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laurieb755 's review for:
The Lions of Fifth Avenue
by Fiona Davis
This is my second of the several historical fictions written by Fiona Davis; my first read was The Masterpiece. In rereading my review of that book I smiled to see, as with this one, the ending was a bit of a surprise. However, with this book it wasn't quite as a big a surprise as there were ample hints just waiting to be picked up.
I liked the chapters switching back and forth between the New York City of 1913 and that of 1993. The story of Laura Lyons, begun in 1913, intrigued me, at first making me wonder if it is possible to take a tour of the New York Public Library main branch at 42nd Street. (It is!) However, what I most appreciated was Laura's inner dialogue as she tries to balance her love of her family and the sense of obligation she feels towards them to be wife and mother - Jack, the superintendent of the Library and an aspiring novelist, her son Harry and her daughter Pearl - with her own desires to do something more with her life.
Laura wants to be a writer, in particular a journalist, and she applies to the just started Columbia University School of Journalism. (More about the history of the school here.) Despite the initial obstacle of not receiving a scholarship, and the ongoing issue of her husband being absorbed in his manuscript outside of his regular working hours, Laura winds up as a student, one of just a very few women in a class of predominantly men. And so begins Laura's discovery of another world of possibility housed downtown, the social issues plaguing women - and by extension their families - and her own awakening to what she wants in life.
By the time 1993 arrives, Laura's granddaughter Sadie Donovan has worked her way to become curator of The Berg Collection at the NY Public Library, the same library that was home to Laura and her family. Sadie is six years off a divorce, lives down the block from her brother Lonnie, his wife LuAnn, their daughter Valentina, and Robin, the young woman who takes care of Valentina.
While Laura and Sadie never met, and Sadie's mother Pearl has recently died, there are ties that bind beyond that of family. It remains to Sadie to unearth the backstory, figure out why there are currently thefts at the Library and, with the help of the retired detective Nick (yes, of course there is a romantic hero!), solve the mystery of the thefts, both those of 1913 and those of 1993.
I liked the chapters switching back and forth between the New York City of 1913 and that of 1993. The story of Laura Lyons, begun in 1913, intrigued me, at first making me wonder if it is possible to take a tour of the New York Public Library main branch at 42nd Street. (It is!) However, what I most appreciated was Laura's inner dialogue as she tries to balance her love of her family and the sense of obligation she feels towards them to be wife and mother - Jack, the superintendent of the Library and an aspiring novelist, her son Harry and her daughter Pearl - with her own desires to do something more with her life.
Laura wants to be a writer, in particular a journalist, and she applies to the just started Columbia University School of Journalism. (More about the history of the school here.) Despite the initial obstacle of not receiving a scholarship, and the ongoing issue of her husband being absorbed in his manuscript outside of his regular working hours, Laura winds up as a student, one of just a very few women in a class of predominantly men. And so begins Laura's discovery of another world of possibility housed downtown, the social issues plaguing women - and by extension their families - and her own awakening to what she wants in life.
By the time 1993 arrives, Laura's granddaughter Sadie Donovan has worked her way to become curator of The Berg Collection at the NY Public Library, the same library that was home to Laura and her family. Sadie is six years off a divorce, lives down the block from her brother Lonnie, his wife LuAnn, their daughter Valentina, and Robin, the young woman who takes care of Valentina.
While Laura and Sadie never met, and Sadie's mother Pearl has recently died, there are ties that bind beyond that of family. It remains to Sadie to unearth the backstory, figure out why there are currently thefts at the Library and, with the help of the retired detective Nick (yes, of course there is a romantic hero!), solve the mystery of the thefts, both those of 1913 and those of 1993.