The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis: book review

The Dollhouse: A Novel (2016) is set in 2016 in New York City, with a flashback to 1952 and the Barbizon Hotel for Women. In 1952 the Barbizon Hotel for Women – the Dollhouse – is the place to be for aspiring models, artists, editors, and creatives vying for success in the big city.

Darby McLaughlin arrived at the Barbizon Hotel looking for a secretarial job. She befriends the maid Esme Castillo, who shows her a good time at the jazz clubs and the seedy side of New York City. There is a skirmish on the roof one night and Esme falls to her death.

In 2016 journalist Rose Lewin moves into the building that was once the Babizon Hotel. Miss Darby McLaughlin still lived on the 4th floor, below Rose, and plays the same melancholic tune over and over. She is an enigmatic woman, never showing her scarred face since the roof-top incident, always covering it with a dark veil.

Rose hears of the 1952 scandal and seeks to discover the truth – to find out what really happened on the roof 60 years ago. There are other 1952-ers sitll in the building, such as Stella Conover, Doris Spinner, and Alice Wilcox.

Famous people used to frequent the hotel at the time – writers Sylvia Plath and JD Salinger, and aspiring movie stars Liza Minnelli, Candice Bergen, and Joan Crawford. But it is the life of Darby McLaughlin that interests Rose.

In parallel with the investigation, the novel is a romance story – although it would’ve been better without it. This is a quick, simple read, and one that can be skimmed without missing much. Perhaps it would have been better focusing on the real history of the Barbizon Hotel.

MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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