Idgie Says:
LOVE the cover! This book looks very intriguing - I suggest you give it a look over.
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THE DOLLHOUSE (on-sale August 23), is a debut novel by journalist Fiona Davis.
THE DOLLHOUSE tells the dual storylines of two women who, decades apart, are enthralled by the allure of the real-life Barbizon Hotel for Women, which, from 1927 to 1981, was an exclusive residence for young, single women who wanted to make it in the big city, including Liza Minelli, Grace Kelly, Joan Crawford, Joan Didion, and Sylvia Plath.
When Davis walked through the doors of the Barbizon 63 a few years ago,
she was struck by the history of the building and conceived of a novel:
partially set in the Barbizon of 1952, and partially in the condos of
today. When Darby McLaughlin arrives at the
Barbizon Hotel in 1952, secretarial school enrollment in hand, she is
everything her modeling agency hall mates aren't: plain, self-conscious,
homesick, and utterly convinced she doesn't belong. Yet when Darby
befriends Esme, a Barbizon maid, she's introduced
to an entirely new side of New York City: seedy downtown jazz clubs
where the music is as addictive as the heroin that's used there, the
startling sounds of bebop, and even the possibility of romance.
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THE DOLLHOUSE is a gorgeous product of both Fiona Davis’ rich imagination and
extensive research. To
fully imagine the lives of Barbizon’s residents,
she
delved into the building’s history, scoured 1950s women’s magazines and
copies of the New York Times,
and interviewed several women
who lived in the Barbizon
in the 50s and
60s.
She visited Lior Lev
Sercarz’s legendary spice shop
La
Boîte to develop one character’s passion for blending spices and took a class at Lincoln
Center’s Swing University to
get a feel of downtown
jazz clubs.
“The more
I researched,” says Davis, “the more pressing it became to provide a
glimpse into the way
women were expected
to live and behave in the
early 50s, and how hard
it was to break
out of that mold. And since
the conversation regarding women’s roles continues even today,
I included parallel
time lines in the book:
one when a new arrival shows
up at the Barbizon Hotel in 1952,
and another that takes place in the Barbizon
63 Condo of today.”
The result is both a page-turning,
vivid evocation of one of New York City’s most iconic residences and
a celebration
of the women of New York City’s past and present, brimming
with all of the glamour, mystery, excitement,
and
unfettered
opportunities that lay in the glittering city beyond.
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A Conversation with Fiona Davis
Author of THE DOLLHOUSE
W hat c om pel led you to w ri te this bo ok?
I love the history
of buildings, whether it’s wandering around
a castle
in England or
the Tenement
Museum here in New York
City. The Barbizon Hotel is iconic,
a building that housed so many women’s stories,
and I wanted to explore the way women’s
roles have changed
over time, the ways
that they’ve stayed
the same, as well as issues
of class and
status.
I
checked out one of the renovated condos in the Barbizon building during my
own apartment
hunt, and was surprised
at how much the place had
changed from
the 1950s black-and-white photos. When I learned that several
long-time
residents had been
“grandfathered” into the building when
it went
condo, I realized I had the makings of a novel.
W hat kin d of resea rc h d id y ou do fo r the boo k?
The research process was a blast.
In addition
to reading everything I could get my hands on
about that era, I interviewed several women
who lived in the hotel
in the 50s and 60s,
and incorporated their experiences in
the book. I also looked at several
women’s magazines
from the early 1950s and
scoured old issues of The New York Times
to get a sense of what day-to-day
life
was
like back then.
New York City played
a big
part
in my research. A visit
to Lior
Lev
Sercarz’s legendary spice shop in
NYC – La Boîte – gave me
the idea for developing one
character’s passion for
blending spices. And
I took a class on bebop
jazz
at Swing University –
part of Jazz at
Lincoln
Center – taught
by the brilliant trombonist Vincent
Gardner. Now that was heaven.
W hat a re s ome o f t he real loc ati ons an d p eople in t he boo k, a n d wha t a re ma de up?
Real locations include the Barbizon
building, the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park,
and Hector’s Cafeteria, which
was located at
Broadway and Fiftieth
Street. The Flatted
Fifth nightclub from the
book is a fictional mix of several clubs that once existed, like the Five Spot
and the Half Note, as well
as
Small’s, which
you can find on West Tenth
Street in Greenwich
Village. Most
of the musicians mentioned in the novel are real, except
for Stick Hawkins, who’s based on Thelonious Monk.
I was desperate to include a scene
of Monk performing, but his cabaret card
was
revoked in
1951 due to a narcotics
arrest, which meant
he was banned from
playing
in any
of New York City’s clubs. I used Stick
Hawkins as a stand-in, as that part of the
book takes place in 1952. Unfortunately, Monk
didn’t get his license back until 1957 - what a loss to
the jazz fans of that time.
W hat w as i t li ke mov ing f ro m jo u rna lism to fic tio n w ri ti ng?
As a journalist, I love crafting a story
from research and
interviews, and when I decided
to write this
book I approached it in the
same way. But since it
was fiction, I could use my imagination
as well, and
spin a story rooted in fact but not limited by it. I hope readers will get a glimpse into
the way women were expected to live
and
behave in the early 50s, and
appreciate how hard
it was to break out of
that. At the same
time, I hope they’ll enjoy
reading
about how two generations of women can influence each
other to stand up and be counted.