Magnolia Palace, The: A Novel

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Another policeman stepped to the door to shut it, but not before Lillian caught sight of a woman's bloody hand, the fingers gently, almost daintily, curled in. Similar to The Lions of Fifth Avenue (although a much better storyline), this book also takes place in an iconic New York building, the Frick Museum, and weaves a brilliant web of fictional characters and historical characters with a dual timeline. Dual timeline 1919 and 1966 with two different stories that seamlessly come together as the book comes to an end.

That's where she met Joshua and where they worked together on a scavenger hunt that was decades old and was a hunt devised by Helen Frick for her suitor. Her writing, such beautifully crafted, just draws you into the story and you don’t want to set the book aside.This was my January BOTM pick, and while Davis's books have been somewhat hit or miss for me lately, I think this one is her best yet! Watching her mother unravel over the course of her illness, from a force to be reckoned with to a frail, childlike creature, clutching at Lillian's wrist and whimpering in pain, had been her undoing. Nearly 50 years later,Veronica Weber has her own chance within the walls of the former Frick residence, now converted into one of NYC’s most impressive museums.

She stumbles into a job as the private secretary to Helen Frick whose father owns the mansion which eventually becomes the Frick Museum.

Together they completed the scavenger hunt and discovered something that had been thought lost or stolen for decades. Truly, when I start a Fiona Davis book, there’s this itch inside me, that’s begging to get to the end, because you have to learn what the connection is with her two timelines. But when she—along with a charming intern/budding art curator named Joshua—is dismissed from the Vogue shoot taking place at the Frick Collection, she chances upon a series of hidden messages in the museum: messages that will lead her and Joshua on a hunt that could not only solve Veronica’s financial woes, but could finally reveal the truth behind a decades-old murder in the infamous Frick family.

Her novels have been chosen as “One Book, One Community” reads and her articles have appeared in publications like The Wall Street Journal and the Oprah magazine. I don't really know a lot about art but the descriptions in this book really brought the pictures and statuary to life for me. The Magnolia Palace tells the story of two different women whose lives are changed at the Frick mansion, giving readers the chance to soak in dual eras of history all while great love, epic loss, dazzling fortunes, and foul play are afoot.It’s historical fiction at its best, marked by the complexity of female friendship, the glamour of the art world, and having the moxie to reinvent yourself. I never really thought about the women who posed for statues, which is one of the main points of this book.

Even better, a huge snow storm descends on NYC trapping Veronica and Joshua in the Museum after all the others left. Going in hiding and reclaiming her real name, Lillian, she finds a job as the head secretary of Henry Clay's head strong daughter Helen Clay Frick. Angelica” is the name Lillian models under, mostly because some of the statues that bear her likeness are partially nude. Briefly, Lillian has been working as an artist model when she becomes embroiled in a murder case so she runs away and accidentally gets a job working for Helen Frick, the only surviving daughter of Henry Clay Frick, the industrialist who has become an art patron.I read late into the night to find out the mystery behind the magnolia diamond and those connected to it. But soon Kitty is taken too soon during the outbreak of the Spanish Flu and Lillian, known professionally as Angelica, is on her own with just pocket change after the funeral. But when she—along with a charming intern/budding art curator named Joshua—is dismissed from the Vogue shoot taking place at the Frick Collection, she chances upon a series of hidden messages in the museum: messages that will lead her and Joshua on a hunt that could not only solve Veronica's financial woes, but could finally reveal the truth behind a decades-old murder in the infamous Frick family. In ill health, he is compelled to see his daughter quickly married, offering Lillian a large sum of money if she can pull it off.