Rose Lewin has just moved in with her newly divorced boyfriend. A former network reporter, she is at a new job that she considers a career setback. At the moment, she is unsure of the decisions she has made in her life. She is living at the former Barbizon hotel which used to house women pursuing modeling and secretarial careers. While walking through the condo lobby one evening, Rose comes across an unfriendly elderly resident. By way of the doorman, she finds out that this woman and a few othe...

This was very realistic feeling historical fiction! I was immersed in the culture of the period and fascinated by the mystery and goings on of such a controversial time. I have never felt more grateful to be a woman in such a time as this as I am after finishing this book. Full review to come. *Thanks Dutton for my copy!

The Dollhouse is a smooth, easy and compelling read.The book alternates between time periods and points of view. The points of view are clear and concise and held my attention. I really enjoyed both perspectives and time periods. Loved the descriptions of the hotel and the wonderful snapshots of the time period. It even had great smells, and lighting. This is a character driven story more about class distinction and its ultimate outcome. Rose is from a small town in Ohio trying to find her place...

3.5 starsThis is the third book I have read by the author, and not surprisingly, I enjoyed it. Most historical fiction authors tend to focus on either historical events or figures, and what I like about Fiona Davis is she starts with a building or location to feature and then builds a story around that. The setting really adds to the overall story and in many ways is like a character in the novel itself.Back in the 1950s, New York City's Barbizon Hotel for Women was the home of many aspiring mod...

3.5 rounded up to 4.00 stars The name, "Barbizon Hotel", for any woman who loves the aura of vintage New York, becomes an immediate lure, offering glamour, high society successes and the understanding of the privilege of being chosen as one of its lodgers. Ford models, Katie Gibbs secretarial students, Mademoiselle magazine interns and acting class students were safely housed in what was euphemistically named, in the 1940’s, "The Dollhouse", the slang of the day noting the rigorously chaperoned,...

4.5 starsThe Dollhouse provides a fascinating glimpse into life at the Barbizon Hotel for Women in the 1950s. The story opens in 2016 with Rose who lives in the Barbizon, which has been renovated and now contains high end condos. She learns that a few of the women who lived there until the hotel closed were granted rooms on the 4th floor so that they would have a place to live. Rose, who is a journalist, decides to pursue the stories of these women, particularly Darby McLaughlin. The Dollhouse s...

This was a toss up to rate it either a 3 or 4 star novel. I went with the 4 primarily because of the "feel" of 1952. Knowing little of NYC Manhattan hotels or rooming houses of that era, I still felt that Fiona Davis pretty well matched in clear prose the dichotomy of that particular decade. The gloves, the girdles, the posture, the "tone" desired for female workplace advance- nearly all of it. And especially in Darby's Mother, she grabbed that very common "what will the neighbors think" wall on...

Another #ARCAugust read down! Trigger Warning: RapeI won a copy from Meaghan Walsh Gerard's ABEA giveaway. First of all, the blurb is misleading. No, the “rumors of Darby’s involvement” DO NOT haunt the halls. No one knows or gives a shit. Rose only found about it by being nosey with the gossiping doorman. And glitz? I didn’t see much glitz. There’s like one pricey dinner and a floor full of model ‘gazelles’ and that’s it. The rest is spent in secretary school, a hotel room, and the jazz club. W...

I have a few issues with this book. First, I couldn't bring myself to like Rose, the main character. SPOILER - She gets dumped and holes up in the apartment of her elderly neighbor whom she is interested in for a news story. Said neighbor has no idea someone is squatting in her apartment while she's away. Then at the end instead of being mad at Rose, Darby decides they are from similar circumstances so she will tell her squatter the details of her life that she's never shared with anyone else. D...

I wanted to like this book SO much. It has so many things I love: New York in the 50s, a famous hotel for single ladies, a gorgeous cover, an intriguing historical mystery. And I did like it for the first few chapters...but then it started to go downhill.First off, the characters are poorly drawn and inconsistent. There's Stella, who first knowingly sets Darby up with a guy who, according to his account, always ends up with "the ugly ones," and who also has a reputation for assaulting women. The...

http://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2016/09...I keep starting books and just not feeling them, which honestly was also the case with this one, but I was determined to just finish one and to break my curse! The writing here is just awkward as hell and both storylines are completely ridiculous and full of majorly unrealistic moments. In the present, a woman living in the Barbizon (everything about her is basically a terrible rom-com, so I'm not even gonna get started) becomes intrigued by the mystery of...

Silly chick lit. Also another of those current day/historical period dual storylines that are all the rage. Had the author focused entirely on the 1950s, it would have been a much better book: more believable and less fluff.

EXCERPT: "Patrick, when did you start working here?"He turned to face her, eyebrows raised in surprise. She gathered that few residents asked him personal questions. "Back in the seventies. Things were very different then."She liked the way things came out as 'tings'. "Do you know many of the older residents?""The ladies? Of course. I know them all.""What about the woman who left a little while ago? The one with the dog."He smiled. "Miss McLaughlin. And Bird. Odd woman."A woman with buttery blon...

I really enjoyed this book. I loved how each chapter went back and forth from the 1950's to the present and it was easy to follow. I'm adding this author to my list of favorites!

A dual story taking place sixty four years apart featuring two young women. Rose is living in the former Barbizon Hotel for Women and is captivated by one of the long time residents. Reclusive Darby does NOT feel the same way and is resistant to any overtures by Rose or anyone else for that matter.What happened all those years ago with Darby and the mysterious maid falling to her death? Why does she wear the veil covering her face? Rumor has it that she was disfigured.Eighty two year old Darby s...

Near the beginning of this book, I almost put it down as the characters seemed flat to me, failing to impress me as real. But I began to warm up. This is one of those books that has concurrent timelines, one present day and one in the past, in this case, 1952, and set in a women’s residency hotel (complete with matron for respectability’s sake). It’s a story that will use several elements of your imagination, to hear the music of the dark jazz club, to smell the spices that are set up in the spi...

What a fascinating story. The Barbizon Hotel for women really did existing in New York City in the 1950s as did the Gibbs secretarial school for women. This story follows two entirely different women, one who lived there and one who worked there as well as a journalist in 2016 who comes across the story. It was very compelling, interesting and wonderful.