Episode 80: Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Magnolia Palace
Fiona Davis chats about The Magnolia Palace, an instant New York Times bestseller set at the Frick Mansion in New York City.
The novel is written as a dual timeline, alternating between 1919 and the late 1960s. Fiona shares how this book differs from her previous novels, as well as book recommendations and her best writing advice.
Books Mentioned:
The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis (Bookshop.org / Amazon.com )
Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor (Bookshop.org / Amazon.com )
Connect with the author:
Transcript:
** Transcript created using AI (so please forgive the typos!) **
Ashley Hasty 0:00
Welcome, everyone. I'm here with Fiona Davis and we are here to talk about her latest novel The Magnolia Palace. I asked Fiona to be my first interview for this podcast because I've had the opportunity to interview her several times over the years, both virtually and in person. I knew she would be a fun and safe way to tie into the world of book podcasting. So Fiona, thank you so much for joining me.
Fiona Davis 0:25
Thank you for having me, Ashley. Yes, we go way back, which is really nice for both of us.
Ashley Hasty 0:30
You know, I've been a longtime fan of yours ever since I read your first novel, The Doll House, which prompted me to connect with you on Instagram. But it seems each book you write is better than the last and the Magnolia Palace is my new favorite. So will you start by telling our listeners about what the book is about? Sure. Oh,
Fiona Davis 0:49
thank you so much. So yeah, this is my sixth book, I can't believe it. And what it is it said at the Frick Collection, which is a museum in New York City on Fifth Avenue in two time periods in 1919. It's from the point of view of an artist's model named Lillian who's the celebrated artists model poses for all the big sculptors in New York City. And to escape, she ends up getting the job as the private secretary to Helen Clay Frick at the Frick mansion, which is a job that she's not quite all that suited to, but it gives her a way to hide out from the police. And so she gets very caught up in the family's drama, including romantic trysts, as well as a stolen Pink Diamond known as the Magnolia diamond. And then the other time period, because it's a dual timeline book is 1966. And that's from the point of view of a model a fashion model named Veronica who's doing a voc photoshoot at the Frick, which goes terribly wrong. And she gets locked inside and stuck there. During a three day Blizzard, along with an intern named Joshua and Veronica stumbles and onto a series of hidden clues in the mansion, and which is now a museum. And she gets drawn into this scavenger hunt that she and Joshua tried to solve. And for her, it's a way to possibly take care of all of her financial woes. And it also might reveal the truth behind a decade's old murder in the frick family.
Ashley Hasty 2:21
So what struck me about the Magnolia palace in comparison to your previous novels, is the number of real life characters. So in your previous novels, you had characters that may have been inspired by real people, but ultimately, they were the product of your imagination much like the character of Lillian and this book was loosely inspired by so I'm curious, can you talk about the difference in your writing and or research when writing about real people versus characters that are loosely inspired by real people were complete figments of your imagination.
Fiona Davis 2:55
I normally don't deal with real people even if they're long. They've been long dead. But the Furyk family I just couldn't pass up because they were so interesting. It was three of them. The patriarch Henry Clay Frick, his sickly wife, Adelaide, and then his adult daughter, Helen Frick, who was very imperious and quite Prickly, and they just had such strong personalities that I really wanted to see if I can incorporate some of the real things that happened in their lives into into this novel. And then at the, you know, the author's note, I make it very clear. What is fiction what is fact, but yet, you know, they were just so interesting. Henry Clay Frick made his first million by the age of 30. In the 1800s. He you know, they lived in Pennsylvania, but eventually moved to New York in 1914, is when they moved into the frick mansion, which he had built specially, because he was a huge art collector. And so it's just filled with all of his artworks when he died in 1919. He left the building and all the art to the city and the artwork is worth $40 million. At that time, back then. That's how much art was on his walls. And then Helen was this really interesting, imperious character she never married who is described in a 1939 New Yorker article is a woman of extremely robust prejudices. And there's things like, you know, if her friends bobbed their hair, she would drop them. She were a pompadour and above their entire adult life, you know, she she could be really, really difficult. But at the same time, she did all of these amazing things like she went to World War One with a red cross unit that she created and founded and went over there in 1917, at the height of the war, when it was so dangerous. She founded a home for working girls a vacation home, where working girls in factories and mills and Massachusetts could come and can rest and relax. You know, she was just this woman of contradictions. And and I had to include her and again, it's a matter of of staying true to who I think she was, and she I adore her. And then explaining very clearly in the author's note what's true and what's not.
Ashley Hasty 5:08
I love that you included her. I thought she was a very complex character. And you can't help but love her. I mean, she has so many flaws, so many flowers, and yet she's still oddly likable. What do you think it is about her that,
Fiona Davis 5:23
you know, she is so interesting because she she really lived under her father's shadow. And she wanted so badly to please him. There was a terrible tragedy in the family, when she was a very, very young girl. And because of that, I think she felt the need to sustain the family and to keep everybody okay, her mother was sick. Her father, you know, had a temper, and she wanted to please everyone and make sure everything worked out, okay. And so in many ways she was, she really kind of pushed aside her own needs in order to take care of them. But at the same time, because she was so wealthy, she kind of had no idea as to how the world works in many ways, and so could be quite imperious, I think is the best way to describe her. And so yeah, I'm just so fond of her. I'm glad you are too.
Ashley Hasty 6:10
So I'm curious. Why make Lillian a fictional character and not use the person who inspired the story because there are many parallels between the two.
Fiona Davis 6:22
There really are an Audrey Monson who Lillian is inspired and as you mentioned, was the celebrated supermodel of the early 19 hundred's. Everyone sculpted her her figure is all over New York City at the fountain in front of the Plaza Hotel at Columbus Circle, the Firemen's Memorial, Brooklyn Museum, the New York Public Library, she is everywhere. And yet no one knows her name, right? No one really knows who this woman is. And she had a very scandalous life. But her story was really quite tragic. She tried to commit suicide in 1922 by swallowing mercury. And then she eventually was committed to an asylum and she died there. Get this in 1996 at the age of 1040. My god, she lived that long. And but because that was the chunk of her life, I couldn't name this character her and then have her you know, because I deal with mysteries and plot twists. I needed my artists model to have a different kind of life. And we won't give anything away.
Ashley Hasty 7:24
I did love that ending better than her real.
Fiona Davis 7:26
Yeah, I think so. I think so. So So, again, it's making it clear in the author's note but but this character Lillian is very different from her at the start of her life is very similar to Audrey Munson's, but the continuance of it is not and also telling Clay Frick and Audrey months and as far as I know, never met. And part of my wanting to bring them together was they were so different. There was this, you know, artists model who has this free spirit, and then this very tightly wound up rich heiress and so I just thought, you know, let's bring them together and just see what happens on the page.
Ashley Hasty 8:00
Most of your fans know that each one of your novels is centered around in historical building in New York City, previous novels took place at the Barbizon hotel for women, the Dakota Grand Central Terminal, the iconic Chelsea Hotel, the New York Public Library. And of course, the Magnolia Palace is set at the park mansion. So I imagine you've been on more historic building tours in New York City than anyone else. How do you decide which buildings you want to write about? And what sparked the idea of setting a novel at the Frick mansion?
Fiona Davis 8:33
Yeah, you know, the frick was an unusual choice, because it's not as well known as the other places I've chosen like Grand Central Terminal or the New York Public Library. You know, not a lot of people know it. But if you've gone there, it's your favorite museum. It's just this gem, you know, it's on Fifth Avenue. So it's just down the street from the Guggenheim and the Met. But the match is actually quite small for a mansion that was built at that time. It's as if the family has just left for a dinner party. And they might be back at any second. And so it really is like stepping back in time. And I love the fact that it had been a residence, and then a museum and to be able to explore, you know, how that how the museum changed over time, how the building changed over time, and how the way we view art and artwork has changed over time.
Ashley Hasty 9:24
So I want you to think back to when you were writing your first manuscript. How many years ago with that event? Fix I think yeah, yeah. What do you know now that you wish you'd known then or what advice do you have for authors and aspiring authors?
Fiona Davis 9:40
Oh, that's such a good question. You know, I think it is how important it is to create a community as you're writing because it is such a solitary experience, you're researching, you're at your desk, you're, you know, you might go out and interview someone, but that's the big, you know, highlight of the day. You're alone a lot. And it turns out in New York City, that This amazing community of writers, and we all get together, especially before COVID. But even now we, you know, try and Skype or zoom and get together. And so you've create this community of authors who are going through the same thing you are. And if you know, they're kind of ahead of the game, so they've, you know, done this without or published here. You can learn from them. And then if someone's just up and coming, you can say, hey, this is how I did it. And this work worked for me. And it becomes this wonderful well of information and just laughter It's, it's a really wonderful group. So I think I, you know, I was just surprised at how welcoming and terrific the women's fiction community here
Ashley Hasty 10:42
in New York is. Yes, absolutely. I've had the same experience with Phil starting with you, then all of the authors, I've had the opportunity meet through the blog, and on the podcast, they really do make the best group of friends. So I first started following you on Instagram. Six years ago, probably because you had the best historical fiction recommendations. As soon as you posted about a book, I put it in my shopping cart. So I always like to ask about your reading world. What are you reading right now? What would you recommend that we read?
Fiona Davis 11:13
Yeah, yeah, there's there's a number of things now and coming out that that I just love, Jillian Cantor's new book, which comes out February 1, beautiful little fools is just a wonderful about friendship. It's wonderful.
Ashley Hasty 11:28
And I have to ask, can you tell us anything about your work in progress, which building you're focusing on or the time period will be set in anything? Sure. Well,
Fiona Davis 11:37
there's a couple things coming down the pike. I did a short story that will be on Audible and as a short for Oh, I'm so excited. Yeah. And that's from the point of view of a rocket in the 1950s. So yeah, well,
Ashley Hasty 11:53
we have to wait a whole year for that.
Fiona Davis 11:54
I know. I know. I have to I got to write. It's sitting right there.
Ashley Hasty 11:59
So I want to share where people can find you. Your website is FionaDavisbooks.com. You're also Fiona Davis books on Twitter and on Facebook and Instagram, your Fiona Davis, author. So before we wrap up, is there anything else you'd like to talk about that we haven't covered yet?
Fiona Davis 12:15
No, I think you covered so much. I'm doing a number of events around this book where I'll be talking in depth about the research. You can find all of those on my on the events page of my website, and I'm just so so excited. Very excited to launch it into the world.
Ashley Hasty 12:30
Well, Fiona it was such a pleasure chatting with you again today. I always love hanging out with you. I wish it could be in person one of these days again, it's been far too long. But thank you for making my first episode on this podcast is such a fun one.
Fiona Davis 12:43
Oh, it's my pleasure anytime. Ashley