An enjoyable glimpse into the history (and a touch of fun speculation on) The Frick and its founding family.

I’m a huge fan of Fiona Davis and look forward to every book she writes. This was probably my least favorite so far, which is not to say it isn’t a good read (of course it is!), just that for me it was a lesser animal than her previous offerings.

For me, the more recent of the two timelines in this one wasn’t particularly interesting at all until it merged with the older timeline. That one was better throughout, though this book is a lot thinner on setting and more contrived in plot than Davis’ other work.

Part of the problem might be that there’s less mystery about the Frick than some of the previous locations (or maybe it’s just me and what I knew about the setting before reading). But there is a LOT less descriptive content and atmosphere in this book, and that was a bit of a bummer.

Should you still read this if you like Fiona Davis’ work? Absolutely yes. It’s still a fun story with likable characters and a satisfying ending. But I’m hoping for a return to form in terms of mystery and atmosphere in the author’s next offering.

Fiona Davis doesn’t disappoint. I love her dual storylines and history of NYC buildings. I can’t wait to return to NYC and go to see The Frick collection.

I totally enjoyed this book! The characters were relatable, the story was engaging and I personally just love reading about this time period. To read about this time in our history while having the story based in the US was also a nice feature. I am now going to research more on the Fricks, the muses of that time period and see what else I can pick up to read.

The dual time lines provided an unexpected glimpse from the past to the present and I found this so interesting.

I have always loved Fiona Davis' writing and this book was no exception. I hope everyone take a little time to pick this up and get lost in this early 20th century time frame. I will be recommending this book to all the book clubs I belong to!

Magnolia Palace is a dual storyline historical novel set at the Frick mansion. In the late 1910's Lillian Carter is an artist's model whose mother has passed during the Spanish Influenza outbreak. During the 1960's Veronica Weber, also a model, becomes curious about a mysterious murder at the mansion years ago.

I wanted to read this novel because I love Fiona Davis's books. She is one of my favorite historical fiction authors. This book did not disappoint! The period details and mystery were both fascinating, and she did a great job (as anticipated!) with two very different characters in different times.

Highly recommended for historical fiction fans!

I love when a book transports me to a different era, immersing me in a specific setting. Fiona Davis makes me feel like I’ve traveled back in a time machine. I was living these other lives vicariously through the characters.

The Magnolia Palace is told via dual timelines. Our main story takes place in 1919, where Lillian Carter, a young model, finds herself alone and adrift in a society that loves art but not the women who pose for it.

Our secondary story takes place in 1966, where another young woman trying to make it as a model lands at the mansion where Lillian once took refuge.

These two timelines eventually converge in an unexpected way, giving me all the feels.

The Magnolia Palace is loosely based on the real-life Frick family and their mansion, which is now a museum. The author discusses this in her Author’s Note at the end of the book.

1st Line: "Lillian Carter stood half naked, one arm held up like a ballet dancer, the other hanging lightly down at her side, and calculated how long she could avoid paying rent while her landlord was in jail."

Prose (Story): Set in alternating timelines, Fiona Davis's latest work of historical fiction takes us to 1919 New York City ... where the young artists' model and muse Angelica, whose face and figure can be found all over New York and the world, finds herself -- mere months after her mother's death from the Spanish flu - embroiled in a murderous scandal that sends her running, despite her innocence, until she accidentally lands a job as a private secretary to the eccentric and demanding Helen Frick, daughter of world-famous (and infamous) industrialist art collector Henry Clay Frick, where she immediately becomes entrenched in the family's world and drama ... while, in 1966, a young model from the UK, Veronica, lands her first big gig via an NYC photo shoot for Vogue magazine - at the world-renowned Frick Museum, no less - where she and a handsome intern named Joshua work to solve a mysterious scavenger hunt that Veronica stumbles across; one that may end a whole lot of pain and scandal, as well as solve a decades-old murder.

Don's (Review): I believe I currently have all of Fiona Davis's novels on my Kindle, but this is only my second read of hers, after enjoying Chelsea Girls a few years ago. My love for New York City, combined with Davis's amazing way of weaving hisorical fact and fiction to the point where you don't know which is which, to tell a compelling story - normally centered around a well-known NYC institution - makes for especially compelling reading here, as Angelica (now using her real name, Lillian, to avoid the police and scandal) shows us, through her eyes, both the brilliance of the Frick family home - already designated as an art museum to be donated to the city - as well as the eccentricities of its occupants, much of it brought on by the family's own dark past ... while in 1966 things don't go much better for the naive Veronica and the photo shoot, even before a giant blizzard traps her and Joshua in the Frick Museum, where the scavenger hunt clues lead Veronica to a tough decision of her own. The plotting here is expert, effortlessly switching between timelines and characters as tension builds in both, and even while secondary characters are really well-drawn, it's clearly Lillian and Veronica's show from page one (though wow, does Helen Frick often leap - full of piss and vinegar - off the page, as well), each young woman trying to bounce back from a difficult past to find her fulfilling future. I was grateful for the only slight parlays into romance; for me, some of the best moments of the book were grabbing up my phone to look up image after image of a statue or painting from the Frick, as it came up in the narrative, and I also loved how the book kept the mystery plots strong in both eras ... right up until it connected them, bringing us full circle to a genuinely suspenseful, ties-up-all-loose threads ending that left this reader satisfied. Author Davis's Afterward, discussing what was real and what was fiction and how she brought them all together for the novel, was easily as entertaining as the book itself - as was the online tour I took of the Frick's treasures, currently in a temporary home nearby while the mansion undergoes renovation, after closing the book. As an adult, I have grown to appreciate history - a subject I loathed (and was horrible at) in school; had Ms. Davis been writing back then, it might have been an entirely different story for me. 4/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

I am such a fan of Fiona Davis. Her books tend to be 5 star reads for me and The Magnolia Palace was excellent.. 5 stars for sure. This is historical fiction at its best. It’s the early 1919 and Lillian Carter us falling apart. It’s been eight months since her mother dies and she is lost. Not only were they mother and daughter but they were friends and a team. For years Lilian become an artist model. She is the muse for many a famous artist in Manhattan. Her image is everywhere around the city.. but if you didn’t know her..would you know it was her? Her mother helps her pick her assignments, keeps it somewhat decent, keeps her from being taken advantage of. So when her mom dies, poor Lillian doesn’t know what to do? She doesn’t know how to book her schedule. Her name for the art work is Angelica.. Could she be Angelica again? Her landlord wants the rent money and he doesn’t care how he gets it.. One morning she sees her landlord’s wife dead in the doorway.. Lillian is approached by the police and decides to run. She winds up in Central Park and sleeps on a bench. The next morning she happens on the Frick mansion. She is mistaken for a new house maid. She is brought in, is given tea and is fed. She plays along and wouldn’t you know it gets hired to be Helen Frick’s private secretary. She thinks this is a good place to hide and not be seen in the city. Who would find her here? Once in the house the fun starts. For not having any experience, she does a relatively good job. Helen loves he, in her way, and the rest of the family start to as well.. Fast forward to 1966 and we meet Veronica Weber an English model is at a shoot at the Frick.. She is new to modeling and isn’t making friends with the photographer and walks off the shoot.. A huge snowstorm hits NYC and she is trapped in the mansion which is now a museum. She thinks she is all alone but the intern Joshua is there.. They are cold and hungry and hunker down for the night. Both stories in this story were so well written and the connection between the two is great. Can Veronica get her modeling career back? Will Joshua get in trouble for being at the Frick? We learn all the back stories of the characters and they are so deep. Layer by layer we find out how this story ends. It is so good. I couldn’t put it down. I want to thank Netgalley & Fiona David for my copy.. I really loved this one!!!

I'll read just about anything Fiona Davis writes. She's done it again with Magnolia Palace - capturing our imaginations with a blend of fiction and history and mixing in a mystery. I'm always impressed with her ability to develop strong, intelligent female characters in stories set during times women were often overlooked or taken advantage of. Every time I read a Fiona Davis book, I'm inspired to research more about the real events, people, and places featured in her novels. Magnolia Palace was no different - I was fascinated by the story of the Frick family, as well as the life of artists' models during the Gilded Age. This Historical Fiction account of the Henry Clay Frick family and a mystery involving the Private Secretary of Frick's daughter, Helen, was the perfect blend of fact and fiction. Highly recommend for any fan of Historical Fiction, Art History, or just a good read! Be sure to stay for the Author's Note at the end!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Dutton Publishing, and Fiona Davis for the Advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis is a historical standalone novel. The book is centered around the Frick Mansion/Museum in two-time frames (1919 & 1966). We meet Lillian Carter from the start, as she is a successful model using the pen name of Angelica, but with the death of her mother, her life has totally fallen apart, struggling to pay her bills. At the age of 21, Lilian depended on her mother to arrange everything, and now she is desperate.

Lillian still dreams of going to Hollywood and becoming a movie star; but when her landlord constantly pressures her, things go from bad to worse, as she becomes a suspect when the landlord’s wife was murdered. Lillian will escape the apartment, and accidently is mistaken for someone else, and ends up getting a job at the Frick Mansion, working as a private secretary for Miss Helen (daughter of Henry Clay Frick). Lillian plans to stay a month or so just to make some money to pay for her trip to California. Miss Helen was a difficult and demanding person to work for, but she began to rely on Lillian to do much of the work for her.

In the other timeline of 1966, we meet Veronica Weber, who is also a model, attending the photo shoot for Vogue at the Frick Museum with other more experienced models. While cleaning up, and walking around, Veronica finds herself locked in the museum, with no power, and to make it worse, a major snow storm hits. While she is stuck at the museum, Veronica she begins to search some papers, and becomes intrigued when she learns about a scavenger hunt created in 1919. In a short period, Veronica runs into Joshua Lawrence, the museum archivist, who fell asleep by his office in the basement. Together they look for food, drinks and other things and when Veronica tells Joshua about the scavenger hunt, they start looking for clues to help them pass the time, which could be days.

Back in 1919, Lillian (Miss Lily) learns more about the Frick family, and helping Miss Helen send romantic letters to her suiter. She finds herself pulled into a web of family secrets, betrayals, missing cameo (with the Magnolia diamond), romantic trysts, and murder.

What follows is very well written story that eventually merges the two timelines together. The missing Magnolia Diamond will play a part in both timelines. To tell too much more would ruin the book, so you need to read this from start to finish. Fiona Davis gives us a detailed look at New York in 1919, with the wealthy historic Frick mansion, as well as story of mystery, murder and love. I did enjoy both timelines, as well as the ending.

Magnolia palace by Fiona Davis was one of the best books that I gave read in awhile. It was written well with alternating timelines that left you in mini cliffhangers and I learned so much. The book takes place in what us now the Frick museum and this book gives you a concept of what it was like to live during the Gilded Age. It’s perfect for fans of Downton Abbey because not only does it go into the family history but also
Their help. I would definitely recommend this book.

Absolutely incredible! Fiona Davis writes a historical novel which takes place in the home of the wealthy Henry Clay Frick and makes you feel like you are right there in the center of it all. The dual timeline tells equally interesting stories, although my favorite was definitely the main character Lillian, as well as Helen Frick. Throw a little mystery and romance in there and you've got some great historical fiction. I blew through this book and highly recommend to anyone who loves a good historical novel with some interesting background! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy!

I really enjoyed this dual time line story. Both stories share the same location, the beautiful Frick Museum in New York City. Lillian is a young woman down on her luck, looking for a way to get to California where stardom in films surely awaits her. To earn enough money she falls into a job as personal secretary to one of the richest women in the city, the cranky, unmarried and demanding Miss Helen. Some fifty years later, model Veronica finds herself on a shoot at the Frick Museum. A snowstorm traps her inside with Joshua an intern. Together they try to solve a decades old mystery. A fun, sweet read that everyone will enjoy.

Fiona Davis’s novels offer the vicarious pleasures of getting an exclusive tour of New York City’s iconic landmarks. Her latest work centers on the Henry Clay Frick House, once a Gilded Age mansion, now a public museum and art library. While envisioning the gorgeous paintings, sculptures, and other precious objects inside the building (whose Fifth Avenue garden is adorned by large magnolias) is a highlight, the colorful personalities could carry the novel on its own.

By 1919, Lillian Carter has spent six years posing for public sculptures across New York under the name “Angelica.” While she’s enjoyed contributing to the city’s art scene, a murder scandal involving her landlord forces her to go into hiding. A twist of fate propels Lillian into the role of private secretary to Helen Clay Frick, the industrialist’s mercurial 31-year-old daughter, who’s torn between pursuing her own interests and seeking her critical father’s approval. Lillian proves remarkably successful in her tasks, but while she dreams of a silent movie career, a secret assignment, one that’s too temptingly profitable to resist, ensnares her in longstanding Frick family tensions. Decades later, in 1966, English model Veronica Weber secures a lucrative modeling assignment at the Frick Collection, but after the job turns sour, she finds herself accidentally trapped in the building overnight alongside a handsome African American museum intern. Initially watchful of one another, they team up to follow clues in a scavenger hunt created long ago.

The pages breeze by as potential romances develop (maybe not the ones you’d expect) and a mystery involving the whereabouts of the Magnolia Diamond unfolds. Deeper issues also undergird both narratives, which confront stereotypes about models and explore how a tragedy can warp family relationships years later. The two narratives dovetail in a satisfying way. Mystery and art lovers should relish this exciting escape into New York’s past.

Published in the Historical Novels Review, Feb. 2022 issue.

As is always the case with novels by Fiona Davis, you are drawn into the story and can’t put it down. The Magnolia Palace is no exception. This story goes back and forth between 1919 and 1966, eventually drawing both periods together.

The story is set in the Frick mansion/museum in NY. Lillian Carter, also know as Angelica, has been the most sort after model of the Gilded age. At 21, she looses her mother and is just about washed up as a model. By pure accident, she winds up becoming the private secretary to Miss Helen Frick. There are secrets, betrayals, missing jewels and a murder that take place, pointing much of what happened to Lillian. She runs away and is not heard of again, until fast forward to 1966.

English woman Veronica Weber arrives at the Frick Museum for a photo shoot. Being her first major modeling job and a foreigner, she does not fit in with the other models. She winds up missing their next location and is locked in the museum overnight and the next day due to the NYC blackout. Turns out she is locked in with intern art curator Joshua as well. Veronica stumbles upon hidden messages that were part of a long forgotten scavenger hunt. She and Joshua follow the clues and together solve the mystery of what took place in the mansion 50 years ago.

Miss Helen shows up at the museum, they convince her of what they have found, and reunite her with Lillian. Ms. Davis has you in suspense throughout the entire book weaving you back and forth between decades. She is an amazing storyteller and a great writer. I did not want to put the book down.

Thank you Net Galley for the opportunity of reading this uncorrected ebook. .

I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an electronic e-ARC of The Magnolia Palace. Fiona Davis has once again taken her readers back to New York City and its fascinating history, this time to the Frick Mansion. We meet Angelica, an artist’s model struggling to make a living through using her beauty. One day, she is forced to take her talents in a different direction, and she becomes a personal secretary to Helen Frick, the patriarch of the Frick family’s daughter. There also is a second timeline, where we travel to more recent times and two young people, trapped in the mansion that is now a museum, discover secrets long buried. As the complicated lives of the rich and famous Frick family unfold in both timelines, the reader gets a window into the power that only pedigree, privilege and money can bring. When Angelica, now known as Miss Lilly, is accused of a terrible crime, the reader gets a unique opportunity to put the clues together and figure out what really happened. The narration and characters are engaging, and I could not put this book down. Fiona Davis has once again delivered a wonderful story. I highly recommend!

In keeping with Fiona Davis' ongoing quest to bring us top-level historical fiction, The Magnolia Palace does not disappoint. Thanks to the ARC, I got my hot little hands on an early copy and devoured it in two days. The only reason I didn't devour it in one was that little thing called work.

Taking place at The Frick Collection, originally the Frick Mansion (or The Magnolia Palace) the story follows two women in the same profession separated by some 60 years. The parallels are, of course, striking.

What I love most about Ms. Davis' book is how she seamlessly weaves the history of the landmark building into both stories, but the stories themselves are not carbon copies of each other. Each stands alone, but together are much more than merely the sum of their parts.

All told, I give this one 5 stars and can't wait to see where Fiona Davis takes us next.

I truly enjoyed learning about the Frick's and the art in this historical fiction!
The dual timelines were so well done!
Lilly learns a great life lesson early in life. Not to depend on beauty and she can manage the world without the beauty! Lilly goes to work for Helen Frick and the story of the Frick house unravels. Veronica is a budding model here in the US for work and gets locked inside the museum during a photoset. She unravels a mystery that keeps the reader guessing who could have done it. The two worlds meet in the end and such a sweet beautiful ending!

As usual, Fiona Davis has written a story that perfectly blends NYC history and storytelling. The Magnolia Palace is a story told in two timelines, 1919 and 1966. Both stories revolve around The Frick House/Collection of art, the Frick Family and the models & workers attached to them. I was equally invested in both storylines and my only complaint was that I would have taken more character development/backstory on a few of the characters.

I loved the themes she highlighted around who creating art, classism, racism and what it was like to be a woman in those times following The Great War and in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement/Post WW2.

Be sure to read the author's notes to hear the historical facts that inspired this tale. Fiona Davis' storytelling continues to be a favorite. I couldn't put this one down.

I was really excited to read this book because of the great time I had while reading one of this authors previous books, The Lions of Fifth Avenue. As with her other works, we have two timelines surrounding the Frick Mansion in NYC. The characters of the two timelines do intersect in ways that were very interesting and well thought out.

I was a bit let down by the pacing of this book as I felt like the climax of the book came around the 65% mark and then I didn’t feel super inclined to keep picking it up. The writing, as always, was so good and accessible while also giving a good amount of historical information.

I will for sure be recommending this book to other historical fiction readers, but may suggest Lions of Fifth Ave over this one.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

Fiona Davis has done it again. She is the master of taking an iconic building in NYC and developing interesting dual plot lines (in different time periods) to bring history to life. In The Magnolia Palace, in 1919 NYC, we meet Lillian, an artists' model with acting aspirations. In the 1960's, Veronica is an aspiring model from England, who's brought to the US for a shoot taking place at the Frick Collection. The other leading characters are the Fricks - Henry, Adelaide, Childs and Helen. Events occur and we're off on two interesting storylines.
The authors note at the end is very informative and you'll learn where the Fricks real story and Ms. Davis' imagination and creativity diverge. I love a novel about the rich behaving badly and The Magnolia Palace certainly does justice to this theme. I was initially curious about why Ms. Davis chose 1966 as the time period for the second storyline. This does become more clear towards the end of the book and was an excellent move.
Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the opportunity to read The Magnolia Palace in exchange for an honest review.