Deanne Gist
(Howard Books)
ISBN: ISBN 978-1451692440
May 2015/288 pages/$15.99
From the bestselling author of It Happened at the Fair and Fair Play comes a compelling historical novel about a progressive “New Woman”—the girl behind Tiffany’s chapel—and the love that threatens it all.
As preparations for the 1893 World’s Fair set Chicago and the nation on fire, Louis Tiffany—heir to the exclusive Fifth Avenue jewelry empire—seizes the opportunity to unveil his state-of-the-art, stained glass, mosaic chapel, the likes of which the world has never seen.
But when Louis’s dream is threatened by a glassworkers’ strike months before the Fair opens, he turns to an unforeseen source for help: the female students at the Art Students League of New York. Eager for adventure, the young women pick up their skirts, move to boarding houses, take up steel cutters, and assume new identities as the “Tiffany Girls.”
Tiffany Girl is the heartwarming story of the impetuous Flossie Jayne, a beautiful, budding artist who is handpicked by Louis to help complete the Tiffany chapel. Though excited to live in a boarding house when most women stayed home, she quickly finds the world is less welcoming than anticipated. From a Casanova male, to an unconventional married couple, and a condescending singing master, she takes on a colorful cast of characters to transform the boarding house into a home while racing to complete the Tiffany chapel and make a name for herself in the art world.
As challenges mount, her ambitions become threatened from an unexpected quarter: her own heart. Who will claim victory? Her dreams or the captivating boarder next door?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MY THOUGHTS
Deeanne Gist has written another fascinating book set during the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. I loved It Happened at the Fair and Fair Play (click the titles for my reviews), and this novel is equally enchanting. (My only dislike was the cover. I don't care for the full shot of the model, and her hairstyle doesn't match the heroine in the novel. Additionally, the cover differs greatly from those of the first two novels Gist wrote about the Fair and inaccurately represents the focus of the story, which is not the well-known Tiffany lamps.) Gist crafts a fascinating tale about the young ladies who were hired in the midst of a strike by Louis Tiffany to piece together the windows of the Tiffany chapel for display at the World's Fair. Tiffany Girl portrays the social and political attitudes of the late 1800's with a degree of authenticity that reflects her vast research without interrupting the flow of the story, which is why Deeanne Gist is one of my favorite historical authors. I loved Flossie's efforts to become a "New Woman" and find some freedom from her father's rule and her efforts to bond friendships between the boarders. This book has something for everyone: history, art, romance, and a bit of intrigue. And as always, Gist's notes at the end, where she details fact vs. fiction and shares the amazing amount of research undertaken before writing the story, are fascinating. Don't miss Tiffany Girl, available for pre-order now and arriving at bookstores everywhere next Tuesday!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a copy of this book free from Howard Books as part of a blog tour. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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