Set within the Upper East Side’s historic Frick mansion, the narrative weaves together two timelines centered on the building’s evolution from private residence to public gallery. In 1919, Lillian Carter, a sought-after artists’ model fleeing a scandal, becomes the private secretary to Helen Frick, daughter of industrialist Henry Clay Frick. Decades later in 1966, Veronica Weber, a young model, discovers a series of hidden clues and messages within the museum during a snowstorm. Their stories intersect through the history of a missing diamond and the internal family conflicts of the Frick dynasty.
This novel is for readers who enjoy historical fiction focused on New York City architecture and the early twentieth-century art world. Those interested in the specific history of the Gilded Age and the transition of private estates into cultural institutions will find detailed descriptions of museum operations and archival research. Readers walk away with a clear understanding of the social expectations placed on women in various eras of the modeling industry and the technicalities of the Frick family’s real-life legacy.
Clear-cut; an easy read.
Best for readers like The Curious Generalist. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2022
- Language
- EN
