The Magnolia Palace Review

Rating: 3/5

Eight months since losing her mother in the Spanish flu outbreak of 1919, twenty-one-year-old Lillian Carter’s life has completely fallen apart. For the past six years, under the moniker Angelica, Lillian was one of the most sought-after artists’ models in New York City, with statues based on her figure gracing landmarks from the Plaza Hotel to the Brooklyn Bridge. But with her mother gone, a grieving Lillian is rudderless and desperate—the work has dried up and a looming scandal has left her entirely without a safe haven. So when she stumbles upon an employment opportunity at the Frick mansion—a building that, ironically, bears her own visage—Lillian jumps at the chance. But the longer she works as a private secretary to the imperious and demanding Helen Frick, the daughter and heiress of industrialist and art patron Henry Clay Frick, the more deeply her life gets intertwined with that of the family—pulling her into a tangled web of romantic trysts, stolen jewels, and family drama that runs so deep, the stakes just may be life or death.

Nearly fifty years later, mod English model Veronica Weber has her own chance to make her career—and with it, earn the money she needs to support her family back home—within the walls of the former Frick residence, now converted into one of New York City’s most impressive museums. But when she—along with a charming intern/budding art curator named Joshua—is dismissed from the Vogue shoot taking place at the Frick Collection, she chances upon a series of hidden messages in the museum: messages that will lead her and Joshua on a hunt that could not only solve Veronica’s financial woes, but could finally reveal the truth behind a decades-old murder in the infamous Frick family.

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I picked this up because the synopsis caught my eye and gave me vibes of The Age of Light, which was another historical fiction that I thoroughly enjoyed. I loved this idea of following a model for statues in the 1900s.

And while I enjoyed the descriptions of the statues and how they were made, I didn’t quite enjoy the storyline as much. I really enjoyed following the storyline in our 1919 timeline. However, the timeline, nearly fifty years later, I found not as entertaining. It was a little boring in comparison, and each time we were in this timeline, I couldn’t wait to get back to Lillian in 1919.

I loved following Lillian, hearing about her time as a model, and the struggles she faced while being in that line of work. The descriptions of how she was sculpted were simply breathtaking as well! Easily my favorite parts of this book!

The pacing was also a bit slower than I would have liked. As I mentioned, I wasn’t quite fond of our later timeline. Though I did appreciate hearing that Veronica had a sibling with some form of a disability, and how she cared for them. Those kinds of details always pull at my heartstrings.

Overall, I wasn’t overly impressed by this one. I sincerely enjoyed the take on art within this one. In fact, I would say I actually preferred listening about the art over the actual storyline. 

If you don’t mind a slower-paced historical fiction with a focus on art, definitely check this one out!