I love reading debut novels. It’s so exciting to discover a new voice telling a new story in a unique way. Last Call at the Savoy is a great debut by Brisa Carlton. Taking place at the elegant Savoy Hotel in present-day London, it is a story about sisters, family bonds, connection and romance while also being a story of responsibility, grief and how experiencing hard things can help you become the person you were meant to be.
Brisa Carlton is an award-winning Broadway producer who earned three Tony Awards and has worked on productions such as Hamilton, Beautiful and Moulin Rouge. She also joined Prince Albert of Monaco’s foundation to support efforts in theater, dance and film on behalf of his mother, Princess Grace Kelly. While working for the foundation, Carlton, who always loved to read, took a course on novel writing and dedicated an hour each day to writing. It quickly became her favorite time of the day and eventually led to the publication of Last Call at the Savoy.
Last Call at the Savoy begins with seventeen-year-old Cinnamon Scott, who is experiencing her first Christmas abroad in London with her family. They are able to do this because her parents came into a sizable fortune after selling their bakery business. Cinnamon has a sister Rosemary, who is six years her senior. Cinnamon is a talented writer with a short story already published and college ahead of her. She has her whole life planned and knows that—even though it will take time—she will be a bestselling author, no question; meanwhile her sister Rosemary is a brilliant student just starting law school. Even though the beginning of this novel is a short prologue, we can clearly see the love that Cinnamon, Rosemary and her parents have for each other. We can feel the coziness of being at a holiday tea at one of the most famous hotels in the world. We can imagine the two sisters’ bright futures all put together by Carlton’s detailed and descriptive writing.
Fast forward to Cinnamon in her junior year in college—she has a reputation as one of the best writers at the school. Writing is her life—she lives and breathes it. But out of nowhere two things happen to Cinnamon in her junior year. She is betrayed by someone close to her, and her parents die in a tragic accident. The tragedies affect her deeply and she is filled with guilt and remorse about her parents’ death. These events lead Cinnamon to put away her writing notebook—put away any thought of writing at all—and turn her talent and ambition into poison that she does not want to ever touch again.
Among the themes that come through in this story are regret and grief, along with loss of purpose and loss of dreams. The writing really shines, and the story comes alive when it focuses on the two sisters. The love/hate relationship. The success of one and the failure of the other. The one who can’t let go of grief and feeling responsible, and the one who picks up all the pieces and does what needs to be done. The relationship between Cinnamon and Rosemary is most challenged when Cinnamon must travel to London to care for Rosemary, who is eight months pregnant with twins and on bed rest. Rosemary happens to be staying at the Savoy Hotel, and this brings up many emotions for Cinnamon. The sisters’ relationship is sometimes sweet, sometimes frustrating, sometimes filled with anger, but the best moments are when Cinnamon and Rosemary support each other and surround each other with love.
Cinnamon and Rosemary are not the only interesting characters. The story of Ada Coleman gets nicely woven into Cinnamon’s story and compliments it (they both experience betrayal). Ada Coleman is based on the real-life story of the woman who became the first female bartender at the Savoy. She worked at the Savoy from 1903-1926 and created the cocktail recipes that appear in its famous handbook. Ada’s story is told in vignettes where a different font is used and helps to take us to the Savoy of the early 1900s, where we see the sights and hear the sounds and ultimately experience what it was like to be a woman working there at that time, the pride and joy and difficulty and disappointment.
The Savoy Hotel is a great backdrop for this story, and I especially appreciated having insights into the history of the hotel told to us through Ada and Cinnamon. Scenes and descriptions of the American Bar where you can hear the glasses clink, the music of the piano, the hum of conversations, and you can picture the art deco details, gives an energy to the pages.
You can say Last Call at the Savoy is about loss, grief and losing oneself, but by looking deeper into the story, we see that it is more about family, connection, healing and making peace with the past. The characters of Cinnamon, Ada and Rosemary fill up the pages with moments of inspiration, warmth, humor and connection.
FICTION
Last Call at the Savoy
By Brisa Carlton
Grand Central Publishing
November 4, 2025
Great review!