The Dollhouse: A Novel

This book was so interesting! Going into it I didn't know that it was based on a real hotel/boarding house, and I ended up googling a lot of things. The only Barbizon I was familiar with was the modeling school, which seems to have no relation to the building.

The story was intriguing and heartbreaking, but also hopeful. I really enjoyed reading as the mystery slowly unfolded.

An intriguing plot spoiled by amateurish writing... I wanted a deep look into the Barbizon and the 1950s; instead, I got a once-over lightly potboiler with a couple of sex scenes.

Rose, a journalist ,researches a story involving women who once lived in her condo building in NYC when it was a building that housed single women in the 1950s. A young woman from Ohio, Darby, is focus of the novel. She still lives in the building as an old woman and is surrounded in mystery. Rose, decides to uncover her story and we do also. This novel nicely highlights life for single women in NYC in 1950s.

Rose Lewin lives in the former Barbizon Hotel with her boyfriend. When he pulls the rug out from under her by going back to his family to help raise his sick child, Rose is left with nowhere to live and half the pay she used to receive. After running into a mysterious woman in the elevator, Rose speaks to one of the other women on the fourth floor, all former Barbizon Hotel residents, she realizes there is a story waiting to be told. As she delves into the secret of the woman who lives below her, she realizes that there may be more than meets the eye.

Darby McLaughlin moves into the Barbizon Hotel, a hotel strictly for women, with a placement in the Katherine Gibbs School to learn to become a secretary. One night she goes out with the Ford models on her floor and is attacked. After learning she had been set up, the hotel maid, Esme, comes to her defense and helps her get cleaned up. An unlikely friendship grows and Darby begins to see that maybe the goals her mother set for her are not all she is meant to do. When tragedy strikes everyone's lives are altered and their futures will never be the same.

In Fiona Davis' debut novel, she sets the 1952 scene in such a manner that you cannot help but fall into it. The main characters are people you would want to know in real life and their pasts make them someone the reader feels for. It was amazing to look at this book and some of Davis' newer novels and see the manner in which her storytelling has changed and grown. The last few chapters of this quick read were amazing and completely not what I thought was going to happen. I'm so glad I took the day to read this one!

The Dollhouse was difficult to read. The characters although real enough were not likeable. The storyline was consistent throughout and had a conclusion. This is the first book that the author wrote and as she wrote more, the books got better. Only three stars were awarded to this book.

I love Fiona Davis and her books. I own the hard copy but decided to listen to it on audio. Although, I really did like the book, the parts that took place in 1952 got on my nerves a little, not sure if it was the narrator or the characters. Perhaps, I will read the book in the future and see if that's better for me. Still a good read, though.

Quite interesting while I was listening to it, but the story lacked intensity and I had to force myself to go back to it until it expired. I do enjoy Fiona Davis exposing us to the bygone eras of New York, but I wish her plots were stronger.

Not knowing much about this area of history, I found the “Barbie” school fun and interesting. This was my first Fiona Davis book and I’m excited to read more from her. I think it was well written and had a good amount of mystery. I wasn’t expecting the twist at the end - and then the second twist was even better.

Although this is Fiona Davis' debut, I discovered several of her other books before reading this one. I have enjoyed all of them for their interesting sense of place and story lines that are uncomplicated but engaging. It's a combination that is refreshing during troubled times.

A popular format in books these days appears to be that of telling a story through two timelines. In The Dollhouse we are switched back and forth between 1952 and 2016. The main focal point in these two stories is the well-known Barbizon Hotel and the women who lived there. In 2016 we have Rose, a journalist who is planning on a story featuring some of the older ladies who have lived in the Barbizon since it was a woman’s residence. Rose story is also about her romantic relationship that has imploded and how she moves on. The flashback story, follows one of the older ladies who still resides at the Barbizon, Darby came to New York in 1952 in order to train as a secretary but she was involved in the mysterious death of a maid who had befriended Darby and drew her into the underground world of jazz clubs and drugs.

While there is a certain amount of tension and mystery to the story, I was left a little underwhelmed by the book. The author delivers with the setting and the historical details, but the characters never really came to life for me. The book lacked emotional depth and the writing did little to draw the reader into the story.

The Dollhouse is author Fiona Davis’ debut novel so I tried to not be too judgmental about the flaws. Her story idea had merit so my hope is that in subsequent books her delivery improves.

At least I finished this before the new year. Would hate to start a new year with this. Could have been an interesting story. The writer just uses it as an emotional sponge to wring. Yuck.

Journalist Rose Lewin's life is coming unravelled -- her promising television career has ended in scandal, her father's health is deteriorating, and her boyfriend just dumped her to go back to his ex-wife, who wants immediate possession of the Barbizon condo.

While she's juggling all this, she becomes obsessed with the stories of a small group of elderly women, clinging to rent-controlled apartments in what was once the Barbizon Hotel for Women -- a New York institution that was home to models, writers, and aspiring career girls in the 1950s. As Rose tries to puzzle out the hidden stories, the twists get darker and her own hold on rational behavior seems to get more slippery with every turn.

Nicely done, with believable characterizations and some pointed comparisons of the choices women made in the 1950s compared to the ones still being made today.

Rose and Darby. Both women have a connection to "The Dollhouse" more familiarly known as the Barbizon Hotel/Apartments in New York City. Despite their life stories being 50 years apart, they share similarities which reflect the norm for women trying to achieve a place in their world.
Although I've seen this technique before, Davis juxtapositions the two eras and reveals bits of information concerning Darby, circa 1952, to the reader... which later become known to the Rose of 2016. Here the technique works, basically because there is somewhat of a mystery involved as to how Darby received the unsightly scars on her face and why she isn't seen unless she wears a veil. It makes the novel a page turner to the end. Historical fiction at its finest!
For a debut novel, the writer seems well seasoned and I anxiously await her next novel.

This engaging novel centered around women living at the Barbizon Hotel in New York in the 1950s but from the perspective of a modern woman. It’s a wonderful mystery and social commentary.

This book has been recommended to me more times than I can count. I was on the waiting list at the library for months! I can see why. It is very well written with lots of people to love. The back and forth storytelling style works perfectly for this book. I didn't know what had happened until the end of the book, but I wasn't tired of not knowing what was going on either.

Now I'll have to put my name on the list for The Address!

This kept me entertained and it was interesting to learn more about New York in the 50s. But didn't really feel bonded with the characters. It was probably more of a 3.5 star.

I loved this book! It was such a fascinating story! I remember reading about the rooming houses in New York where women could go and there were set rules they had to follow. I didn't know this one was famous with several famous people living there like Sylvia Plath (one month) and Liza Minelli. I liked how the story went back in time to 1952 when things were actually happening to 2016 with Rose doing research for her article. The ending did have a twist and then another twist. This was so well worth my time!

I received this copy from Penguin Random House's First to Read program.

Before reading this novel, I had no idea of the historical significance of the Barbizon Hotel. Sure, I've heard about Sylvia Plath and Jaon Crawford, but I had no idea that they lived in a women's-only hotel! This just made me more interested in reading this story (even though the story has nothing to do with any famous women)!

When Darby McLaughlin arrives at the Barbizon Hotel in 1952 to begin her schooling at a secretarial school, she is housed along with girls who work for the Ford modeling agency. It soon becomes clear that she stands out for all the wrong reasons; her plain features, and self-consciousness make her a pariah among her hall mates. Darby finds a true friend in Esme, a Barbizon maid, who shows Darby a whole new side of New York City, full of seedy downtown jazz clubs, with their addictive music and heroin.

Over half a century later, the Barbizon has been turned into a condo, with the older female guests staying on in rent-controlled apartments. However, rumors of Darby's involvement in a deadly skirmish with a hotel maid in 1952 still float around among the residents. The history of the building combined with this piece of gossip is too intoxication for journalist Rose Lewin to resist, especially once she moves into the Barbizon. As Rose begins to investigate deeper into Darby's life, the ethical line begins to grow murky. What both women can be sure of is that life will never be the same for them after this.

What an absolutely fascinating read! I loved everything about this story and was absolutely incapable of putting it down! Where do I even begin?

Well, first of all, I love the characters. Every single one showed me a unique side to New York City either in 1952 or in 2016. Darby, Esme, and Rose each have their own personality and voice, making them not only easy to distinguish but easy to connect with as well. I loved how each character changed throughout the story, and it was done so tastefully that it never felt as if one character shone more than the other. I liked reading about their interactions with others and the way in which their relationship to New York City itself changed as the story progressed.

I loved that the story continually shifted from past to present, and that I was able to glimpse life back in the 1950s, a time period that I am wholly unfamiliar with save for references in the book. The author did a fantastic job of making Barbizon come alive to the reader, even though I didn't know the first thing about this historic building! It made me wish I could have gone and lived there during that time period and experienced everything first hand!

I enjoyed the romance aspects of the story, which is quite surprising since I usually don't comment on this area. It was done right in this novel, both in 1952 and in 2016, and I'm not going to say another word on this topic for fear of ruining it!

I could go on and on about all of the wonderful things about this story! It is a tale about friendship, feeling at home in your own skin, and making difficult life decisions in the face of adversity. It talks about misunderstandings, trust, and the need to be loved by those around you. The author took these themes and seamlessly integrated a vibrant backdrop without taking anything away from the story or the characters, and for all of these reasons and more, this novel is going to get 5 stars from me!

I was bored by this story which contained ridiculous, unbelievable characters about which I cared nothing. Ugh.

Switching chapters from from 1952 every other chapter to going back and forth to 2016. The Barbizon hotel is indeed a real structure in New York City, NY. Currently, it is a high end apartment building where the properties are priced from the mid 1 million - ever higher apartments.

In 1952 it was primarily a hotel comprised of many small rooms which housed young women who were either in acting, modeling, or a women's technical business school called the Katherine Gibbs school.

Changing characters and stories from the 1952's where a young woman attends the secretarial school and feels out of place with the high-class modeling girls, and then the current time frame wherein a 35 year old woman was convinced by her lover to leave her cozy apartment and move with him into the Barbizon. When her lover decides to go back to his wife, she has no where to live. The young girl portrayed from the 1950's, also looses her place to live when she is fails the boring curriculum of the Gibbs school.

While I enjoyed learning about the hotel, this is not a book I can recommend. The plot wherein the current girl tries to find information about the women who lived in the hotel in the 1950's, seemed weak. The switching of chapters is not a style of reading I enjoy.

Overall, it kept me interested enough to finish, but disappointing throughout.

I'm disappointed that this is her debut novel----I was hoping there were more. The historical fiction aspect was wonderful and the story itself was....just right.

The Barbizon Hotel in New York City is a glamorous place for women where models, secretaries, and editors live while trying to claw their way to success until they can find themselves a husband. The year is 1952 and Darby McLaughlin has arrived at the Barbizon Hotel to stay while she attends Katharine Gibbs secretarial school. But she doesn't fit in and the secretarial work is boring. Darby befriends a maid from the Barbizon and together they hang out in a seedy jazz club called the Flatted Fifth until all hours of the night. But it's not all fun and games for long.

Present day - the Barbizon is no longer a hotel but a condo. Rose Lewin is a journalist living there. She's on the fifth floor while the old women who've lived there since it was a hotel live on the fourth floor. She becomes interested in one woman in particular after she hears a juicy story about Darby's involvement in a deadly skirmish back in the 50's. She becomes obsessed with uncovering this woman's past while her own life is falling apart.

I really enjoyed the history of the Barbizon Hotel for women. I liked how that era was brought to life with seedy jazz clubs and fashion and the glitz of the hotel itself. Darby's story was strong and very interesting. Rose's story was interesting when she was trying to uncover Darby's past, otherwise I thought there was a bit much going on but overall it was a good read.

I have a good reason to savor this book: on my Book Stew TV show, I did an episode featuring Rose Doherty, author of Katherine Gibbs: Beyond White Gloves, a history of the fabled training ground for professional women. This novel's setting is the famed Barbizon Hotel for Women, now converted to condos. And the protagonist, Rose (coincidence?), in the modern day chapters, is a journalist who's researching the few elderly women who were allowed to stay in rent stabilized apartments when the building was converted. Rose's story alternates with that of Darby. Back in the 1950's, Darby is sent by her overbearing mother from Ohio to the Gibbs School. Her experiences with the "giraffes", the Eileen Ford models also housed at the hotel, leads her into friendship with Esme, a maid who is also an ambitious jazz vocalist. Many twists and turns here, all believable, and well written tension with a fulfilling resolution. Very enjoyable!

This book bills itself as a "debut novel (that) pulls readers into the lush world of New York City's glamorous Barbizon Hotel for Women, where, in the 1950's a generation of aspiring models, secretaries and editors lived side-by-side while attempting to claw their way to fairy-tale success." What we get in actuality is dual sudsy tales (one set in 2016 and the other in 1952) told in alternating chapters of two women of differing generations both trying to overcome obstacles in order to find happiness and success. Neither story is very believable and neither character is very likeable. Read The Bell Jar instead.

In The Dollhouse, author Fiona Davis takes the great idea of setting a story in New York City's famed women's residence, the Barbizon Hotel, and comes up with a standard-issue historical novel with a hint of romantic suspense. There are two plots set in two different time periods: one involves Darby, a dowdy secretarial student of the 1950s, who finds excitement when she is befriended by Esme, a stereotypically brash Puerto Rican spitfire. The other is about disgraced former TV anchorwoman Rose, a modern-day resident of the Barbizon, and her unraveling of what really happened to Darby and Esme on one fateful night. Of course, in both stories there are complications involving romantic partners, as well.

The Dollhouse is in the tradition of Nora Roberts's stand-alone novels and will appeal to her fans.

This was a really compelling story that took place in New York City. The story is told from the view point of two different women who happen to live in the same building called the Barbizon. The one story takes place in 1950's New York. The other story takes place in modern time. I liked how the author connected the two women slightly to give us these unique look into history. The Barbizon actually was an apartment building for women living and working in the city. There was a bit of suspense as well.
I received a complimentary copy via the publisher in exchange for a review.

This is a must read for fans of the history of New York City. In the 1950's, the Barbizon Hotel was a women-only residence. Starry-eyed young women arrived at its doorsteps with dreams of stardom, success and catching a rich man. Darby arrives in 1952 with a plan to enroll in a secretarial school and quickly finds herself the victim of the "mean" girls that live there. She is befriended by one of the maids, who shows her the sleazy side of NYC, jazz clubs, drugs, fast women, etc. Fast forward to modern day when the Barbizon has been turned into condos. A journalist lives upstairs from Darby and gets wind of the mysterious tale of intrigue involving a resident and a maid. Violence is involved. A great read! My thanks to the author and the Penguin First to Read program for a complimentary copy.

4.5 stars

The Dollhouse provides a fascinating glimpse into life at the Barbizon Hotel for Women in the 1950s. The story opens in 2016 with Rose who lives in the Barbizon, which has been renovated and now contains high end condos. She learns that a few of the women who lived there until the hotel closed were granted rooms on the 4th floor so that they would have a place to live. Rose, who is a journalist, decides to pursue the stories of these women, particularly Darby McLaughlin. The Dollhouse shifts back and forth in time between 1952 and 2016. Fiona Davis connects the two stories seamlessly, and the effect is outstanding.

Davis includes so many entertaining details about the Barbizon (the Odeon chandelier, the art deco décor and furnishings) and what it was like to live there in the 1950s and 1960s – women living there could not cross the lobby wearing pants, only skirts. She also references the famous women who lived there such as Sylvia Plath, Liza Minelli, Candace Bergen and Joan Crawford. The jazz and bebop scene in Manhattan in the 1950s is included too with big names such as Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk making appearances.

The Dollhouse was a ton of fun to read and very well-written. I loved the story and was so glad I read it. Thanks to First to Read for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In The Doll House by Fiona Davis Darby McLaughlin becomes one of the residents of the famed Barbizon Hotel for Women in 1952. During that decade the Barbizon was the home of aspiring young women who had come to New York to pursue careers as models, writers and secretaries. Darby's plan was to live in the Barbizon during a nine month course at Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School and return to Ohio to a good job.

In 2005 the Barbizon was gutted and rebuilt as condos. Fourteen elderly women, all long time residents, remained in the Barbizon after renovation thanks to rent contol. In The Dollhouse, the
secretive Darby McLaughlin is, after more than fifty years in residence, one of those who stays. Rose Lewin, an upstairs neighbor and a journalist whose personal and professional life is coming undone, becomes fascinated by the fourteen women. When she hears a hushed up death, possibly a murder, took place at the hotel during the fifties she becomes further intrigued by Darby who is rumored to have been involved.

Moving back and forth between 1952 and 2016, we get the personal stories of both women, the story of New York, and of society's attitude toward women in general during two very different times.

Although this is a first novel, Davis has created complex characters and managed moving back and forth between the two time periods deftly.

This is great escape fiction! Well written, interesting story.