Fifty years later, journalist Rose Lewin investigates Darby and the mystery surrounding the Barbizon Hotel. The Dollhouse: A Novel, set in the 1950s at the Barbizon Hotel, tells the story of Darcy and her friends as they begin their schooling and careers in NY City. Her books in publication date order, along with a brief description of each: I learn a wealth of information about historic buildings that I never knew I was interested in. She is methodical in her research, and I appreciate that as a reader. I find that I’m usually drawn more to the historical storyline, but that’s because I really enjoy reading about the history of these iconic buildings. In reading each book, the reader has a picture of what the building looked like back then versus now, how the characters and the building interacted with each other, along with a storyline mystery tying both together. The building becomes a character, and she features the history of each building with unique facts and weaves the people into the storyline about the building. The “landmark building” aspect of each of her novels is what attracts me most to her books. All six of her books feature iconic landmark buildings in NY City and strong, determined, courageous women at the center of each storyline. In August 2016, she published her first HF book, The Dollhouse: A Novel. She earned her master’s degree from the Columbia Journalism School and became an editor and then a freelance journalist. I have an ARC of her newest book, The Magnolia Palace: A Novel, which I will read closer to the publication date of Januthat is, assuming I can wait that long.ĭavis began her adult career in NY City as an actress on-and-off-Broadway and in regional theater doing plays, but not musicals, she says. I will read anything she writes, and I anxiously await every one of them. With six books written so far, Fiona Davis is one of my favorite authors.

I devoured the book in one afternoon and then moved on to The Address: A Novel, which I found as entertaining as The Dollhouse was. A few years ago, I stumbled across The Dollhouse: A Novel by Fiona Davis.

It’s no secret that I love historical fiction, and my favorite HF books are dual-timeline books set in the US.

The dollhouse book fiona davis