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The Lions of Fifth Avenue

The Lions of Fifth Avenue Book Cover The Lions of Fifth Avenue
Fiona Davis
Fiction
Dutton
August 4, 2020
Hardcover
368
Purchased

It's 1913, and on the surface, Laura Lyons couldn't ask for more out of life--her husband is the superintendent of the New York Public Library, allowing their family to live in an apartment within the grand building, and they are blessed with two children. But headstrong, passionate Laura wants more, and when she takes a leap of faith and applies to the Columbia Journalism School, her world is cracked wide open. As her studies take her all over the city, she finds herself drawn to Greenwich Village's new bohemia, where she discovers the Heterodoxy Club--a radical, all-female group in which women are encouraged to loudly share their opinions on suffrage, birth control, and women's rights. Soon, Laura finds herself questioning her traditional role as wife and mother. But when valuable books are stolen back at the library, threatening the home and institution she loves, she's forced to confront her shifting priorities head on . . . and may just lose everything in the process.

Eighty years later, in 1993, Sadie Donovan struggles with the legacy of her grandmother, the famous essayist Laura Lyons, especially after she's wrangled her dream job as a curator at the New York Public Library. But the job quickly becomes a nightmare when rare manuscripts, notes, and books for the exhibit Sadie's running begin disappearing from the library's famous Berg Collection. Determined to save both the exhibit and her career, the typically risk-adverse Sadie teams up with a private security expert to uncover the culprit. However, things unexpectedly become personal when the investigation leads Sadie to some unwelcome truths about her own family heritage--truths that shed new light on the biggest tragedy in the library's history.

My review:

In typical Fiona Davis fashion, this story follows women in two different time periods. In this case it is 1913 and 1993. Sadie is the modern day protagonist, and Laura (her grandmother) is the woman who lived in the apartment located within the New York public library. What I love about Davis' books is the little known facts you learn about iconic NYC buildings. Who knew there was an apartment  inside the library, and that the famous lion statues out front originally had different names? Along with a fabulous story about missing books, you will glean little tidbits about the library, as well as the Heterodoxy club, a female group with an agenda well before its time. What was most interesting to me about this book is that in previous books I was usually drawn more into the storyline of one time period, but not with this one. I loved Laura and Sadie's stories, and found them both captivating. Laura was certainly a woman before her time, and I loved that she tried so hard to balance her career and homelife back in 1913, a true pioneer of the women's movement! The mystery of the missing books was a fun one to follow, even if the resolution may have been a tad unbelievable.

Definitely recommend this one, especially if you are drawn to famous NYC architecture, priceless manuscripts, bookish places, and mysteries. Not to mention some kick butt women from the early 20th century!

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