Deanne Gist's Tiffany Girl ~ Reviewed

Tiffany Girl: A Novel
by Deeanne Gist
Paperback: 544 pages
Publisher: Howard Books (May 5, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1451692447

Description: 

From the bestselling author of It Happened at the Fair and Fair Play comes a compelling historical novel about a progressive “New Woman”—the girl behind Tiffany’s chapel—and the love that threatens it all.

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?

Review:

Deanne Gist's Tiffany Girls is a charming peek into the past. I had never heard of Tiffany Girls and was fascinated by what Gist's research uncovered. Not only was the world of stained glass making interesting, but also the other tidbits and horrors she uncovered during the time of the World Fair. Bustle pinching? The life and times of boarding houses. House kits. So, so many interesting stories are woven into Flossie's plot.

If you love a well written historical give this one a shot. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Reviewed by: Kelly Klepfer