Fiona Davis's stunning debut novel pulls readers into the lush world of New York City's glamorous Barbizon Hotel for Women, where in the 1950's a generation of aspiring models, secretaries, and editors lived side-by-side while attempting to claw their way to fairy-tale success, and where a present-day journalist becomes consumed with uncovering a dark secret buried deep within the Barbizon's glitzy past.
Fiona Davis was born in Canada and raised in New Jersey, Utah, and
Texas. She began her career in New York City as an actress, where
she worked on Broadway, off-Broadway and in regional theater. After
10 years, she changed careers, working as an editor and writer and
specializing in health, fitness, nutrition, dance and theater.
She's a graduate of the College of William and Mary and the
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and is based in
in New York City. She loves nothing better than hitting farmer's
markets on weekends in search of the perfect tomato, and traveling
to foreign cities steeped in history, like London and Cartagena.
The Dollhouse is her first novel.
"Rich both in twists and period detail, this tale of big-city
ambition is impossible to put down."--People
"The Dollhouse is a thrilling peek through a window into another
world--one that readers will savor for a long time."--Associated
Press
"An ode to old New York that will have you yelling for more seasons
of Mad Men."--New York Post
"Davis paints a scene of Darby's 1950s glamour for her audience
that's a smart juxtaposition to Rose's modern-age New York, jumping
between time periods clearly with often elegant prose. . . .
Davis's descriptive words are transporting. . . . [A] poignant
beach read."--New York Daily News
"In her page-turning debut, Fiona Davis deftly weaves the
storylines of two women living at the famed Barbizon hotel for
women. . . . Davis alternates the chapters between each woman until
the twists and turns of their respective storylines ultimately
weave together, upping the anticipation along the
way."--RealSimple
"This suspenseful novel about a woman who took a decidedly
different path--and the journalist who wants to uncover her
secrets--will quicken your pulse."--InStyle
"Davis layers on relationships and intrigue, while building tension
through her story structure. . . . The pace quickens as the story
hurtles to its surprising--but satisfying--end. Who said history
had to be dull, anyway?"--BookPage
"Davis's impeccably structured debut is equal parts mystery,
tribute to midcentury New York City, and classic love story. . . .
Darby and Rose, in alternating chapters, weave intricate threads
into twists and turns that ultimately bring them together; the
result is good old-fashioned suspense."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Fiona Davis's debut novel deftly blends the contemporary and
midcentury storylines to form a wholly absorbing and entertaining
read. . . . Period fiction mingled with twists and turns that keep
the reader engrossed until the very last
page."--Bookreporter.com
"Davis's debut novel . . . [is] a lively one, tripping along at a
sprightly clip."--Kirkus Reviews
"Get ready for glitz, glamour, and a whole lot of sleuthing."--Brit
+ Co
"Clever and full of twists. . . . A story well told."--New York
Journal of Books
"Sensory and vivid. . . . A zippy plot and [a] refreshing focus on
the lives of women many would overlook."--The Dallas Morning
News
"Highly readable, The Dollhouse conjures up 1950s New York
convincingly. In particular the now-vanished world of the Barbizon
Hotel for Women, with its antiquated rules and intriguing array of
female personalities and tragic fates, lives on in the pages of the
novel in delectable detail. . . . This is no mere 'chick-lit, ' but
feminist-inspired entertainment."--Historical Novel Society
"Fans of Suzanne Rindell's Three-Martini Lunch will enjoy this
debut's strong sense of time and place as the author brings a
legendary New York building to life and populates it with realistic
characters who find themselves in unusual situations."--Library
Journal
"Davis delivers a fast-paced, richly-imagined debut that's almost
impossible to put down."--Kathleen Tessaro, author of The Perfume
Collector
"The ghosts of the famed NYC women's hotel come to life in The
Dollhouse. Davis expertly weaves together the stories of several
women who lived in the Barbizon during its heyday in the 1950s, and
the broken-hearted journalist who decides to get the 'scoop' on a
decades-old tragedy that happened in the building. A fun,
page-turning mystery."
--Suzanne Rindell, author of The Other Typist and Three-Martini
Lunch
"Multigenerational and steeped in history, The Dollhouse is a story
about women--from the clicking anxiety of Katie Gibbs's secretaries
to the willowy cool of Eileen Ford's models, to honey-voiced
hatcheck girls and glamorous eccentrics with lapdogs named Bird.
Davis celebrates the women of New York's present and past--the ones
who live boldly, independently, carving out lives on their own
terms."--Elizabeth Winder, author of Pain, Parties, Work: Sylvia
Plath in New York, Summer 1953
"Two coming-of-age stories rolled into an ode to New York City and
the young women--of past and present--who have tried to forge lives
and careers there. Poetic, romantic, crushing, and soulful."
--Jules Moulin, author of Ally Hughes Has Sex Sometimes
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