A Good Morning America Book Club Pick and a New York Times bestseller! “A page-turner for booklovers everywhere! . . . A story of family ties, their lost dreams, and the redemption that comes from discovering truth.”—Adriana Trigiani, bestselling author of The Shoemaker’s Wife In New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis’s latest historical novel, a series of book thefts roils the iconic … Fiona Davis’s latest historical novel, a series of book thefts roils the iconic New York Public Library, leaving two generations of strong-willed women to pick up the pieces.
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 is 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. And 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-averse 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.
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A very enjoyable fast-paced read. Intriguing information about an apartment inside the New York Public Library. Who knew? Story follows three generations of a family and evolves into a mystery about book thefts. It has a very satisfying ending.
My Review of The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis; published by Dutton, an Imprint of Penguin House Publishing, LLC
(4.5 stars)
As a lover of books, libraries, and the empowerment of women, The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis was a must read for me. Having had the opportunity to visit historical buildings in New York City, such as The Basilica of Saint Patrick’s Old Cathedral, I was able to take Fiona’s magnificent descriptions of the New York City Public Library and envision the incredible and expansive greatness. I never knew of any library to have an apartment, so this was new to me. Fiona created a wonderful, and easy to follow, dual timeline consisting of two women and their personal strifes as they relate to their current world. The mysteries of the lost books made the story a page turner in all the best ways. I enjoyed The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis and highly recommend adding it to your tbr list.
I can’t wait for COVID to be a distant memory so we can travel freely again. For now, I will travel through books and enjoy the beautiful city of NYC through this novel. I am more excited than ever to go back to NYC and visit the famous lions and the NYC library. I could not imagine how perfect it would be to live in the apartment in the library and to be able to spend your childhood playing in the library at night when no one else was around. I was thoroughly engaged in this book from the beginning and enjoyed the parallel stories of Laura and Sadie and alternating time periods from 1914 to 1992. Both ladies were so resilient and courageous. I hope Fiona will tell more stories about Laura especially in her time after the library. This book also added the intrigue of trying to solve the mysteries of the book thieves from both time periods. Well done! This was my first read by Fiona Davis and now I want to read everything she has written.
I love Fiona Davis’ style of writing. The way in which she ties the past and present together is brilliant. As a person who grew up visiting the NY public library, learning more about this historical landmark was nostalgic. Mystery, history, interesting characters – this book has all of it.
The Lions of Fifth Avenue is about two generations of strong-willed women, bith working at or connected to the iconic New York Public Library. There’s mystery and romance and family secrets to uncover and so much more in this unique read.
I finished the audiobook in a day.
The Lions of Fifth Avenue
By Fiona Davis
I loved this book and simply adore every word Fiona Davis writes as her books always transports me to amazing iconic places and important timelines. In this fabulous novel, we are taken back into the early 20th century in the historic New York Public Library.
The Lions of Fifth Avenue is a historical fiction mystery story about two head strong women in two timelines, one in 1914 about Laura Lyons, and the other in 1992 about her grand-daughter Sadie Donovan, that tells the story about books set in NYC.
in Laura Lyons story we see her life as the wife of the New York Public Library Superintendent whose privilege s to live in an apartment within the iconic building with their two children. In more modern day story of Sadie Donovan we find her living her dream job as the curator for the library until some mysterious thefts quickly puts her career in jeopardy.
The writing is truly immersive and subject matter was so interesting to me to read about the famous library and its amazing historical significance about this landmark but also in its essence is a story about women’s rights and our love for the institution that brings us joy in our reading life.
But not as good as her other books…it didn’t live up to my expectations…
What more could a book lover want than a book about a high library. And plenty of suspense and who done its. I also love reading about NYC past. Thanks Fiona Davis, you never disappoint.
Magnificent! I listened to this dual-time line page-turner rife with eighty-year-old secrets and was swept back in time to 1913 NYC and the brand new New York Public Library. The depiction of the marvelous structure, the main character in the story, in both time-lines, made me feel as if I was in the building itself with its miles of books, cavernous rooms and secret passageways. The narration kept me glued, forcing me to take longer walks to keep listening and learning. Davis brings the changing world of early twentieth century New York to life with her stellar characters who you’ll swear truly lived. As in all of her books, Davis brings the reader fascinating history wrapped up in gorgeous prose. Do not miss this incredible novel, a love story to books.
August 10, 2020
Always Wonderful!
I love reading these books because the descriptions are so good you can see, hear and smell it all! Thoroughly enjoyable read if you are a book lover!
Fiona Davis has done it again! Such a fabulous book about the NY Public Library, book thieves, intrigue, and old New York!
Another enjoyable historical fiction from Fiona Davis. Traversing two timelines, from the early 1900’s to eighty years later, the book tells the stories of two related woman. Laura Lyons was an essayist who lived with her family in an apartment in the New York Public Library. Sadie Donovan, her granddaughter, is a curator at the library and in search of clues to the mystery surrounding her grandmother’s family and their connection to missing books while they lived on site. When valuable books begin missing in the present, Sadie herself comes under suspicion.
The Lions of Fifth Avenue tells a story as formidable as the stone lions at the New York Public Library’s entrance.
Fiona Davis puts her whole self into her stories, which makes her writing so wonderfully accessible to her readers. The plot of The Lions of Fifth Avenue has an odd shape. It darts between decades and weaves together the many sides of a mystery that is solved through a beautiful exposition of the personal struggles of two women, generations apart. Laura, the grandmother, lived in the superintendent’s apartment in the New York Public Library in 1913 and in 1993 her granddaughter, Sadie, was a curator at the library. The two never met. The reader learns of Laura’s struggle as it happened, and in a brilliant use of narrative technique by Davis, Sadie learned about her grandmother as a mystery unfolded regarding the disappearance of rare books from the library, including one that was lost in 1913. It is a layered approach to telling a story that is rich and complex with all its twists and turns performed in and around the storied halls of the New York Public Library.
Many writers would not be capable of creating two heroines as diverse as Laura and Sadie in the same novel because two characters are not conducive to setting a hook and reeling a reader in, what a blockbuster novelist aspires to do. While telling her story, Davis puts the development of her characters before a trendy mystery plot. The action sometimes moves fast and other times shuffles along. It isn’t very different from running up the stairs to an exhibit in the library and later strolling through the stacks. Discovery of the self doesn’t move at convenient pace. Laura must experience harsh lessons from her journalism pursuits before she can become a renowned essayist. Also, she must detour into the love of a woman before she understands a difficulty of a husband. And, of course, there’s the tragedy of learning it too late. Sadie’s story has no overlap. She is her own woman and struggles with romance and trust in an entirely different manner. Although her travails occur in the same library halls, they are of a different kind. Both women are extraordinary, but in different ways. That the story is told by two such different heroines makes it hard to put down. The clues are spaced eighty years apart.
The Lions of Fifth Avenue is probably not for every reader.Those who are looking for a clever plot line, snappy dialogue, and dynamic events involving easily comprehended characters may be disappointed. One could recommend many TV movies that will satisfy them. Davis does not write for the impatient reader. Her style is old fashioned and her characters will reward old fashioned, deep thinking readers with nuance and revelation. One needs to ruminate about these two women, and make a personal assessment of the unique place in the world inhabited by them, whether that be today’s library or wartime London. The Lions of Fifth Avenue is filled with beautiful detail and contrast regarding two complex women living in very different times. Sorry, no trendy stuff here. Fiona Davis has not written a story that can be laid out in a Facebook post.
Davis always pulls me right in from the first pages. This time it was with characters living right in New York’s most famous library. A dual timeline, which is my fav, provided just the right balance of breadcrumbs to keep the pages turning. If you like her other books I think this one will work for you, too. It left me with a little melancholy feeling, but that’s not bad. Loved it.
As a writer, career librarian, and book lover, “The Lions of Fifth Avenue” had immediate appeal. Davis’s use of setting, one of the secret old apartments inside the New York City Public Library intrigued me since I had considered using this setting as well in a future novel.
The book has an alternating storyline, one set in 1913 about the life of Laura Lyons and the other in 1993 involving Lyon’s granddaughter Sadie Donovan.
Both storylines involve the thefts of rare materials from the NYPL’s Berg Collection, leaving both 1993 Sadie Donovan and reader pondering similarities and a possible link to those mysterious thefts from the past.
Laura and Sadie are strong-willed, each determined to solve these mysterious disappearances in their own time as they struggle with their lives and loves. Great read! A real page-turner!
Dual timeline story set around the famous New York public library. Interesting and well written. I enjoyed this book much more than her previous book set in Grand Central Station.
Fiona Davis has done it again with a cleverly plotted dual-timeline mystery about a Manhattan landmark, in this case, the grand NY Public Library on 42nd Street.
Nice easy read.
A good mystery, about a place. The fascinating, iconic NY Public Library is the setting for this book highlighting all its hidden treasures (architectural, not books). The characters are flawed, reminding me of one of the Buddhist “poisons,” Aversion. Jack and Laura Lyons are unhappy with their lives, striving to be something more and suffering greatly from their hubris. Davis captures their flaws brilliantly. Told in two different time frames, past and present, this complex plot is hard to put down, right up to the surprise ending. A captivating read.
I love Fiona Davis books but not this one. I found it boring.