Q&A
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Bestselling novelist Fiona Davis is inspired by historicalpeople andplaces
WRITTEN BY CINDY SCHWEICH HANDLER PHOTO OF DAVISCOURTESYOFDEBORAH FEINGOLD
Fiona Davis, who lived
in Wayne as ayoung
child, was enjoying a
professional career as a
journalist in New York
when she encountered a
problem writing astory.
“I had seen acondo apartment
at the Barbizon, abuilding with
an interesting history,” she says.
“Grace Kelly and Lauren Bacall had
lived there, and Ilearned that there
were many old-time residents who
had rent-controlled apartments.
They were on one floor, while luxury
condos were being built around
them. Itwas fascinating, and I
wanted to talk tothem.”
The problem was that the women
didn’t want to talk to her. But Davis
couldn’t shake the story. “Ithought,
‘I’d love to read abook about this.
Maybe I’ll write it,’” she says.
And that is exactly what she
did —asawork of fiction.
Now the author of five historical
fiction works — her latest, The Lions
of Fifth Avenue, was published by
Dutton in August —she shares with
us how she finds inspiration, creates
characters from the past that
contemporary readers can relate
to, and promotes them to audiences
in the age of COVID-19.
When you were growing up in
Wayne, did you ever think
about becoming a novelist?
I always loved reading.We moved a lot —
my dad was an engineer who got transferred
to wherever his work was needed—and
whatever town we were in, we’d always go
to the library. But I couldn’t imagine writing
a book;that’s what other people did.
Did your journalism
training help you write
your first novel?
I did a lot of interviews and research, and
this is where journalism really helps. I didn't
just look on the Internet —Ispoke to experts
on the history of the building, looked at floor
plans and learned how the building and the
people in them evolved over time. Then I
incorporated it into a fictional story about
two residents who live one above the other.
You get the best of both worldsthat way.
Each of the books you've
written have some things
in common. What are they?
The scaffolding, or framework, is the same:
It's a story inspired by real lives, yet I can play
with the plot and add twists and surprise the
reader. Each book has two timelines in it; I
think I've worked in every decade since 1880
at this point, though Imight be missing one or
two. And I start with a building.
For example, in The Masterpiece,the character
Clara Darden was inspired by a real life
illustrator, Helen Dryden, who was on the
faculty of the Grand Central School of Art (in
Grand Central Terminal) in the '20s, and was
tremendously successful before disappearing.
Her story as a pioneer in industrial design and
illustration was lost to history;by creating
my character, I can illuminate what she went
through, raise her visibility while writing a
mystery in two timelines and raise questions
about how women's identities have changed
over time.
Why two timelines?
WhenIgot the first book idea, Ithought I
should do that because that's what I love to
read. Each book is a challenge, because I have
to bring both lines together in a satisfying, yet
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