Title: The Dollhouse

Author: Fiona Davis

Publisher: Dutton 2016

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 306

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook

When she arrives at the famed Barbizon Hotel in 1952, secretarial school enrollment in hand, Darby McLaughlin is everything her modeling agency hall mates aren't: plain, self-conscious, homesick, and utterly convinced she doesn't belong—a notion the models do nothing to disabuse. 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.
 
Over half a century later, the Barbizon's gone condo and most of its long-ago guests are forgotten. But rumors of Darby's involvement in a deadly skirmish with a hotel maid back in 1952 haunt the halls of the building as surely as the melancholy music that floats from the elderly woman's rent-controlled apartment. It's a combination too intoxicating for journalist Rose Lewin, Darby's upstairs neighbor, to resist—not to mention the perfect distraction from her own imploding personal life. Yet as Rose's obsession deepens, the ethics of her investigation become increasingly murky, and neither woman will remain unchanged when the shocking truth is finally revealed.

My second Fiona Davis book and I do enjoy her focus on historical geographic locations. This book’s focus on New York City and specifically the Barbizon Hotel was such fun. I loved learning more about the actual history of the Barbizon Hotel while focusing on fictional characters. The story itself was good, although the tension sometimes was a bit much. Often there is a little too much melodrama in the story. I would have liked a little less from the chaos of Rose’s life and more focus on Darby and Esme. Ultimately, I did like the book and will read another Fiona Davis book.

Next up on the TBR pile: