A Great Summer Read: A Review of The Address

Fiona Davis’ 2017 release is a story of New York City told in two time periods—and you’ll keep reading to see how the stories intersect!

It’s probably no secret that I love historical fiction. It’s the genre I most often gravitate toward—and one of my favorite time periods to read about is the Gilded Age. A term used to describe the time period between the Civil War and the turn of the century, the Gilded Age describes a time period of great industrialization and economic growth that created even greater disparities between the haves and the have nots.

Many of Fiona Davis’ novels seem to be written in this time period and provide an interesting view of modern America coming into shape. The Address is a novel told in two viewpoints and time frames: Sarah Smythe, the English mangerette of The Dakota, a grand New York City apartment house; and Bailey, a recovering addict whose grandfather was the ward of Thomas Camden, the Dakota’s architect. There’s even an appearance by Nelly Bly, the famed Gilded Age journalist who went undercover as a patient at a New York asylum to expose the need for reform.

Very early in the novel, the reader discovers that Thomas Camden was murdered in the Dakota, but it takes most of the book to unravel what exactly happened and who did it. Upon arriving at the Dakota, where she’s been hired as head housekeeper, Sarah is promoted to “lady mangerette,” and quickly her life become enmeshed with Camden’s, whose wife and children have yet to take up residence in the Dakota. Predictably, this results in an affair, which then—quite unpredictably—leads to Sarah being sent to the asylum. This all leads to Camden’s murder, and Sarah goes down in history as the woman who killed him, but it’s a century later when Bailey discovers the truth—and her own deep connection to the Dakota and its architect.

Having read several of Davis’ novels, The Address definitely follows a pattern, but it’s a great summer read. You can read the novel pretty quickly, and you’ll keep turning the pages because you want to know what happens next. You’ll likely see the twist coming long before it’s revealed, but it’s still a good mystery that’s thankfully not grisly or disturbing.

The Bookery Rating: 📙📙📙

It’s not exactly great literature, but it’s an engaging, engrossing read that will keep you turning the pages to see what happens next!

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