August 2020

THE LIONS OF FIFTH AVENUE is the fifth Fiona Davis book that I have selected as a Bets On. It is set at the New York Public Library with two time frames, 1913 and 1993. The first revolves around a young family that lives in a seven-room apartment at the library. While I have spent many hours in the library, I confess to never knowing about this tidbit of history.

Laura Lyons and her husband, Jack, live in the apartment with their two children, as Jack is the superintendent of the library. While his life has purpose and meaning, Laura is looking for something to anchor her. As she is studying at the Columbia Journalism School, she comes across a radical group of women in Greenwich Village who are united in their mission to defend women’s rights. They eagerly take on suffrage, birth control and other topics of interest to women. Through them, Laura questions her life and the choices that she has been forced to make.

The 1993 storyline has Sadie Donovan working at the library as a curator. She is the granddaughter of Laura and is put in charge of the library’s well-known Berg Collection. Treasured works begin to disappear under her watch, and all fingers point to her.

There is a parallel here, as items also went missing when Laura and Jack lived at the library. Is there a connection?

Once again, Fiona brings wonderful historical details to her work while also delivering a well-crafted story. Book clubs will love learning more about the book culture of both time periods. Always a favorite of mine, Fiona once again has made me appreciate a building in New York City and look at it with new eyes.