I don’t have a book club, but I do have a Downton Abbey group…a group of 4 women who connected over this show years ago.
Once or twice we tried to read this same book but we were forgetting to talk about it until the end of our “meetings” so we gave that idea up, and now we just “meet.”
At the past meeting I hosted I had to laugh because they all walked in with a pile of books, and the first 20 mins of the gathering consisted of them passing books around to each other, returning books to each other, and recommending books.
I ended up with two books, and the first was The Dollhouse: A Novel by Fiona Davis.
This is dual timeline historical fiction about an apartment building in New York City and the women who lived there. In the 1950s, The Barbizon Hotel houses models and secretarial students. By 2016 it has been turned into hip condominiums, but on one floor some of the women from the 1950s remain in rent controlled apartments. When Rose, a young journalist, moves into the condo she can’t help but dig into the past lives of these women, while maneuvering her own challenges. It reminded me a lot of a book I read last year: The Subway Girls.
Through the lives of the women we visit seedy jazz clubs, spice emporiums, and other fascinating places of what is the melting pot of New York City. One of the (1950s) women says:
“It’s funny, when I lived in Ohio, I would read about extraordinary, eccentric characters in books and plays, but I couldn’t imagine them in real life. Then I came to New York.”
Darby, a character in the dollhouse by Fiona davis
This book came out in 2016 but the author has written three other books, one which I plan to put on my spring reading list:
Her topics appear to revolve around historical buildings and New York City.
The other book I ended up with (I am probably the last one to read) is:
I imagine I will be writing about this popular book next week!
Mardi Gras theme
Because I hosted my friends on the Friday before Fat Tuesday, and I had recently been to New Orleans, plus they were the ones who insisted I go to Café du Monde, I chose this theme for the food I served.
I found the best jambalaya recipe here. I am usually intimidated by recipes with too many ingredient sand instructions but I could follow this one and it was a hit. I also put together mufalettas using ciabatta, provolone, salamis, and an amazing Olive spread I get at Schnucks. My husband made us beignets from the boxed mix we brought back with us; they were OK but left us in love with the experience of getting them fresh.
I will be back soon with a couple more recommendations and my spring reading list. Until then, happy reading!