The Lions of Fifth Avenue

I really enjoyed Fiona Davis’ novels The Dollhouse and The Address, both of which were dual-timeline stories around historic Manhattan buildings.

The Lions of Fifth Avenue follows the same model. The two stories in two timelines are linked by rare book thefts, both stories about highly valuable, one-of-a-kind historical artifacts that seems to disappear from secure storage at the New York Public Library.

In 1913, Laura Lyons, her husband, and two small children are living in the library, in an apartment for the library’s director.  My local public libraries have closed for coronavirus, so I had even more than the usual envy about living in the library. Imagine sheltering in place with all the books! Laura has a complicated life, trying to attend journalism school Columbia, follow her heart, and be a supportive wife and mother at home, so the missing books are one more stress point for her.

In the 1990s, Laura’s granddaughter, Sadie, is a librarian helping put on an exhibition of rare books at the NYPL. Sadie hasn’t mentioned her connection with the Lyons family, but as more and more rare books disappear on Sadie’s watch, and Sadie tries to find how they could be disappearing, she start to wonder about the connection. The books themselves are intriguing, charged artifacts, with secret library identification signs, handwritten author’s notes, and other unique marks over the years.

The two timelines intertwine for a wonderful trip through the familiar landmarks and secret, closed-off areas of New York Public Library.

This is my Review of the Month for the review collection on LovelyAudiobooks.info

 

 

Edit 12/2021: Did you like the dual-timeline mystery, seeped in New York history, in Lions of Fifth Avenue?  Do you want to read this book again, but set in the Frick this time? Of course you do! Read The Magnolia Palace.