Davis tells a very good story and deserves all the praise she won for her other books set in famous New York landmarks. A onetime actress, she is a meticulous researcher ... In this novel, her journalistic skills shine—her attention to detail lends a fullness and context to the plotlines and characters ... [she] deftly portrays this period ... The beginning of the book seems to lack direction but does quite well at establishing the personalities of the two main characters ... What finally emerges from the mix of detailed research and solid writing is a tale that is intricate and subtle, unpredictable and exciting.
Davis...writes this compelling portrait of female friendship through some of the most dramatic decades in history, weaving true events, romance, intrigue, and the long-felt effects of blacklisting. The scope and scale of this sweeping novel will please historical fiction aficionados and fans of Chris Greenhalgh’s Seducing Ingrid Bergman...and Alexander Rosenberg’s The Girl from Krakow.
The strong friendship between two women who meet performing in USO shows during WWII is tested as the country descends into McCarthy-era madness in the solid latest from Davis ... Featuring vibrant, witty characters who not only weather but thrive in a dark period of American history, Davis’s tale of one friendship’s strength will stun and satisfy readers.
With a high-stakes storyline that should be tension-filled, the novel unfortunately features prose that is expository and flat. Maxine’s diary confessionals fail to give any insight into her inner life and seem only to serve as information downloads. Even revelations that should shock evoke a tepid response, probably because the buildup has been so noncompelling. Thankfully, Hazel’s relationships—with everyone from her mother to a private investigator working in tandem with the FBI—are more engaging and complex. Notably absent from the cast list, though, is the Chelsea Hotel itself. In Davis’ previous novels, the setting plays an integral role in the storyline. Here, though, the sparse descriptions of the site seem to be almost an afterthought. Hazel and Maxine could have been living at a Holiday Inn and it would have had no effect on the telling. A forced effort to leverage interest around the legendary Chelsea Hotel, this novel is a miss.
