HerKentucky Whiskey Glass Rating: 🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃

I absolutely love Fiona Davis’s work. Her meticulously researched historical fiction centers around some of New York City’s most iconic buildings. The Magnolia Palace, a January Book of the Month selection and New York Times Best Seller, centers around a Gilded Age mansion — the Henry Clay Frick house —later preserved as a museum, the Frick Collection.

Now, let’s go ahead and get the frame story issue out of the way. Many historical fiction novels rely on a frame story to set up the core story. And, all too often, the frame stories are laughably bad. One of the reasons I adore Ms. Davis’s novels is that she creates framework stories that are compelling and relevant, weaving together two compelling and well-written stories. The frame story of The Magnolia Palace finds 1960s model Veronica at a photoshoot gone awry, locked in the Frick Collection with museum intern Joshua during a blizzard. The earlier parallel story unfolds as Lillian Carter, seeking to leave behind her past as infamous artists’ model Angelica, takes a job as private secretary to Helen Frick, the daughter and heiress of industrialist and art patron Henry Clay Frick. Ms. Davis presents a fascinating story of deceit, stolen jewels, and the curation of a legendary art collection through these timelines.

The Magnolia Palace is a must-read for lovers of Gilded Age art and architecture. I received an ARC via NetGalley and read on my Kindle in about a day. I couldn’t put this one down — Ms. Davis’s prose was beautiful and lush to just the right degree. This one gets five of five whiskey glasses from me.

Order The Magnolia Palace on Amazon or Bookshop.org.

Please note that I received an Advanced Review Copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review of this work. This review contains affiliate links; I will receive a small commission for purchases made through the links in this post. This commission does not impact the purchase price of the item.