The Magnolia Palace is historical fiction, and features the Frick Mansion in New York City as the setting for this dual-timeline novel. The book starts over very slow, with not a lot of action until the middle of the book. I generally enjoy dual-timelines, but honestly I think that this book may have been better served if it only focused on one of the two timelines. The two characters and their stores just seemed too disparate - with the exception of the connection of the same setting - until the very end of the book, and then it feel like everything was wrapped up too neat and clean.

It was a bit of a bummer as this was the first book of Fiona Davis' that I have read, but I definitely think that I will give one of her others a try as I did enjoy the writing overall and I appreciated all of the effort and research she put into the historical elements of the novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for the gifted ebook of The Magnolia Palace! All opinions in this review are my own.

Fiona Davis is an auto-buy author for me. I love the way she weaves her two timelines together and how the past eventually plays an important role in the more current time period.

That being said, The Magnolia Palace was no different! I coulldn't put it down and ended up reading the second half of the book in one day. Davis has a habit of having the characters learn an important detail but not telling the readers and then beginning a new chapter in the other timeline. It kept me reading because I had to find out what happened next!

I also appreciate how detailed Davis's author's notes are because it demonstrates the time and research she puts in to make the story come alive. It's fascinating how the character of Lily is based on a real person and how from a few historical figures, Davis was able to create this engrossing story.

I can't wait to visit the Frick and read more of Davis's books based on historic New York City locations!

This is not usually my genre, but I enjoyed this one. I typically enjoy Davis' books, so I'm not surprised. I loved the setting and felt like the characters were very dynamic.

Fiona Davis is one of my favorite authors. She writes historical fiction about the people and buildings of New York at the turn of the century.

The Magnolia Palace is a fascinating novel about one of the fabulous buildings still standing with a historical history in New York City. This time Davis takes the Frick Mansion and a few actual facts about the building and the Frick family and weaves a beautiful, romantic amazing plot around those facts to flesh out the story.

In the book a young beautiful girl known as Angelica becomes the muse for many artists and sculptors. Her likeness becomes famous as she posses for different statues that will be displayed all over New York.

When her mother dies and she is accused of a crime she insists she did not commit, she is forced to find a way to avoid jail time. Running away and ending up on the stairs of the Frick Mansion just as the daughter, Helen is looking for a private secretary seems like the perfect solution.

Angelica is creating a new life for herself as Miss Lilly, the efficient secretary to Helen Frick who is turning her father's incredible art collection into a library of the art and its Provence .

There are so many amazing twists and turns as this plot develops. The relationship between Helen and her father, mother and brother. The interplay between Helen and Lillian. Then Lillian and all the characters who pass through her life. Failed romance and true love plays heavily in this novel and even just the love between family and employee and boss are complicated relationships. A very compelling read.

this was a nice piece of historical fiction, classic Fiona Davis writing and an interesting storyline/plot.

One of my favorite Fiona Davis books. I enjoyed reading about The Frick Collection and the model whose image is all over NYC. After reading The Magnolia Palace, I was intrigued and read up on the model that the book was based on. It will also be great to visit the Frick Collection one day after the renovations are completed.

I have read one other Fiona Davis novel and Magnolia Palace follow a similar style with dual timelines around a famous old building, in this case the Frick Museum. I thoroughly enjoyed the earliest timeline featuring Lilian, who was a model and inspiration for artists in and around 1919 and who, through a series of events, ends up as a secretary for the Frick family in their mansion. The second timeline revolves around another model, Veronica, in the 1960's who is drawn into past events involving Lilian through some clues she happens across while working a photo shoot at the Frick Mansion which has now become a museum. I'd like to say that the timelines mesh together to form a great mystery, but I felt that story bogged down a bit in the middle before settling into the resolution of the mysteries. My favorite part of the book, as with Davis' other book The Lions of Fifth Avenue, was the author note where we learn more about the history that led to the story. I will recommend this book to patrons who are looking for historical fiction. Thank you to Dutton/Penguin Group and NetGalley for the early copy in return for my honest opinion. 3.5 stars

Thank you, Dutton Books, for the gifted copy of Magnolia Palace 🌸 {partner}

Genre: Historical Fiction
Setting: New York, 1916 and 1966
Format: 🎧
Pub Date: 1.25.2022
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆

“The rich think they’re protected, that they have magical powers, when in fact they’re only mortals, like the rest of us. Bodies break down, betray you. People you love die. Children die.”

Well folks, I finally got around to reading the Magnolia Palace after it sat on my shelf for a year. I don’t want to admit how many times I looked at the beautiful book and didn’t pick it up. But, I’m so glad I finally read it (well listened) because it was, in true Fiona Davis form, historical fiction at it’s finest.

I always love Davis’ books as she a beautiful way of bringing history to life through charming characters, familiar places and always a hint of a mystery. Which the more I think about it, the more I realized that the historical fiction + mystery mash-up may be my favorite trope.

My only two complaints that I had about Magnolia Palace are: I did not love Veronica’s character. She lacked the strong female protagonist that I could see her being and I also didn’t agree with the choices she made (even if she did try to make up for her actions). The other issue I have is that I thought the ended felt rushed and too easy.

If you choose to read Magnolia Palace, which you should, then I encourage you to make sure to read the Author’s Note at the end. It brought the whole story together and also shed some light on a woman from history that was neglected and forgotten.

✌🏼 Dual timeline (1916 + 1966)
🎭 Family drama with lots of secrets
🏯 Frick Mansion setting
🔀 Historical Fiction + Mystery genre mash-up

I recommend reading Magnolia Palace if you enjoyed reading any of Fiona Davis’ other books or are looking for a little history and mystery combination from your next read.

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I really enjoyed this. I think Fiona Davis is turning into one of my favorite authors. I love her worlds that she creates within Manhattan. I love the history that I learn while reading the book. I loved the relationship that developed between Veronica and Ms. Helen and the man who worked in the museum. This was a great book!

Fiona Davis’s book give you a little bit of everything. You learn history on a landmark building in NYC mixed with a mystery. They’re always a pleasure to read.

Fiona Davis's books always captivate me and The Magnolia Palace was no exception. I love the way she selects a NY landmark and then tells a story with both a present day and a historical storyline. The research she does on the period and the landmark shines through - I enjoyed learning so much about the Frick Family and their storied collection/museum. Highly recommend!

I loved this one. The way that it jumped between present time and the past I adored. The characters were so easy to fall in love with, and I loved that way the author was able to pull history but also add her own twists in.

SO GOOD!!!

I've read a few books by Fiona Davis now and she has a storytelling formula I really appreciate. I think this one falls in the middle of the pack for me — I liked the story and *some* of the characters (oh and I always love her writing) but something just didn't make it a complete home run. Really looking forward to her next one!

Another solid historical fiction read from Fiona Davis that made me want to visit the Frick Museum on my next NYC adventure! I’ll also be looking at the statutes adorning notable buildings that much closer from now on, too. ;) The two unique perspectives helped round out the storytelling in a way that keeps me coming back to her novels & excited for future releases.

This was easily one of my favourite books of the year. It was filled with vibrant writing, wonderful prose and such a gorgeous cover!

Fiona Davis is one of my all time favorite historical fiction authors and just when I think I couldn’t love her phenomenal writing any more, here came The Magnolia Palace, which utterly swept me away. This book may possibly be my new favorite by her (however I do have a tendency to say that with each and every read I pick up by her)!

This story is told through dual timelines, one taking place during the Spanish flu in 1919 and the other 50 years later. I found both to be equally compelling and interesting and I highly enjoyed coming alongside the main characters, Lillian and Veronica, in each of them. As a side note, I just have to mention that as a lover of art, this story really hit the nail on the head for me in the way that art was intertwined into the story! Truly each of the elements here, from the characters as I’ve already mentioned to the settings, the rich historical detail, all the way to the intriguing plot chock full of mystery and secrets, family drama, and romance added up to make it the wonderful, twisty, and simply unputdownable read that it was. Be sure not to miss the authors note at the end! It was super intriguing to read more about the inspiration behind Miss Lily and the real Helen Frick.

A unique and fresh, well-written and memorable historical fiction read, this is a book I cannot recommend highly enough to my fellow hist fic lovers or even somebody looking to give the genre a try! All the stars!!

Many thanks to Dutton and NetGalley for the gifted e-copy!

I always enjoy reading Fiona Davis's historical fiction novels as they teach me about various properties in NYC and some of the history of these amazing properties.
In this novel, told in dual timelines, Lilly is a model for various artists in 1919.when she becomes a witness to a murder. Wanting to escape this notoriety, she finds herself hired as a personal secretary for Helen Frick. Also, in 1966, Veronica, a British model is in NYC for a photo shoot at the Frick Museum when she gets trapped in the building during a blizzard.
There is a legend that the Magnolia Diamond went missing and was never found. This story, while imaginary, forms the basis for a mystery in this novel. Who stole the diamond and where could it be? There is also another death in the story, and a mystery surrounding who was responsible.
Fiona Davis has a gift in bringing these old buildings to life with an interesting story. I enjoyed it.

I have enjoyed Fiona Davis' previous books and this one was no exception. It was an enjoyable read and watching the mystery unfold via a young model in the late 20th century was a fun twist. Definitely a great way to escape through time.

Not only is this book historical fiction about a famous American family, but it is a modern mystery also, with some characters spanning both stories, which is a change from most books dealing with two stories. I have heard of the Frick family, but did not really know anything about them--now I would love to take a trip to NYC and visit the Frick Collection. This book has a variety of characters of all different social strata and temperaments and the social mores of the time are definitely reflected in the early 1900 story. This is a typical Fiona Davis novel--which is a wonderful thing.

Fiona Davis novels never disappoint and this was no exception. As always with her books we find dual time line and we can enjoy both parts of the story and how they intersect at some point. I enjoyed learning about The Frick Mansion which still houses the Frick collection to this day. #themagnoliapalace.