What a beautiful book. And enjoyable read from start to finish. I was engaged and loved the characters and the multiple narrators.

Thank you penguin group and Netgalley for the opportunity to read The Magnolia Palace in exchange for my honest review.

I very much enjoyed my first book by Fiona Davis, The Magnolia Palace. Her detailed way of writing has a way of drawing you into the story without being overwhelming. A dual timeline without any confusion. I will definitely read more books by Fiona Davis.

I received a complimentary copy of this book "The Magnolia Palace" and all opinions expressed are my own. This book was okay. I do enjoy reading historical fiction. It was a slower read for me as I didn't connect with the characters.

"Thank you to Penguin Random House, Fiona Davis and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

The Magnolia Palace, Fiona Davis' sixth novel, is an amazing story about a model who is down on her luck and ends up working at the Frick Mansion. 50 years later, we learn the story of Veronica Weber, a new model who has been left behind in the Frick Museum, when she is abandoned on a photo shoot during a snowstorm. Davis brilliantly weaves these two women's stories together spanning from 1919 to the 1960s.

Lillian Carter, known as Angelika the model, is world famous. She has posed for statues all over the world but when her mother dies from the Spanish flu and they accuse Lillian of murdering her landlord's wife; she flees her home. Mistaken for an applicant as a personal maid to Helen Frick, she is whisked inside the Frick mansion and immediately hired. She now works for Miss Helen, the daughter of the famous Henry Clay Frick, steel magnate and art collector.

Helen Frick is a difficult woman but Lillian and Helen form a tentative bond. But when Henry Frick dies under suspicious circumstances, they accuse Lillian of poisoning him and stealing the famous magnolia diamond. She flees the mansion, never to be seen again.

Now it is 1966, and the Frick Museum is allowing a photo shoot with a gaggle of models to happen inside the museum. Veronica Weber is from London and this is her first photo shoot in the US. Her twin sister has been institutionalized and she must earn enough money to bring her home and hire a nurse to take care of her. When she raises a stink about being out in a snowstorm, the director and models leave her behind in the museum and she is locked inside. She thinks she is alone but then runs into Joshua Lawrence, a black student, doing a museum archivist internship. In the middle of a snowstorm, Joshua and Veronica explore the Frick museum with clues left over 50 years ago by Helen Frick for her suitor.

Historical fiction is not my normal genre, but I absolutely loved this book, as I have always had an enormous love for New York City, and seeing it through the eyes of history was fascinating. This is an amazing read and I can't wait to devour her other novels.

I wanted to love this one. But I don't think now was the best time for me to read a book that half of it is sent during the 1919 Flu outbreak. I ended up not finishing it. But I did enjoy the writing and the research that Fiona Davis put into the book. This will be one that I pick back up at a different time.

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.

Absolutely loved this book! I like how the author took really facts and fiction and blended them together! And then there's the mystery that will keep you turning those pages!

Lillian is an artist model in the 1920's. She's fallen on hard times since her mother passed away. Lillian stumbles upon a job opening to be the private secretary to Helen Frick, daughter of the industrialist Henry Clay Frick. The job is demanding but it's the family drama that becomes too much. Fifty years later two people end up being locked in the Frick mansion during a freak snowstorm which leads to the discovery of a unsolved family mystery. I enjoy the way the author blends history with fiction. There's always additions in the author notes if you're interested in reading more about the Frick family and their art collection.

How the two stories of different times but the same setting were woven together was extremely unique and wonderfully done. I also love how this story is based on fact with a fictional storyline added in. I look forward to reading more from this author.

The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis is the story of the Frick family, a wealthy family whose home was converted into a museum, and those who worked for them mainly the once famous model Angelica. Told seamlessly in a dual timeline format, Veronica, a model, and Joshua, a curator, work to solve a mystery that has plagued the Frick family for years. This well-written novel full of secrets, suspense, art, murder, and family relationships will keep you guessing until the end. A great read!

So this was my first Fiona Davis book, and I really enjoyed it. I loved the dual timeline and how they merged at the end. The mystery was interesting as was all the talk about the art. It was also interesting to me as I’m from Pittsburgh, where Henry Clay Frick made his mark, so it was fascinating to see him as he might have been when he was alive. I would definitely read another book by this author.

This story was entertaining and informative with great character development.
s. I love this aurthow work, will definitely be reading more books by her.

Thank you to Netgally the author and publisher for a copy of this ARC.
The opinions expressed are my own.

Excellent historical fiction novel. Nice detail and character development. Will appeal to readers who love books set in two time settings and who like to learn more about one of New York's treasure buildings.

Another winner from one of my favorite authors. I really enjoyed The Magnolia Palace. Fiona Davis' writing is always engrossing and her stories always original. I loved both POVs and I believe Fiona Davis is one of the best writers of dual time periods. The coming together of the time periods is always smooth and believable. One of the things I love most about historical fiction is learning something new and her books never fail to teach me something. I loved learning all about the sculptures. I highly recommend this book.

The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton a digital ARC for my honest review.

I very much enjoyed reading this dual timeline historical fiction that revolves around the Frick Museum in New York City. It was interesting to learn the history of the Frick family and the how their home was donated to the City as a Museum. I also liked how she connected the two timelines of 1919 and 1966 with an uncompleted scavenger hunt. Would the Magnolia Diamond be found?

This story was entertaining and informative and I will definitely be reading more books by this author.

#NetGalley #TheMagnoliaPalace

If you have read Fiona Davis before then you know you are in for a ride and it's a beautiful one at that. The story has two timelines. One is the past with the artist's model known as Angelica who is trying to make a life for herself after her mother passes away. Due to circumstances she's the personal assistant to a demanding Helen Frick. And there's the present with Vogue model from the United Kingdom, Veronica who is stranded in the Frick house with intern art curator Joshua. Their two stories collide in quite a wonderous way. I was very intrigued and I loved the rich art history that Fiona Davis brings to her books.
The majesty of this story comes from the unveiling of the story in the two timelines, seamlessly. I was often wondering how she was going to resolve it all. The end is a nice neat bow tied up, proverbially of course, but this book is the journey of a good story.
If you like historic fiction or romance or women's fiction, you will enjoy this one.

I was very disappointed in this book. The characters were unlikeable for different reasons, and I found myself unable to root for any of them. The twists in the story were quickly unraveled and didn’t seem to be well thought out or played up to their full potential. The end to the mystery was out of the blue in my opinion. It may be a story for you if you love rich families with secrets and historical fiction, but it was not for me!

What a joy to spend a few hours in the Frick mansion/museum!Fiona Davis has given us another look at the extraordinary buildings in NYC while weaving stories of characters in different periods of history, but connected through their experiences in the same location. This story, based on some historical persons and events, covers Lillian, a famous model of many sculptures in the 1920s who escapes a scandal by serendipitously working as a private secretary for Miss Helen Frick, surviving daughter of Henry Frick. Frick was fabulously wealthy and was one of those millionaires reputedly responsible for the Johnstown flood, which killed three thousand souls. I lived in Johnstown for a while so this was interesting to me. Lillian loses that job by escaping a scandal in which she’s accused not only of stealing a valuable Diamond, but also of the murder of Henry Frick. A second story brings in British model Veronica, who gets locked into the Frick Museum after a photo shoot.

Davis has given us a fascinating story with a lot of references to the art and artists in the Frick Museum. Thanks to NewGalley for providing me with this ARC.

Well researched and beautifully written, however it was a slow read for me and at times hard for me to follow between the duel timelines.

From “Angelica” the famous artistic muse to private secretary of Helen Frick. By chance, Lillian finds that she has crossed the boundaries of one art world into another. She is nothing if not a survivor, and while she intends on making her way to Hollywood to be an actress, what better training than to act as a secretary to the infamous Frick family in their palatial New York City mansion. Lillian leaves one drama ridden home for another as she is drawn into mystery, thievery, and deception at the hands of Henry Clay Frick, her daughter Helen and an array of family members and staff that all have something to hide.
Jump ahead almost 50 years and we find Veronica Webb, a British model trying to make her fortune to help her own desperate family. She has landed a Vogue shoot at the Frick Museum in New York City. After speaking her mind, she is dismissed and consoles herself by hiding her shame in a secret room, only to find herself locked into the house during a black out winter storm. Using old letters found in the secret room, Veronica decides to pass the time by searching the house. She finds she is not alone at the museum and joins forces with intern-curator Joshua to use those letters to search the house for the lost Magnolia Diamond, according to museum lore.
These two worlds finally collide with death bed confessions, guilt-ridden greed, and some mean Daddy issues.
Fiona Davis takes us once again into a famous building in New York City surrounding by mystery and scandal and gives us the best of historical fiction that keeps us up all night, finishing the book.