Darby first arrived at the Barbizon as a 17-year-old in 1952, back when it was a reputable hot spot for aspiring young models, actresses, editors, writers, and secretaries-“a bevy of princesses holed up in a high tower.” Darby now resides in a rent-controlled apartment directly below the condo occupied by Rose and her boyfriend, Griff, a successful politician and divorced father of two. Rose Lewin is a journalist in her mid-thirties who moves into the former Barbizon Hotel in 2016 and begins digging into the past of her mysterious downstairs neighbor, Darby McLaughlin. This real-life hotel building (now turned condo) provides an intriguing backdrop for Fiona Davis’s debut novel, The Dollhouse, a well-structured dual narrative that tells the story of two fictional women from entirely different eras. Between 19, New York City’s Barbizon Hotel for Women sheltered the likes of Joan Crawford, Grace Kelly, Liza Minnelli, Cybill Shepherd, Candice Bergen, Joan Didion, and Sylvia Plath.
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