I loved this book! It's well-written, enjoyable, and a great read. The author did a great job of writing in a way that captures the readers attention, and makes you not want to put it down until you're finished! I would highly recommend it!

Joy Callaway’s The Grand Design is the story of Dorothy Draper and her transformation of the Greenbrier Resort. I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this well written, interesting book. If you like historical fiction, this book is for you!

Loosely autobiographical story of Dororthy Draper and the Greenbriar Resort starting in the early 1900s. She stayed there as a young girl, and later, as a decorator redesigned it and brought it back after it had been used during the war as a hospital and internment for political prisoners. Being a decorator back then was not typical for a woman. Dorothy was a wealthy heiress: a woman having a profession wasn't done. The story is a love story for Dorothy and for the resort as a special place. Royalty, actors, actresses, political greats and the wealthy all enjoyed staying there, with all of their secrets.

I received this book free from the author, publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

#TheGrandDesign #NetGalley #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout #HarperMuse #HistoricalFiction #JoyCallaway

This was a fun book that incorporated the Greenbriar Resort as the backdrop. In the early years, Dorothy falls in love with a racecar driver, but her family puts an end to it. Thirty-eight years later, newly divorced Dorothy returns to the Resort to restore it. The character of Dorothy is loosely based on Dorothy Draper. This book is well-written and is a delightful story.

Well researched and extremely well written story based on a Draper. I enjoyed almost everything in it. What a woman!

In 1908, rich young socialite, Dorothy Tuckerman, gets to experience the Greenbrier Resort yearly while vacationing there with her family. Dating an Italian racecar driver just ups her social status and makes her crave the passion and adventures that come with being with a wealthy man of status.
Despite her yearning it is not to be as her family puts a stop to it, not uncommon for a young woman in those days.
Never having forgotten the beauty and charm of the Greenbrier in West Virginia, Dorothy returns there thirty-eight years later as a divorced woman and her eye for beauty and style leads her to become CEO of America’s first interior design firm. She is tasked with restoring the Greenbrier to become more elegant than the original design. Her bold and brilliant prints are ahead of her time and one of a kind. Her unconventional methods of design lead some to give her designing suggestions but she won't back down. Her whole life was the Greenbrier and she absolutely loved it there.
"Based on the true story of famed designer Dorothy Draper, The Grand Design is a moving tale of one woman’s quest to transform the walls that hold her captive."

Pub Date 17 May 2022
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

A captivating romance that takes place in one of America's hidden gems. The historical aspects were entertaining and kept me interested throughout the book. Having this time period and this place be centered in the book is encouraging to the people who know and love The Greenbrier, but also may open it up to new visitors, too.

Dorothy Draper, 1930s - 1960s interior designer, is the main character. And, the historically significant Greenbrier Resort in White Sulfur Springs, WV serves as another primary character. Although the book is a work of fiction, the author hypothesizes, reasonably so, that Dorothy fell in love with the Greenbrier through her growing up years with summers away from NYC that were spent at the Greenbrier.
The story jumps between 1908 and 1947-1948. We first meet a 19-year-old Dorothy who has fallen in love with Italian race car driver, Enzo. Down on his luck, Enzo agrees to a marriage to Helen Taft, daughter of the President. Star-crossed romantics, Enzo and Dorothy are fated to part. In the 1940s, Dorothy has, at long last, been hired to her dream job of restoring the Greenbrier. As she works on the property, she reflects back on that summer.
It is a clever story with a reach into facts about Dorothy Draper, designer.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Dorothy Draper is well known as on of America's first interior designers, and Joy Callaway's new novel looks at her life and most famous work at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia. This is a dual timeline novel about the famed interior designer Dorothy Draper. The story alternates between 1908 and 1946 and is set in the glamourous Greenbrier. In 1908, Dorothy is spending the summer at the resort with her family dreaming of a life beyond that of a typical housewife. In 1946, she has been hired to restore the rundown resort and possibly save her company and reputation at the same time.

I enjoy historical fiction and love interior design so I was excited to get a copy of this book but I struggled with it. Dorothy, or at least her portrayal, was grating despite her revolutionizing an industry she was not my favorite character. The story's pace was slower than I would have liked with too much focus on the romance then the woman and her accomplishments. I enjoyed the details of Greenbrier and its restoration.

Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed reading about the Greenbrier resort it’s a place I haven’t been but have been nearby.

I enjoyed the past and present of the grandeur of the Greenbrier and of Dorothy Draper’s life there. I also enjoyed reading how much she loved her work, during these years not as many women were working.

I recommend this book to those interested in historical fiction. A four star read!!

This book is as grand as the title would suggest. From the grandeur of high society in the early 1900s, to the grand rebirth of an historic resort, and a grand love affair, this book captured it all. I was thoroughly captivated by Dorothy Draper and Greenbrier, of which I did not know even existed before reading this book. I came away feeling like Dorothy was a long lost friend. This is a book that should be on every historic novel lover's book list.

Generally I enjoyed this book. What I liked the most was the historical setting of the Greenbriar resort and the details about the design that Dorothy Draper did there. Those parts of the story I found really interesting and I spent some time on google looking at pictures of the resort and Draper's designs.

On the other hand, I just wasn't invested in the characters and the underlying love story. I didn't like the decisions the characters made. It didn't feel realistic maybe. Because of that, I found the story dragged a bit.

Overall it was an interesting book.

Attempted to read.. Did Not Finish and did not review on blog. I couldn't read this book on my kindle due to the formatting and not being able to see the words clearly on my kindle app.

The Grand Design had me from the beginning! I love a historical fiction novel that transports me completely, and I gives me the opportunity to learn about something, someone or somewhere new. The Grand Design hit all those boxes.

My best friend had been to the Greenbrier Resort, but other than hearing about her trip, I really wasn't familiar with the Resort or its famous designer Dorothy Draper. The story is told in a split time line where we meet Dorothy as a young lady in the early 1900s staying at Greenbrier Resort with her family. She feels the societal constraints so tightly around her, and simply knows she wants something different for her life. She meets Enzo, a young Italian race car driver, and her heart is immediately taken but their path is not so easily laid out for them. In 1946, Dorothy Draper is now a rising interior designer who has been hired to return the Greenbrier Resort to its former glory and establish it as the place for stars and high society to visit.

The descriptions of the Greenbrier Resort and Ms. Draper's designs are captured so vividly that when I looked at photos online they were exactly as I had envisioned them. I absolutely fell in love with this story and am now trying to figure out when I can plan a trip to West Virginia to visit the Greenbrier in person. I had not heard of Dorothy Draper before and am in awe of her story and accomplishments.

The Grand Design gets all the love from me and a five star rating. I received this book courtesy of the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Just this morning, a friend asked what I had read recently. When I mentioned The Grand Design, she asked what made me want to read this book. So, there was the author whom I knew from another book that I liked. I also was, and am always, enticed and intrigued by historical fiction’s ability to send me to a time in the past where I can become absorbed. It is also always fascinating to learn more about people and how they grow.

This story of Dorothy Draper drew me right in. I had heard of the Greenbrier Resort which was important to DD so I was curious to learn more about her connection with it The author gives this hotel so much life and history.

DD went there as a young girl of marriageable age as is described in one of the novel’s time frames. She was taller than her female peers and felt different. Dorothy also dreamed of a less conventional life. What happened when she met an Italian race car driver at the Greenbrier? How does she get from this strong attraction to the other marriages in her life? Readers will want to know.

Before moving on, a note about Dorothy’s peers in the early section of the book. They included people like Helen Taft, the President’s daughter. I had fun looking up old newspaper clippings about many of those who were mentioned. There is so much social history in the wedding announcements.

The second time frame of the book centers on an older, wiser (?) Dorothy, who returns to the Greenbrier after WWII. The hotel had been a hospital and was quite neglected. How will it be brought back to life? Here, readers learn about DD’s immense design talents and the process of getting this huge undertaking completed.

I very much enjoyed this book. I loved the descriptions and insights into Dorothy’s love of color. It was fascinating to learn about this working woman who had her own company at a time when that was unusual. I was left curious and wanting to learn even more about Dorothy and her circle.

I highly recommend this title to those who enjoy historical fiction. Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Muse for this title. All opinions are my own

The Grand Design
The book was hard to put down. Great writing, great story! It leads me to read more about Dorothy Draper.

The Grand Design: A Novel of Dorothy Draper is a wonderful work of biographical fiction. Joy Calloway creates a story based on the life of Dorothy Draper, an American design pioneer, and one of her most famous designs, The Greenbrier Hotel. It was fun to revisit The Greenbrier and learn about the design process. I even pulled out my old photos as I was reading! Calloway does a great job incorporating the talent and circumstances that positioned Dorothy Draper to become a design icon through the use of bright colors, bold designs, and big patterns on such a grand scale. I thought the dual timeline worked and the story well-paced. I felt immersed in the setting and the story.

I recommend this novel to readers who enjoy learning about famous buildings and influential women in history. Fans of Allison Pataki and Fiona Davis will enjoy reading The Grand Design!

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a historical novel, but it some places it feels more like a biography. I enjoyed this book but I didn't love it.

Thank you NetGalley, Harper Muse and Joy Callaway for providing me with a digital ARC of this book.
This is the story of Dorothy Draper, one of the most well known and much emulated American interior designers. Dorothy Draper grew up in a rarified environment which she ultimately rebelled against. Every summer her family summered at the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia. The Greenbrier was the place to summer, with the same upper crust families returning year after year. It was there that Dorothy first fell in love. This is a beautifully written and impeccably researched novel which spans the years from the Gilded Age through post World War II. The reader is immersed into Dorothy’s world with all the highs and lows she experienced. The cover of this book is one of the most beautiful I have seen and really sets the scene for the story. Readers of historical fiction will find this book a joy to read.

The Grand Design by Joy Callaway is a historical novel set in two time periods. The first time period is just before World War 1 where we are introduced to our main character Dorothy Tuckerman. She is a young, tall debutante who is summering at The Greenbrier (formerly known as White Sulfur Springs). All the proper families summered at The Greenbrier. The summer was about showing off one’s wealth, attending debutante parties, talking national politics and making connections. Young Dorothy had been promised to the son of a wealthy family friend. Dorothy and her pseudo-beau do not want to be married, but they love one another as friends. Then a race car driver from Italy arrives, and everything changes.

The second time period is after the war, the great depression, a divorce and now a career woman. After her marriage ended (neither to the original beau or the Italian) a way of keeping her mind off her problems was to surround herself with bright colors. She became excited when decorating a room.

Fast forward, Dorothy Draper, has now made a name for herself. So when The Greenbrier needed to be redecorated, Dorothy was a natural fit. Now she is faced with the gigantic task of redesigning the entire hotel. She is feeling the pressure not only to uphold the history of The Greenbrier but Dorothy needs the commission from this job to keep her business in the black.

Ms. Callaway does a good job balancing the interesting history of The Greenbrier alongside the design elements of this special place. Prior to reading this book I had never heard of Dorothy Draper. She was a very early force in modern interior design. Ms. Callaway uses a compilation of historical facts and creative fiction to create a bright and curious story. The author’s skill in character development allows us to love and hate Dorothy's personality all at the same time.

Much of the former glory about the hotel is found in the details of this book. I had never heard of The Greenbrier prior to reading this novel. I found myself eager to keep reading about the details of this special place.

The author tucks in a side story with a long-time worker at The Greenbrier adds the perfect amount of sentimentality to the story. I found myself a bit bored with the over description of Dorothy’s thoughts in a few tedious details and monologue-like scenes but for the most part the story flowed very well. This is my first book by Ms. Callaway. I am curious to see what she has in store for us next.

I would like to thank the author, Harper Muse and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.