Helpful Score: 3
The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis is a quick and easy read. The book has history with added touches of romance, mystery, and even a bit of foodie interest. I really enjoy learning about the history of the Barbizon. The story, however, feels predictable with an ending that is too neatly tied up. The book is an entertaining summer but not one that will stay with me.
Read my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2016/08/the-dollhouse.html.
Reviewed for the Penguin First to Read program.
Read my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2016/08/the-dollhouse.html.
Reviewed for the Penguin First to Read program.
This is the perfect summer read. I liked there were 2 stories in 2 different era being told simultaneously. Nothing deep here, just a great book to lose yourself in while laying on the beach. Very enjoyable.
Journalist Rose Lewin's life is coming unravelled -- her promising television career has ended in scandal, her father's health is deteriorating, and her boyfriend just dumped her to go back to his ex-wife, who wants immediate possession of the Barbizon condo.
While she's juggling all this, she becomes obsessed with the stories of a small group of elderly women, clinging to rent-controlled apartments in what was once the Barbizon Hotel for Women -- a New York institution that was home to models, writers, and aspiring career girls in the 1950s. As Rose tries to puzzle out the hidden stories, the twists get darker and her own hold on rational behavior seems to get more slippery with every turn.
Nicely done, with believable characterizations and some pointed comparisons of the choices women made in the 1950s compared to the ones still being made today.
While she's juggling all this, she becomes obsessed with the stories of a small group of elderly women, clinging to rent-controlled apartments in what was once the Barbizon Hotel for Women -- a New York institution that was home to models, writers, and aspiring career girls in the 1950s. As Rose tries to puzzle out the hidden stories, the twists get darker and her own hold on rational behavior seems to get more slippery with every turn.
Nicely done, with believable characterizations and some pointed comparisons of the choices women made in the 1950s compared to the ones still being made today.
This is a fabulous book! I loved it! I couldn't believe this was the author's first book. I can't wait for more from her!
Very good read. Hard to believe it is the author's first novel. Well written. The story of Esme, Darby and Sam told in 1952 - residents of the Barbizon Hotel for Women. Young women in NY in the 1950s who stayed in this hotel for women while modeling for Ford or going to the Gibbs Secretarial school. Jazz clubs, romance, and tragedy. And in alternating chapters the story of Rose in 2016, former news anchor now working at an online startup. She is living in the Barbizon with a boyfriend - who leaves her to go back to his ex-wife. She stumbles upon some of the former Barbizon girls now living on the 4th floor in rent controlled apartments and begins to research and write a story. She stumbles upon the mystery of an old tragedy from 1952. Along the way there is a new love interest and some new friends. Interesting history of the Barbizon. Satisfying ending.
Oh. I loved this book. Fiona Davis is fantastic at melding two different time periods seamlessly. Can't wait to read her other books. I'm on a waiting list.
