Throughout The Magnolia Palace I felt totally emersed in the era and engaged in the fictional lives of the characters. The Frick Coke Company fueled the Pennsylvania's Steel Mills, which entitled Him to walk through some of the the richest doors on NY's Fifth Avenue Elite making room for his debut and home Magnolia Palace. The palace itself was the home of the immensely wealthy Frick family and is today's Frick Collection, a world famous art museum in New York City. He had been unrelentingly polite to her since she'd knocked on his studio door last week, asking if he needed a model. On the bright side, the Watkins couple had shouted each other to pieces in a terrible fight earlier that morning, the screeching carrying on for a good forty-five minutes before silence finally reigned.

also, since my reading tastes have changed so much over the last few years, I thought I would give this one a go as a litmus test of sorts. In the weeks after Kitty's death, the job offers had come in one after another as the news had spread and the artists had reached out in support, making sure Lillian was all right.

And by combining real-life historical figures, those inspired by true people and others imagined, we have another highly entertaining book with a well-developed story which should delight and captivate historical fiction fans, especially those who love books set in New York City. This historical fiction novel written by Fiona Davis adds so much to the story of the Frick family, the residence that began as the renowned Frick Mansion containing the invaluable Frick Collection. She stepped down from the model stand and reclined in a practiced move on one of several sofas that were scattered at odd angles around the space. The fallout from the crisis will reverberate through the decades until Veronica reveals her secret and discovers others hidden by the family.

Sheer luck has her obtaining the position as personal secretary to Miss Helen Frick, the youngest daughter of Henry Clay Frick. And the mention of magnolia trees and the various artistic connections kept me thoroughly intrigued.

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