If you enjoy dual timeline historical fiction, you will love The Magnolia Palace. As for me, I much preferred the historical timeline (1919) over the modern (1966) one. I love historical fiction about New York City and The Frick provides a fabulous setting for this novel. The building was built as a residence but was intended to work as a museum for the art collection of the Frick family after the death of steel magnate, Henry Clay Frick and his wife. This book will definitely make you want to visit The Frick, but it is currently closed for renovation. The collection is temporarily housed nearby (in the former home of the Whitney Museum), but to get the full effect, wait until the renovations are complete and visit this historic mansion to see the artwork in that environment.

So… the story. Davis took her inspiration from a woman who modeled for a large number of sculptures in the early 20th century in NYC. She puts this fictionalized version of the model into the Frick household as a personal secretary to Miss Helen Frick in 1919. You have to suspend your disbelief to think that this could actually have happened, of course. I loved the insights into the daily lives of these ultra-rich people, as well as how their servants lived. The 1966 timeline didn’t work that well for me, even though I enjoyed the characters of young model Veronica and young archivist intern Joshua. Just too many coincidences and quick solutions to mysteries that had resisted solution almost fifty years earlier. My rating is generous, mainly because of the massive research done for the book and because of my enjoyment of it, even while not fully accepting the modern timeline.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book, although I’m a bit late to it. I appreciated being able to bounce back and forth from the eARC to the published audiobook, narrated beautifully by Karissa Vacker, courtesy of my public library. All opinions are my own.

The Magnolia Palace is another dual timeline story by Fiona Davis. One timeline takes us back to 1919 just after the flu and the other takes us to the 1960's. One heroine finds herself destitute following her mother's death and also finds herself accused of murder. She flees and finds a position with the wealthy Frick family known for its love of the arts. Fast forward to the 1960's and a young woman finds herself fired from a modeling job. As she winds her way through the Frick mansion, the site of the photo shoot, she finds clues that may help solve a long ago murder and give herself the freedom and independence she needs.
Thanks to Net galley for the arc.

The book follows a 1900’s artist’s model named Angelica (née Lillian Carter). Despite being the most sought-after model in NYC of her time (she’s been dubbed “America’s first super model”), a scandal forces forces her to leave her life behind and she finds refuge at the Frick mansion. Somehow she scores a job as the private secretary of Helen Frick, the daughter and heiress of industrialist and art patron Henry Clay Frick. During her short time there, she finds herself involved in another scandal where she’s forced to escape again.

The mystery stays unsolved until the year 1966 when a British fashion model somehow finds herself locked in the Frick mansion and chances upon a set of hidden messages from 1912. With the help of a Frick intern, Joshua (also stuck in the mansion), they set out on a scavenger hunt that leads them to solve the decades-long murder mystery at the mansion.

Can I just say that Davis’ writing is fantastic! The dual timelines were written brilliantly and I loved the plot and the mystery storyline. When it comes to historical fiction, historical accuracy is the utmost importance and I always appreciate a well-researched book. Obviously, there are some fictional elements in the book, but the rest of the book was highly accurate (I did fact check, lol).

I don’t want to give away too much of the book, but I just encourage you to read it! The book has a little bit of everything! A sordid history filled with lies, scandal and greed; high fashion and famous artwork; and of course, a bit of romance. If you do read the book, I highly encourage you to research the real-life model that served as the inspiration for Angelica: Audrey Munson. She lived a truly heartbreaking and tragic life.

Rating: 4.5 stars (rounded up to 5).

Thank you, NetGalley and Dutton for the eARC in exchange for my honest review! I ended up buying both the book and the audiobook!

I am thankful to the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book. I loved it! The scavenger hunt idea was sooo interesting! I loved the connections between characters and the way they all spanned four decades. I love the way Davis writes these stories full of intrigue using famous NYC landmarks. I’d highly recommend this!

The Magnolia Palace was a hit and miss for me. The hit was all in the 1919 storyline. This was intriguing, interesting and was a page turner. I felt the characters were well written and how it all happened near the end of this timeline was so good.

The 1966 timeline was not great. It felt flat and to be honest just boring. The characters were bland, Helen does no of those things she did in 1966, and the ending felt to neat and clean. Almost Halmark movie style.

Def not my favorite of Davis, but she continues to be an auto read author for me!

I enjoyed reading The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis. Some of the characters were well developed and interesting, but some were not as fully developed. I enjoy dual timeline stories, but this one did not connect as well as some I have read. I appreciate the chance to read and review this book. Overall I enjoyed the book and gave it 4 stars.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was my first Fiona Davis book and needless to say, I’ve become a big fan! I enjoyed the dual timelines and interwoven storylines. A former New Yorker, it was nostalgic reading facts coupled with a fictional story focused around the Frick family and mansions. I loved the history and plot involving both the civil rights issues of “modern-day” and class gaps of The Gilded Age era.

It's no secret that I have struggled with historical fiction in the recent years. It just feels like we are facing so much history that it's been harder to get pulled into a historical fiction book. This one hooked me very quickly however. I really enjoyed the story and the characters and highly recommend it!

The multiple timelines were interesting and well thought planned. It did feel extremely predictable, and the ending felt somewhat contrived. I liked it, and I can guarantee this will be a hit with many of our regulars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the ARC.

While I do not read a lot of historical fiction, I always enjoy Davis' writing. Her ability to rip her readers out of the 21st century and place them into the time her stories are set in is nothing short of magical. The Magnolia Palace features the Frick mansion, an iconic building in New York City. Like her other books, Davis uses a historic landmark for the setting of her fictional writing. The "formula" she uses to write her books is really clever and I am excited to see what she will publish next.

I’ve loved all of Fiona Davis’ books, and this one was no exception. I’d never heard the story behind the Frick Collection and family, and loved getting the chance to read such a vibrant story about this iconic building.

I especially always like the way Davis’ books are structured between an older era and one that’s a few decades later. This helps make each of her novels such page-turners, including The Magnolia Palace.

If you enjoy historical fiction and mystery, and have a penchant for art, this book is for you. Fiona Davis juices up the real lives of the legendary Frick family, and Audrey Munson, who was the inspiration for Lillian Carter’s character. One of the most enjoyable aspects of reading this book was going online to research the lives of these characters. Don’t worry, though, I’m not a spoiler. You’ll have to find out for yourself. Dual narratives are tricky, but Fiona Davis does a fine job jumping between the Twenties and the Sixties, both fascinating decades. I have several of her other books on my TBR list, so I’m glad I enjoyed this one. 4 stars.

The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis is a fascinating work of historical fiction. The author has clearly done her homework and the time period comes alive with such vibrancy. I found the occupations of the main character particularly interesting and the mystery embedded in the book really brought the story to life. Overall, it was such a wonderful read. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

I love reading about anything Gilded Age and the description of the art and dual timeline really added to the story. It contains lots of references I would love to visit the Frick museum and experience myself. I love books by Fiona Davis. This one has all her descriptive details, research, a touch of mystery and heroines that move the story along to a satisfying conclusion.

The Magnolia Palace has a little bit of everything:

- Dual Timeline for two sets of interesting characters - I loved both of the female leads from each of the timelines. It seemed that their lives were on a somewhat similar track for a period of time which confused me at first as I kept getting them mixed up but once the storylines took on their own unique style, it was easy to track. I was completely committed to both MC's story ARC throughout the book

- A mystery within a mystery. As the first mystery presents itself, I assumed the story would focus around this resolution. However, a new mystery begins to unravel which is the focus of the story and takes us through to the end of the book. Loved this one even better than what I had thought the book would focus on

- A Historical Fiction that focuses on a wealthy family and what would be in today's world, a supermodel, weaving a tale that was both unbelievable and completely entrancing

The pacing was not slow but also not action-packed. I enjoyed this quiet story as it leisurely unfolded. Wonderful!

Fiona has done it again! Centered around the Frick museum, this book focuses on the Frick family and the history and legacy of the art. An incredible story!

Fiona Davis never disappoints! Her books take NYC landmarks and tell their stories through the experiences of women through the years and this may be my favorite of hers yet. I cannot wait to revisit The Frick after reading this fantastic novel!

I was intrigued to learn about this real life family, and the real life woman whose image graces many NYC buildings from the early 1900s. This story is told from dual timelines in 1919 and 1966, focusing on the Frick mansion and artwork, laced with mystery, excessiveness, romance, and tragedy.
I'm impressed with the research that must have been done to get this fictional story factual enough to portray a fictional twist of real life artist model, Audrey Munson's life, and the Frick family, specifically Helen. I love how the author took these two real women of the 1900s and entwined their lives to make up this fantastic historical fiction story.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me a copy of this interesting story!

3.5 rounded up to 4

Bear with me, this is a confusing one ...

To start with, I REALLY liked the story line. I thought it was super unique and interesting!
I love dual timelines and POVs in stories so that was a big plus.
I really liked Miss Lily and Miss Helen. It was a "fun" dynamic and I was very invested in their chapters.

Unfortunately I wasn't a big fan of Veronica. I was pretty bored with her chapters early on. A little over half way through there's a turn (when Veronica meets up with Miss Helen and Miss Lily) and I definitely got more interested in Veronica's story.
Overall I found this VERY slow. I've read other Fiona Davis books and didn't feel like they were slow, so I'm not quite sure what made this one seem so slow. Overall I'd say I'm glad I read it. However, I do wish the first half wasn't quite so slow as I enjoyed the second half much more than the first.

The Frick museum in NYC is a personal fave and I was looking forward to reading some Gilded age historical fiction. This book gave a brief and wonderful history of the building and its art, but otherwise, for me, the story fell somewhat flat.

Overall, I was fairly entertained by this book and got through it quickly. The time-hopping format works well and helps to unify the overall narrative.

Unfortunately, I found the plot a little weak. It reads a bit like a game of “Clue.” I think the overall story would’ve been enhanced had the works of art (and the stories behind them) been further incorporated into the narrative. Davis starts down this line but doesn’t complete the endeavor.

The premise is compelling, but I really would’ve enjoyed more depth in the characters. Some of them appear and disappear without much consequence. The ones that do have some dimension only have it at the end by an assortment of random pieces of personal information that are tossed in as afterthoughts. This lack of detail makes the motivations and actions of some characters difficult to understand. The ending is rushed with important tidbits merely tossed in to tie a neat bow on the story.

It was not my personal favorite, but would be a good one for a plane trip or a day by the pool.