Book Review: Tiffany Girl

Hi! It's a rainy spring day here. The perfect kind of day for curling up with a good book. I just finished reading a sweet novel by Deeanne Gist, called Tiffany Girl. Here's a teaser for you:

"The heir to Tiffany's jewelry empire is left without a staff when glassworkers go on strike just months before the opening of the much-anticipated Chicago World's Fair and the hyped mosaic Tiffany Chapel. Desperate and without another option, Tiffany turns to a group of female art students to finish the job. Flossie Jayne answers the call, moving to a New York City boardinghouse with high hopes of making a name for herself as an artist and defying those who say that the work can't be completed in time--least of all by a set of young, inexperienced women."

You guys, I really liked this book! I'm learning that I'm a sucker for historical fiction. Gist's attention to detail and sincere effort to bring as many true elements to the story as possible really transported me back to 1893. The main character, Flossie, is making the difficult transition from compliant daughter to independent woman, without the help of a husband--something that just wasn't done before the turn of the century.  

What I love about this story is that it's not all happily ever after. Flossie learns to work hard, pursue her dreams, and enjoy success, but not without hardship, and sometimes utter failure. Real life is like that. The characters living at the boardinghouse with Flossie give this tale color, depth, and a love story. I really enjoyed reading the author's note at the end where she sorts out all the real details from the fabricated ones. This was such an interesting time in the history of America, for women, for commerce,  and for art. 

When I got my copy of this book in the mail, the first thing I noticed was how thick it was. I was worried it would take me forever to read. It's 500 pages and I am a slow reader. Once I started reading it though I didn't want to stop. I finished it in 4 days, my fastest read this year. So yeah, you're going to like it. : )

Tiffany Girl will be release on May 5, 2015, you can read more about it and pre-order it here. 

**Just so you know**
I received a free copy of this book from Howard Books, for my honest review. All the opinions here are my own, of course.