Now Read This: The Address by Fiona Davis

Betty Martin is director of the Cape Girardeau Public Library.

Fred Lynch ~ Southeast Missourian

This historical novel takes place in New York City and alternates between the years of 1884 and 1984. In 1884 Sara Smythe emigrates from England to manage a new apartment building, the Dakota, or, as it becomes known as, The Address. It will be the first hotel of its kind where the residents will live year round and have hotel amenities. The apartments are inherited by each succeeding generation. (We eventually learn that this is the same hotel in which John Lennon lived.) Sara is invited over by Mr. Theodore Camden, the architect of the project. She soon becomes Theodore’s lover and eventually, his murderer. Convicted of the murder, Sara is sent to an insane asylum where she meets Nellie Bly who, through media pressure, helps to get her released.

In 1984 Bailey, an interior designer by trade, is fresh out of rehab and without a job. She is invited by her cousin to help re-design one of the apartments in the Dakota. At this point in time, the apartment building is home to artists and celebrities and a member of the original Camden family. At the back of a storage room, in an old trunk, Bailey discovers a valuable knife sheath hidden in a tube of architect plans – both of which are covered in dried blood.

This suspenseful book provides a fascinating look at the history of New York in the late 1880’s. The reader gets a glimpse into the asylums of the day. The novel has a mystery to be solved, and threads of a life sacrificed for a child and a blooming romance.

Author Fiona Davis began her career in New York City as an actress, where she worked on Broadway, off-Broadway, and in regional theater. After ten years, she changed careers, working as an editor and writer specializing in health, fitness, nutrition, dance, and theater. The Cape Library also owns a copy of her novel The Dollhouse which also takes place in another hotel in New York City.

NoveList’s suggestions of read-alikes include: Danielle Steel’s Legacy and Kathleen Tessaro’s The Perfume Collector. The Library owns copies of both of these titles.

Finally, as I write this column I am in the middle of reading Column of Fire by Ken Follett, his latest 900-plus page novel in his Pillars of the Earth series. The weather is about to turn cold so this is a great time to curl up with such a tome.

Happy Readings in 2018!