grill is the place to go for fresh seafood with a Peruvian twist.

Three infinity pools (one of which is for Preferred Club access only) ensure that there is ample space for guests to soak up the sun and splash about in the crystal-clear water for hours on end. However, those who want to try something a bit different could opt for dance lessons, scuba diving or a craft cocktail class. And, of course, the signature Spa by Pevonia is always a safe bet for ultimate relaxation — after all, isn't that what a vacation in the sun is all about?

Rates at Secrets The Vine Cancun start at $540 or 21,000 World of Hyatt points per night for two guests.

Related: 14 best all-inclusive resorts in Cancun

With the enticing vibrance of Playa del Carmen just a quick drive away, Impression Moxche by Secrets is an idyllic place to call home for those who want all the conveniences — and the privacy — of an exclusive all-inclusive property while still being close to the action. Plus, TPG even dubbed this resort one of the very best all-inclusive options on the map. With access to the entire Secrets Moxche Playa del Carmen property (adjacent to this one), this resort-within-a-resort takes luxury to the next level.

One of the biggest selling points of this Impression outpost is that every guest gets to stay in one of 198 enormous suites (starting at nearly 1,000 square feet), their very own butler, and access to exclusive restaurants, bars and luxury amenities (in addition to everything that the adjoining Secrets Moxche Playa del Carmen — a wonderful property, as well — has to offer). Suites feature rustic earth tones and cozy beds, spacious outdoor areas that may include private plunge pools or hot tubs, chic bathrooms with soaking tubs and rainfall showers, and sweeping ocean vistas.

Elevated and elegant restaurants are the norm at Impression Moxche, and guests can choose from a whopping 14 places to eat. Favorites include Allora, an upscale Italian eatery, and Teodoro, a chef's table-style restaurant with a seven-course menu. Of course, more casual spots are available, too, like the Barefoot Grill, fitting for a toes-in-the-sand lunch, or Dark Horse, where you can sip a craft cocktail while you catch a football game from the comfort of a leather couch.

When it comes to activities, there is plenty to keep guests occupied on-site, from relaxing at the rooftop infinity pool to snorkeling or venturing around the corner to explore the cenote-style pools at Secrets Moxche. Classes are also available (fitness, cooking and more), and of course, a rejuvenating treatment — or two — at the spa is the best way to unwind between dips in the ocean.

Rates at Impression Moxche by Secrets start at $850 or 42,000 World of Hyatt points per night for two guests.

The hustle and bustle of Cancun feels a world away at the ultraluxe Impression Isla Mujeres by Secrets, located about 30 minutes by boat from the coast. The top-tier service begins the second guests step foot on the property, starting with a warm greeting from their personal butler.

There are 125 suite-style accommodations spread across the resort's manicured grounds — you may pick up on Grecian vibes, as seen in the towering white stone archways throughout. Calming, neutral tones, chic furnishings and ample natural light in the suites pair beautifully with spacious bathrooms and furnished terraces or balconies.

Gourmands can look forward to eight on-site restaurants offering varying cuisines and vibes. Book a teppanyaki table at Sake for an up-close experience with the chef, or enjoy global cuisine alfresco at ocean-facing La Vista. Casual options include Parisian cafe Cacao and Mercado, the perfect place to enjoy tacos by the pool. There's even an aptly named swim-up pool bar, Sharks, which serves up craft cocktails under the sun.

The crown jewel of the property may be the impressive multitiered infinity pool, which overlooks the vast ocean and reef below. Here, guests can lounge and sip cocktails on a chaise lounge or head down to the beach for a snorkel around one of the world's largest coral reefs. There are plenty of opportunities for wellness endeavors, too, at the fitness center and the relaxation spa. Those searching for an adventure should ask their butler about class offerings, such as cocktail courses and dance classes.

Rates at Impression Isla Mujeres by Secrets start at $1,218 or 42,000 World of Hyatt points per night for two guests.

Known for its soft, white-sand beach, Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya places guests right in front of tranquil Caribbean waters. The area is known for its thriving green sea turtle population, so those with an eye toward marine life should certainly make time for a snorkeling excursion.

Winding pathways and undulating pools connect the resort's facilities with the 434 suites. Starting at 544 square feet, accommodations feature rich wooden accents, pops of bright pink, tropical patterns and thatched headboards, all reflective of the surrounding environment. Depending on the type of suite, you may have an ocean-facing view, a terrace or a private balcony. Chic bathrooms with marble touches feature hot tubs for two, separate showers and double vanities.

The nine on-site restaurants span the globe in terms of cuisine, from Bordeaux, a moody and upscale French restaurant, to Portofino, which transports you to Tuscany for authentic Italian fare. Casual bar options include Rendezvous, a lobby bar that offers panoramic ocean views, and Showtime, where guests can enjoy cocktails or a glass of wine while catching a movie.

As mentioned above, this is a particularly special destination when it comes to the local marine life, so carve out time for a snorkeling trip or a guided tour, which the concierge will happily arrange. Otherwise, there is plenty to keep guests busy around the property, from relaxing by the three pools to rounds of oceanfront golf or leisurely afternoons spent at the 18,000-foot signature Spa by Pevonia. Daily and nightly entertainment, like live music, theme nights and beach parties, will make the trip all the more memorable.

Rates at Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya start at $1,140 or 42,000 World of Hyatt points per night for two guests.

At Secrets Papagayo Costa Rica, guests can enjoy both a waterfront setting and the lush rainforest, thanks to the resort's hillside location above the stunning Arenilla Beach. With 202 suites starting at 398 square feet, this is a resort made for slipping into a state of total tranquility in one of the most beautiful pockets of Costa Rica.

Light and airy accommodations feature an earth-tone color palette, textured wooden accents and views of either the surrounding tropical vegetation or the glimmering bay below. Depending on the suite type, you may get to enjoy a private balcony or terrace. Bathrooms are sleek, with warm lighting, showers and double vanities.

The property has four restaurants that serve a la carte menus, like the pan-Asian Himitsu and Italian Portofino, as well as a poolside grill, a buffet, a casual cafe and multiple indoor and outdoor bars. (Yes, there is a swim-up bar here, too!)

There are two beautiful pools and the signature Spa by Pevonia to enjoy here, but exciting activities span far beyond the resort's thatched-roof facilities. Adventuresome guests should consider local guided hikes, a motor ATV excursion through the nearby mountains or even a canopy tour. As with all other Secrets resorts, daily and nightly entertainment is a given, including theme nights, musical tribute shows and special cocktail parties.

All-inclusive rates at Secrets Papagayo Costa Rica start at $499 or 25,000 points per night for two guests.

Because Secrets Cap Cana Resort & Spa is nestled into a gated resort community, it feels particularly private. It's also known as one of the more romance-centric Secrets outposts, as one of our staff members experienced , so this property may be an ideal choice for couples looking for the ultimate Caribbean escape for two. Perched in front of Juanillo Beach, famous for its sugarlike sand, there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy this little slice of paradise in an adults-only style.

The 457 suites, which start at a generous 592 square feet, feel warm and inviting thanks to rich wooden furnishings and pillows in various shades of blue and pink. Furnished balconies, soaking tubs and rainfall showers make the spaces feel all the more decadent and romantic. Those who want to indulge a bit more should consider one of the club-level rooms, which boast extra space, sweeping ocean views and the opportunity for a private plunge pool.

Around the property, guests will find seven a la carte-style restaurants, a buffet, a grill and a laid-back cafe. However, couples should take note that a private dinner on the beach can easily be arranged. Six bars and lounges offer plenty of opportunity for relaxing and imbibing day and night, and there's even an exclusive lounge for those who splurge for Preferred Club, which comes with exclusive privileges, like access to a private pool and beach area.

Those hoping to relax poolside or dip their toes in the ocean won't be disappointed by the lush stretch of sand at Juanillo Beach and the large infinity pool. If you'd like to explore farther afield, consider booking a bike tour or deep-sea fishing adventure. Of course, there's nothing wrong with passing afternoons at the signature Spa by Pevonia — or trying out something different, such as a painting class or an aqua pole dancing lesson.

Rates for Secrets Cap Cana Resort & Spa start at $854 or 25,000 World of Hyatt points per night for two guests.

Included in our curated list of Europe's best all-inclusive resorts , Secrets Lanzarote Resort & Spa is located on the sun-soaked shores of the Canary Islands.

The 335 accommodations include both room and suite options. Desert-inspired, muted colors set a tranquil tone in these spaces, each of which features a private furnished balcony or terrace, as well as convenient amenities like coffee machines and rainfall showers.

Six restaurants, a buffet, a grill and a cafe give guests plenty of dining options, including cuisines ranging from Italian to sushi. Multiple indoor and outdoor bars provide ample space for trying out unique local cocktails, socializing and enjoying live music and performances day and night.

Four outdoor pools offer an ideal place to perch under the sun for hours, sipping cocktails and enjoying sweeping Atlantic Ocean views. One thing that makes Lanzarote particularly special is its proximity to stunning natural attractions like the volcanic Timanfaya National Park and nearby Papagayo Beach, known for its crystal-clear waters, so guests who like to explore the local area will have plenty of opportunities to do so here.

Wellness seekers can enjoy treatments at the Secrets Spa, which offers everything from hydrotherapy to massage and facial or body treatments.

Rates for Secrets Lanzarote Resort & Spa start at $296 or 17,000 World of Hyatt points per night for two guests.

Situated very close to the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef — one of the world's largest — Secrets Playa Blanca Costa Mujeres is one of TPG's top picks for all-inclusive resorts in Cancun . Though it's only 12 miles north of the bustling hub, this special resort feels much farther away from the energy of Cancun's popular (and oft-frenzied) Hotel Zone. The pristine white-sand beach is certainly one of the biggest draws, though the opportunity to explore local gems, like nearby Isla Contoy National Park, is a close second.

Guests can relax in one of 507 suites, starting at 581 square feet, featuring modern hardwood furnishings and a mix of cream and brown earth tones. Some suites have private furnished balconies, while others have swim-out pools or private terraces. All of them, lucky for guests, have hot tubs and spacious bathrooms with soaking tubs and double vanities.

In terms of dining, true to form, this Secrets resort features plenty of options to experience a variety of international cuisines and lots of space for drinking both indoors and outdoors. Nine restaurants include six a la carte options, a buffet, a grill and a cafe. Of particular interest may be the lush Jungle Pool Bar, which offers poolside tropical drinks, or Desires, which hosts a DJ, dance floor and outdoor fire pit.

With two large infinity pools and one jungle-inspired pool, there is plenty of space to spread out, sunbathe and swim. Guests can also enjoy nonmotorized water sports like kayaking and catamaran rides or snorkeling around the nearby reef. The signature Spa by Penovia, with its sauna rooms and hydro massage pool, is the cherry on top of this relaxing oasis.

Rates at Secrets Playa Blanca Costa Mujeres start at $560 or 25,000 World of Hyatt points per night for two guests.

Related reading:

• The best all-inclusive resorts in Mexico
• 9 amazing places to use points for a trip to the Caribbean
• The best Category 1 Hyatt properties
• These are the best Hyatt Category 4 hotels, according to Globalists

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‘love lies bleeding’ expands into top ten with ‘one life’, ‘the american society of magical negroes’ – specialty box office.

• ‘One Life’ Review: Anthony Hopkins In The Moving And Inspiring Story Of One Man Who Saved 669 Children In 1938 And Kept It Secret For 50 Years

By Pete Hammond

Pete Hammond

Awards Columnist/Chief Film Critic

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• ‘Arthur The King’ Review: Mark Wahlberg And A Scrappy New Dog Star Make This Remarkable True Story Come To Cinematic Life

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Now a new film, One Life , which premiered in September at the Toronto Film Festival, and is now being released this week in North America, dramatizes it by spanning two distinct time periods – 1938 when it all took place and 1988 when the world finally learned about it. That is where this film starts as we meet Winton ( Anthony Hopkins ), then 79 years old before going into flashbacks to tell the story of the young man when he was 29 ( Johnny Flynn plays the younger version) and on vacation where he discovered the plight of Czechoslovakian refugees living in dire circumstances as Hitler was on the precipice of invading the country and war could soon break out.

In 1988, without Winton’s knowledge, he was lured into a BBC TV studio where the audience would be full of the now much older people who were on those trains but never knew the man who saved them because he never talked about it. If tears don’t come rolling down your face during this amazing reunion you are not human. It would lead to the kind of instant fame he never asked for and knighthood by Queen Elizabeth.

With a screenplay based on Winton’s daughter Barbara’s book, If It’s Not Impossible…The Life Of Sir Nicholas Winton , the story has been adapted by screenwriters Lucinda Coxon and Nick Drake, and directed by first time feature filmmaker James Hawes, known for his extensive work in television, who tells Winton’s tale with admirable restraint and limited sentimentality, a task made much easier by the casting of Hopkins who simply inhabits this modest man who made a difference in this world by way of his own humanity. Flynn is completely credible in taking on the younger Winton, and is supported, as was Winton himself, with some remarkable people who joined him in this seemingly impossible quest. They include Alex Sharp as Trevor Chadwick who had unique skills, including some necessary forging of travel documents and other ways around the Nazi command, and Romola Garai as the indispensible and well organized Doreen Warriner who knew how to get the impossible done, along with Winton’s indefatiguable mother played with spark by Bonham Carter. Lena Olin as Winton’s wife Grete is also very fine here.

Winton, like Oskar Schindler, was one of the rare ordinary heroes in a time of unimaginable horror who stepped up to prove every life is precious and worth herculean efforts to save. This film, like Spielberg’s Schindler’s List 30 years ago is testament to that fact, and a reminder that heartbreaking stories like this are still happening to families around the world.

Volker Bertelmann’s tender score adds just the right touch to this excellent film that should not be missed. Producers are Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Joanna Laurie, and Guy Heeley.

Title: One Life Distributor: Bleecker Street Release Date: March 15, 2024 Director: James Hawes Screenplay: Lucinda Coxon, Nick Drake Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Flynn, Helena Bonham Carter, Alex Sharp, Romola Garai, Lena Olin Rating: PG Running Time: 1 hour and 49 minutes

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‘Arthur the King’ Review: Mark Wahlberg and a Very Good Dog Make For a Winning Combination in This Feelgood Drama

An athlete discovers the power of the dog when he befriends a battered canine during a last-chance race for survival in this heart-swelling true story.

By Courtney Howard

Courtney Howard

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Michael Light ( Mark Wahlberg ) is his own worst enemy. He’s a man haunted by past failings — specifically his loss three years prior at the Adventure Racing World Championship in Costa Rica that left his team and their warring egos stranded in thick mud. His former teammate Helen (Juliet Rylance), now his wife, has given up that life to be a full-time mom to their cute-as-a-button young daughter Ruby (Cece Valentina). But Michael is like a dog with a bone, not wanting to let go of his dream of being a world champion. And since his obsession hasn’t waned, she encourages him to give it another go.

Michael experiences an uphill battle garnering sponsorship and assembling his team of avengers. His stalwart navigator Chik (Ali Suliman) has a bad knee. His new recruit, rock climbing expert Olivia (Nathalie Emmanuel), is accepting the position primarily to make her father happy. And Michael must put aside his grudge match against narcissist teammate Leo ( Simu Liu ), whose social media following is the key to getting corporate endorsement. As the team finally shapes up in time for the competition — a five-to-ten-day, 435-mile course across treacherous terrain — in Santo Domingo, a mangy, street-savvy dog (played by canine actor Ukai) treks hundreds of miles through the jungle only to meet up with Michael at a scheduled pit stop. With their destinies now intertwined, and the name Arthur bestowed on our intrepid four-legged hero, the pair must trust in each other’s tenacity and intuition to survive.

Cellan Jones and company give dramatic weight to the big action set pieces. And with good reason, as they are the propulsive element in a story focused not only on athleticism and competition, but also surmounting one’s own personal expectations. They capture humans’ fearless persistence and nature’s dangerous beauty in equal measure, whether the competitors are dangling from a zip-line (Gary Roach’s editing makes this visceral sequence’s stress level on par with the opening of “Cliffhanger”), scaling great heights or hiking rain-drenched jungles. Hand-held shots emphasize the intimacy and immediacy of scenes when team members’ tempers are fiery and frayed.

Some obstacles the film fails to surmount, with its female characterization lackluster at best. Emmanuel and Rylance make the most of their limited material, but they’re not miracle workers. While their male counterparts all experience different degrees of redemption, the women are there exclusively to serve those arcs. Olivia continually frets about her father’s terminal illness, which is later mansplained to the audience by Michael during his tender talk with her. Helen is essentially relegated to the thankless, tertiary role of Wife Who Waits At Home. Her greatest value is sporting athleisure wear and staring at a computer monitor so we can get a sense of the media’s involvement in sensationalizing Michael and Arthur’s unlikely friendship.

If indelible Movie Moments are in short supply, inevitably making Wahlberg and Ukai’s chemistry the true highlight, the film’s sentiments on selflessness nonetheless stand out. They’re a ringing testament to the powerful bond between man and dog, and a kind-hearted reminder that canine companionship can be a lifeline in troubled times.

Reviewed at Rodeo Screening Room, Los Angeles, March 12, 2023. Running time: 106 MIN. MPAA rating: PG-13.

• Production: A Lionsgate release in association with eOne of a Tucker Tooley Entertainment, Mark Canton, Municipal Pictures production. Producer: Tucker Tooley, Mark Canton, Courtney Solomon, Tessa Tooley, Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson. Executive producers: Dorothy Canton, Greg Renker, Michael Brandt, Zev Foreman, Jen Gorton, Patty Long, Mikael Lindnord.
• Crew: Director: Simon Cellan Jones. Screenplay: Michael Brandt, based on the book “Arthur: The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home” by Mikael Lindnord. Camera: Jacques Jouffret. Editor: Gary D. Roach. Music: Kevin Matley.
• With: Mark Wahlberg, Simu Liu, Nathalie Emmanuel, Ali Suliman, Ukai, Juliet Rylance, Cece Valentina.

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Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Gainey Ranch

Resort renovation.

Discover Tranquility at Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort and Spa

Set amidst flowering cactus and framed against the majestic McDowell Mountains, our Arizona destination resort at Gainey Ranch is miles from the ordinary and surrounded by adventures. Splash into our hotel’s 2.5-acre water oasis complete with a sand beach, beach pool and 3-story, high-speed waterslide. Learn key golf techniques from a professional, enjoy your favorite music with nightly entertainment or relax in Spa Avania’s Himalayan Salt Room. From romantic dinners and special celebrations to activities for families, experience the luxury amenities that define Scottsdale Resort and Spa at Gainey Ranch.

Look Around

Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Gainey Ranch is undergoing a multi-phase renovation project to enhance the guest experience and resort amenities.

• One of the pools as well as the new poolside restaurant and bar, H2Oasis, is open and available for guest enjoyment.
• Newly built luxurious cabanas, the family pool, waterslide and the newest poolside restaurant will open early April.

If you have any questions, please call Customer Care at 888-848-9496 (Americas) or 402-952-1131 (International).

Casitas, Rooms & Suites

Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Gainey Ranch features 493 rooms, plus hotel suites with balconies and terraces offering breathtaking mountain or golf course views. All our stylish accommodations include plush beds, free Wi-Fi, large-screen HDTVs. and refrigerators. Upgrade to our Scottsdale Casita Suite and indulge in the expansive living space with a fireplace and views from the rooftop deck.

Enhance Your Experience

Cantina Due

Discover our resort’s best kept secret, Cantina Due. Experience a variety of beer, wine, and cocktails, included quintessential handcrafted cocktails made from freshly squeezed juices, artisan syrups and only organic ingredients. Enjoy indoor seating or the open-air terrace just steps from the lower lobby.

Center Stage Bar

Enjoy classic cocktails and more at our bar in Paradise Valley. Cascading fountains and glowing fireplaces invite you to experience the indoor/ outdoor allure of Center Stage Bar. Each month, we highlight the best music you likely haven't heard with a monthly schedule of local Scottsdale performers. Enjoy nightly live musical expressions in an array of styles, from soulful vocals and urban acoustic to edgy folk.

Canyon Market

Canyon Market is a lifestyle market and store that embraces the Sonoran outdoors. Stop by for directions to the best hiking locations around the Valley. Purchase performance food and gear essential to an active lifestyle or simply visit to enjoy a cup of Starbucks coffee and a freshly-baked muffin. There is even complimentary Wi-fi. Conveniently located in Entry Court.

A menu that takes a tropical twist to American classics for both kids and adults by the pool. Indulge in steak burgers, chicken tendies, seasoned fries, gourmet sandwiches and soft-serve ice cream.

Whether basking in the sun or dining at the bar, enjoy poolside service with our exclusive pool deck menu at H2Oasis. Indulge in island-inspired tacos, specialty drinks and bottle service for the cabanas.

SWB, a southwest bistro

Set against the majestic McDowell Mountains, SWB crafts creative Southwest cuisine in wood-fired ovens. Enjoy the delicious aromas and inviting atmosphere created by the open kitchen as our celebrated chefs prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Room Service

Enjoy your favorites in the comfort of your hotel room or suite. Room service at our Scottsdale resort features an extensive menu, for breakfast and dinner that is ideal for impromptu meetings or quiet, private dining.

Meetings & Weddings

Meetings & events.

Our flexible, functional Scottsdale meeting spaces are ideal for a variety of events both large and small.

Explore Meeting Spaces in a Virtual Tour

Weddings & Celebrations

Plan the day of your dreams and create memories that will last a lifetime. Let our wedding specialists assist in crafting a beautiful and unforgettable Scottsdale wedding in one of our outdoor venues.

On-Site Restaurant

Experience our revamped restaurants and bars throughout the resort, offering a wide range of enticing options to satisfy your palate.

Fitness Center

Maintain your regular wellbeing routine with the optimal fitness experience at Spa Avania. Choose from a variety of exercise equipmentor head outdoors to the courts for a game of tennis or pickleball.

Relax by the pool at either the adult or family pool, or treat yourself to delicious snacks and unique drinks at one of our newly designedpoolside dining and bar areas.

Relax your mind, body, and soul as you immerse yourself in a world of tranquility at Spa Avania.

Play a round at Gainey Ranch Golf Club, one of the top-rated golf courses in the Southwest, exclusively available to guests of our Scottsdaleresort.

In-Room Chromecast

Free Internet Access

Meeting Facilities

Pet Friendly

Resort Property

We Are Pet Friendly

With an increasing number of pet owners wanting to travel with their pets, the resort has created "4Paws," a program that serves as an alternative to boarding and pet sitters. Pets must weigh 50 pounds or less. Any pets over 50 pounds may be allowed at the resort's discretion.

$150  /  1   STAY

7–30 nights (additional deep-cleaning fee, nonrefundable)

Individual pet weight limit :   50   Pounds

Maximum number of pets is 1.

A daily resort fee of $45 plus tax (subject to change) is applied to each room of your stay in order to provide services and amenities which enhance the guest experience. 

Accessibility at Our Hotel

We are committed to providing equal access and opportunity for individuals with disabilities. The features also make this hotel more accessible for older individuals with changing abilities to ensure a seamless experience. Our overall goal is to improve usability throughout the hotel for all guests.

Special Offers

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Save up to 10% with Member Rate : Book a standard or premium room at participating hotels.

Not a World of Hyatt member?   Join now or as you book your stay to enjoy exclusive member benefits like this one.

Terms and Conditions Apply.

We value your loyalty while transforming our iconic resort. Take advantage of incredible 2024 rates, plus special offers throughout the resort, and receive an exclusive code to save up to 20% on 2025 stay to experience our completed transformation.

Book our Loyalty Rewarded promotion and receive: 

• Book by March 31st, 2024 
• Best available rates for stays through Dec. 31, 2024 
• Exclusive code to come back and enjoy up to 20% off a 2025 getaway

Discount in 2025 is valid towards one stay, based on availability, to registered guest of this booked package. Details provided upon departure. Redeem by December 30, 2025.

Earn 3,000 Bonus Points every three qualifying nights, up to 21 nights completed after registration and between March 1 and April 30, 2024. Register by April 15, 2024.

Getting Here

Things to do.

From multiple area golf courses to nearby shopping and dining options, you’ll never be bored while exploring Phoenix and Scottsdale. Discover the many sport and fitness opportunities, an expansive spa and other local activities available at our resort. 

90.49 Miles away

Pool & Cabanas

Gainey ranch running, jogging, biking trails, grayhawk golf club.

7.81 Miles away

Hotel Info & Requests

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