In 1952, Darby McLaughlin moves into the Barbizon Hotel for Women to study secretarial skills, where she befriends a rebellious maid named Esme who introduces her to the jazz clubs of mid-century New York. Decades later, Rose Lewin, a journalist living in the modernized building, discovers a decades-old mystery involving a violent rooftop confrontation and a hidden identity. Rose navigates her own professional setbacks while interviewing the reclusive Darby to uncover how a secret shipment of heroin and a tragic accident linked the building’s glamorous past to its current residents.
Historical fiction enthusiasts read this book to compare the social constraints placed on career women in the fifties with modern workplace dynamics. Readers gain a detailed look at the internal operations of the Barbizon and the evolution of Manhattan’s social geography. This narrative appeals to those interested in the transition from traditional domesticity to female independence, providing a clear depiction of how women utilized urban living spaces to forge lives outside of marriage.
Practical and clear-cut; an easy read.
Best for readers like The Curious Generalist. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2016
- Language
- EN
