About the Book:
As preparations for the 1893 World’s Fair set Chicago and the nation on fire, Louis Tiffany—heir to the exclusive Fifth Avenue jewelry empire—seizes the opportunity to unveil his state-of-the-art, stained glass, mosaic chapel, the likes of which the world has never seen.
But when Louis’s dream is threatened by a glassworkers’ strike months before the Fair opens, he turns to an unforeseen source for help: the female students at the Art Students League of New York. Eager for adventure, the young women pick up their skirts, move to boarding houses, take up steel cutters, and assume new identities as the “Tiffany Girls.”
Tiffany Girl is the heartwarming story of the impetuous Flossie Jayne, a beautiful, budding artist who is handpicked by Louis to help complete the Tiffany chapel. Though excited to live in a boarding house when most women stayed home, she quickly finds the world is less welcoming than anticipated. From a Casanova male, to an unconventional married couple, and a condescending singing master, she takes on a colorful cast of characters to transform the boarding house into a home while racing to complete the Tiffany chapel and make a name for herself in the art world.
As challenges mount, her ambitions become threatened from an unexpected quarter: her own heart. Who will claim victory? Her dreams or the captivating boarder next door?
My Review:
This book tells the story of Flossie Jayne, a talented, naïve artist and Reeve Wilder, a journalist, who live in the same boardinghouse. Both of them are lovable, flawed individuals that are so very different that I really didn’t know how they were going to end up together. They both had a ton of growing to do before it would ever work out, but I enjoyed watching them take that journey as their paths intertwined again and again.
The historical aspect of the Tiffany Girls and what they had to go through was fascinating to me. I also really liked how Reeve was able to grow and turn into the perfect man for Flossie.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait to see what Ms. Gist has for us next.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, which I have given. All thoughts and opinions are my own.