Fiona Davis never disappoints...I have read all of her books and each one is better than the one before. Set between the time periods of 1919 and 1966 in New York City you are brought into the lives of those living in each period. The author draws you in and you feel as you're part of the experience. Searching for the missing diamond from the Frick Museum, the book is compelling, definitely well written and a delight to read. My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, what is there to say about Fiona Davis that hasn’t already been said? Her books are consistently outstanding and The Magnolia Palace is no exception. I loved the dual timelines, the mystery element, all of the art and the amount of detail involved. I devoured this book in a weekend and I want more already. It’s a perfect blend of actual people and events and a completely new plot. Lovers of historical fiction will be thrilled by this book.

My thanks to NetGalley and Dutton for an advance reader’s copy.

I was overjoyed when I was sent a widget of Fiona Davis’ newest book as a result of an offer from her social media. I took my time reading it since I wanted to savor every word. I have never heard of the Frick collection and am not an art connoisseur, but I loved the history behind the collection as well as the family history. Davis successfully knit the two stories of Lillian, Helen, and Veronica cohesively, spanning 1966 and 1919. The cover is divine. I love NYC and with every book Davis has written, she caresses a new place in the city to highlight it for the delight of all her readers.

I don't know if it is the topic that has not resonated with me in the last couple of Fiona Davis's stories, or if it is simply that each book is starting to feel too much like the ones before due to writing style. - but I think I need to take a break from her books either way. I felt like I had read this book before from the opening pages, even though the characters and their specific circumstances were distinctive. It felt highly repetitive in style and format in such a way that I struggled to connect to the characters. I didn't find the subject as compelling as others she's addressed and that, combined with the deja vu sense I got while reading, meant this one just didn't resonate with me.

In 1919, Lillian loses her mother to the Spanish flu. Prior to her death, her mother had helped Lillian engineer herself as one of the most sought after artists' model, posing for statues scattered all over New York City, Now that her mother has died, Lillian is falling behind in the rent, with her grief leaving her unable to work. Running from her apartment, she stumbles upon a job with the Frick family as a private secretary. But the Frick family drama runs deeps and soon Lillian finds herself caught up in over her head.

Fifty years later, in 1966, Veronica is a model posing at the Frick mansion. When she stands up to the photographer, she is fired and while she is packing up her things, the rest of the crew and models leave, leaving her locked in the mansion. She comes across some hidden messages and with the help of intern Joshua, sets out to discover the secrets of the Fricks.

This is a good story that goes back and forth between 1919 and 1966, which is a little strange if you're used to having stories like this go from the past to the current time. But I really liked this format. Both of the main characters were well written and interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Available January 25, 2022.

Davis weighs in with a riveting read set in what is now the Frick Museum in New York City. The story's references to the artwork is, to me, the star of this novel, which is rather typical of the genre, rather than its main characters, who often come across as caricatures. Davis' excellent writing, however, elevates The Magnolia Palace among many others of its kind, making it a book that is hard to put down. Fans of Davis' work will devour this book.

The Magnolia Palace a place that saw tragedy and lost treasures during the time the Frick family lives there. Miss Lilly escaping her own tragedy of the death of her mother and career happens upon the Frick mansion at the exact time Miss Helen is looking for a personal secretary. Fifty years later, a mystery is solved that change the lives of those present.

Lillian Carter is an infamous artists' model whose face can be seen all around New York City. She began posing nude for sculptors so that she and her single mother could afford rent and food. Lillian quickly became renowned for her classical beauty, but no one knows her real name -- she's only known as "Angelica" to the art community.

After her mother's death from the Spanish flu, Lillian becomes a person of interest for a murder in her building. She flees when the police arrive and ends up at the Frick mansion as Helen Frick's personal secretary. Lillian loves being surrounded by the works of art the Fricks have acquired, even though she worries that someone might notice her as her likeness has been used in a sculpture above the Fricks' door.

Lillian becomes indispensable to Helen Frick, but the reader soon becomes aware in the future timeline that something must have gone wrong. Was Lillian discovered?

Later, in 1966, the Frick home has become a museum. English model Veronica travels to NYC for a photoshoot at the Frick and becomes trapped in the house during a winter storm. She finds the pages of a scavenger hunt created by Helen Frick and enlists Joshua, an intern also trapped in the Frick, to help her reach the end of the clues.

Solving this 50-year-old scavenger hunt leads them back to the past, and the story of Lillian and Helen's falling out is slowly revealed.

Recommended for Davis' many fans, readers of historical women's fiction, and lovers of New York City.

In some ways The Magnolia Palace is about the history of the Frick Museum in NYC, indeed, but in others, it's a love story - romantic love as well as the love or lack thereof between parents and children. I loved going back in time with Lillian, aka the model Angelica, to post WWI New York. Elements of her "artistic " model life ring true - the difficulty of the work, the misjudgment regarding a model's nudity, the influenza pandemic,, the stifling social class divide ... Then the groovy model Veronica from London was a refreshing flash forward to the 1960s -propelling the single narrative framed by the dual timelines and solving all the mysteries. Like all Fiona Davis's books, this one is wonderful, educational, and unforgettable..

City residents and/or tourists have surely passed the Frick museum on Fifth Avenue many times. (Currently, however the site is closed for renovations with the collection moved to the old Whitney Museum on Madison). The art that Frick collected is magnificent and include works by Rembrandt and many others. Seeing them is well worth a trip.

But, how much do you know about Frick himself? He was one of those Americans who, like Morgan, Carnegie and others, made huge fortunes and lived luxurious lives. This historical novel by Fiona Davis imagines aspects of his life primarily through the stories of the very real Helen Frick, his daughter, and another character Miss Lillian who is based on a real person.

Mill Lillian, also known as Angelique, was an artist’s model and the one whose sittings were most desired. The real Angelique adorns many New York City landmarks. The book will provide a good sense of where to look for them. Like the true personage, Lillian faces some difficulties. In the novel, these lead her to a fortuitous opportunity as Miss Helen’s private secretary.

The relationship between Helen and Lillian forms the basis for one story line in the book. Through this narrative, readers get a bird’s eye view of what life in the Frick household was like for both the upstairs and downstairs residents. Readers learn about a tragedy in the family and its on-going repercussions. They also learn why the novel is called The Magnolia Palace.

In a more modern timeline, set in the sixties, readers spend time with a young model who becomes snowbound in the mansion following a photo shoot. She spends time with a young Black intern. Together they make some surprising discoveries. Will the two narratives come together? Pick up the book to find out.

Lovers of historical fiction and those who have enjoyed other titles by Ms. Davis will want to take a look at The Magnolia Palace. The author’s notes what was true and where literary license occurred.

While not my favorite Fiona Davis book, I did enjoy this one. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Did you like the dual-timeline mystery, seeped in New York history, in Lions of Fifth Avenue? Do you want to read the same book, but set in the Frick this time? Of course you do! So read The Magnolia Palace.

The book held my interest throughout as do most of Fiona Davis’ books. I enjoyed reading about some of the art at The Frick Collection and liked it as the backdrop for story. The characters were interesting and having the two timelines come together to resolve the mystery was interesting.

I didn’t care too much for the two main women characters in the beginning. It took me acouple chapters to warm up to them. It’s a good book with a little mystery to it and a small side of romance. I think this is my first book by this author and definitely won’t be my last.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

Davis is in top form. A perfect read for NYC historical buffs especially Frick museum aficionados. As always Davis' characters come alive in their historical context and the fictional plots are interesting against the historical background. Will be an interesting read in conjunction with HBO's winter series The Gilded Age. Yes, highly recommended for a winter read or for any time.

The Magnolia Palace was another great book by Fiona Davis.

Lillian Carter made a name for herself in the early 1900's as an artist's muse. She posed for many sculptors and was known by everyone as Angelica. She & her mother had next to nothing and this allowed them to leave a decent life. When Lillian's mother dies, she is devastated & doesn't work for awhile and then becomes blamed for being involved in her landlord's wife's murder somehow.

In her attempt to flee New York, she lands a job as a personal secretary to one of the daughter's in the wealthy Frick family by happenstance. She decides to keep a low profile and earn enough money to escape the city and possibly the country for good.

Helen Frick is her boss and lives her life to please her father after her parents tragically lose her sister when she was only 5 years old. Helen is hard to work for, but she & Lillian find that they understand one another and it seems to be working until there is another death and Lillian is implicated once again.

The story has a dual timeline introducing us to another model, Veronica, that is there for a photo shoot and comes across a scavenger hunt of sorts that she and curator of the Frick art collection begin to unravel and try to solve what exactly happened there 50 years ago between Lillian and Helen.

Both timelines were interesting and I loved when they converged at the end bringing the story full circle. I'm not much of an art buff, but the story was compelling none the less and is sure to be a best seller.

Thank you to #netgalley for the advanced reader copy.

In 1919, after eight months Lillian Carter’s still grieving and her mother died during the Spanish flu epidemic. Lilly owes her landlord Mr. Watkins rent money, she's been unable to work and when his wife is found murdered, and the police consider her a suspect? Supervised by her mother Kitty, Lillian started working as an artists muse when she was fifteen and many of her statues are on public display around New York City.

Her mother wanted her daughter’s identity to remain a secret, Lillian uses a stage name and everyone in the art world knows her as Angelica. She flees her apartment, the opportunity to become Helen Frick’s secretary lands in her lap, and it gives Lilly a place to stay and time to work out what she’s doing to do? One of her statues is located at the front of the Frick mansion, no one recognizes her, and Miss. Helen’s a rather demanding person, eccentric, and Lilly can’t wait to leave.

Henry Clay Frick, made a fortune from producing steel, his grand home is a showcase for his huge and expensive art collection. Behind the expensive facade, there’s a lot of tension in the house, his wife locks herself away in her room, his two remaining children don’t get along, he desperately wants Helen to marry, and he finds her a suitor.

The Magnolia Palace, has a dual timeline, both characters are models and find themselves in the Frick mansion and a half a century apart.

In 1966, Veronica Weber’s in New York, doing a fashion shoot for Vogue and at the Frick museum, she feels very out of her depth and she’s only done smaller modelling jobs in the past. Veronica's worried about leaving her mum and sister Polly behind in England, and she wants to make enough money to take care of Polly who has special needs. Veronica finds herself locked inside the Frick museum, the power has gone out and New York’s been hit by a snow storm. College intern and budding art curator Joshua Lawrence has also been locked inside with Veronica and to pass the time they start a scavenger hunt. Looking for clues about the Frick family and they try to solve the mystery of what happened to the rare and expensive Magnolia diamond, it went missing in 1919 and hasn't been seen since.

The Magnolia Palace is a historical fiction story about the wealthy Frick family, it highlights the tension between the siblings, Helen and her mother’s odd behavior and Mr. Frick’s obsession with buying and collecting art. Based on true facts and you do wonder if Henry Frick felt any guilt about the flooding in Johnstown, Pennsylvania when a dam collapsed in 1889 and he was one of the investors. Fiona Davis has written another fascinating dual time masterpiece, thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Publishing for my copy in exchange for an honest review and five big stars from me.

I love all of Fionas books and this was no exception! I loved all the characters and how the story was told in a dual time line! Hooked from the first page! Highly recommend!

Escape into another time where class, decorum, scandals weave a plot of struggles, betrayals and love with a happy ending.

This is the first historical romance of this kind that I have read, a venture away from the usual genre and was lucky to receive this advance review copy. While the story was slow to have me in its grips, I could certainly envision enjoying this a movie being brought to life on the screen,

This author has the “it” factor for historical fiction. Easy to recommend all of her books to customers and know they will be getting a rich, full story that is well written. This one is no exception. Will have it on my shelf if recommended books!

4.5 rounded to 5⭐️
She does it again, ladies and gents! Fiona is a mastermind when it comes to weaving events of factual history into juicy stories for entertainment. Her latest book is no different.

First off, let’s start out with this deliciously, gorgeous cover! Second, dual timelines that could be said to be overdone were fresh in that we had the 1910-1920’s paired with 1966, and not present day. The female protagonists from different countries were also very unique in their own right . And then we have a fun multi-leveled mystery with some wonderfully-woven supporting characters. Lastly, Fiona did a wonderful job in the Author’s Note tying it all together with the actual historical events, describing what parts she decided to weave a story, and provided wonderful sources for continued deep diving. I have to say because of the story and how in some areas it was so tightly woven together (fact-to-fiction), it’s one of the few books that left me wanting to dig further and actually visit the Frick Museum! (I’m so curious now, and for that, the star rating is rounded up.)

I want to thank Penguin Random House for the opportunity to view the unedited ARC and provide a review.
Spoiler ahead! (Move to my final statement)
I only have 2 things that left me disappointed — when Veronica (our 1966 protagonist) finds the ultimate scavenger hunt prize, an exclamation point is not used. Simply a period. This struck me as very odd considering the whole story was leading up to this ta-da! moment.
And last, at the end when we find out the truth, it felt like an old episode of Scooby Doo as our supporting character eludes, “if it weren’t for those ‘meddling’ kids…” (paraphrasing the cartoon bad guy, as the word meddling is used in the book.)

Overall, I would highly recommend this read… if anything, as I mentioned, for the fact that it left me wanting to search out the real deal the next time I’m in NY!