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The Chelsea Girls
by
The bright lights of the theater district, the glamour and danger of 1950s New York, and the wild scene at the iconic Chelsea Hotel come together in a dazzling new novel about a twenty-year friendship that will irrevocably change two women's lives--from the New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue.
From the dramatic redbrick facade to the sweeping stai ...more
From the dramatic redbrick facade to the sweeping stai ...more
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Paperback, 400 pages
Published
December 8th 2020
by Dutton Books
(first published July 30th 2019)
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Start your review of The Chelsea Girls
I finally read my first book by Fiona Davis, and I absolutely loved it.
The Chelsea Hotel in the 1940s and 50s New York is the hotspot for all the creatives in the city. Artists, musicians, poets, filmmakers; they are all here.
Maxine Mead, an actress, and Hazel Riley, a playwright, plan to use the Chelsea to get the ball rolling for their careers. They soon find, however, that making a Broadway show isn’t just about who you know; it’s about politics.
With fear over communism as its backdrop, Senat ...more
The Chelsea Hotel in the 1940s and 50s New York is the hotspot for all the creatives in the city. Artists, musicians, poets, filmmakers; they are all here.
Maxine Mead, an actress, and Hazel Riley, a playwright, plan to use the Chelsea to get the ball rolling for their careers. They soon find, however, that making a Broadway show isn’t just about who you know; it’s about politics.
With fear over communism as its backdrop, Senat ...more
A haven for artists, musicians, writers, and actors, the iconic Chelsea Hotel provides the backdrop for this fictional account of friendship and McCarthyism. The main characters meet in Naples as USO entertainers during 1945. Their friendship continues into the 1960’s. One becomes a famous movie star while the other becomes a playwright and, at times, both live at the Chelsea. During the Cold War, people in the entertainment suffered blacklisting, unfair allegations and investigations leading to
...more
This one had a bit of a different feel than the author's other books, but I liked it. The story is centered around the era of McCarthyism which I knew the very basic history of before reading this book. I'm now feeling motivated to seek out other historical fiction or nonfiction books exploring the topic. To me that's always a sign of a good historical fiction book when the author is able to get you interested enough to want to learn more.
It's the 1940s and Hazel Riley and Maxine Mead meet while ...more
It's the 1940s and Hazel Riley and Maxine Mead meet while ...more
May 28, 2019
Suzanne Leopold (Suzy Approved Book Reviews)
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Hazel Ripley left her unfulfilling career as a constant understudy to join the USO Tour during World War II. Her new job takes her to the Old World where she meets Maxine Mead, a vivacious and outspoken actress. The two women bond over their love of theater and mutual formative experiences in Italy.
Their friendship endures beyond their stint abroad; the two cross paths again at the iconic Chelsea Hotel - a haven for artists and creators - in the 1950s. Hazel catches a break as a playwright, and ...more
Their friendship endures beyond their stint abroad; the two cross paths again at the iconic Chelsea Hotel - a haven for artists and creators - in the 1950s. Hazel catches a break as a playwright, and ...more
Mar 23, 2020
Mel (Epic Reading)
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
arc-netgalley,
library-print
As always, Fiona Davis delivers in this startling story about life post-WWII in the theater industry in NYC. This was a time when the FBI and USA government was going crazy about finding the infiltrating communists. So much so that they accused innocent people and ruined many people's lives. Davis does a fabulous job of telling this story.
The Chelsea Hotel
Yes it's a real place. And yes it hosted many celebrities and artists (of all kinds) over the years. I love the little drops of descriptions ...more
The Chelsea Hotel
Yes it's a real place. And yes it hosted many celebrities and artists (of all kinds) over the years. I love the little drops of descriptions ...more
Read cover to cover on s perfect summer day at the beach! So many reasons to love this...The McCarthy Era, NYC theater, and the Chelsea Hotel…Fiona Davis has treated us to another wonderful novel, The Chelsea Girls!
I love the historical setting of the Chelsea Hotel in NYC in the 1950s, with writers, actors and musicians in residence; READ FULL REVIEW WITH AUTHOR Q & A NOW ON Book Nation by Jen
https://booknationbyjen.com/2019/08/2... ...more
I love the historical setting of the Chelsea Hotel in NYC in the 1950s, with writers, actors and musicians in residence; READ FULL REVIEW WITH AUTHOR Q & A NOW ON Book Nation by Jen
https://booknationbyjen.com/2019/08/2... ...more
What a fun, interesting place The Chelsea Hotel must have been.
Hazel was in a family of performers, but Hazel wasn’t a performer. Hazel was a playwrite.
We meet Hazel when she was on tour with the USO during the war. Hazel met many actors and became friends with them.
We follow Hazel as she moves out of her childhood home and into The Chelsea Hotel during the McCarthy Era. When her friend, Maxine, from the USO, moves in too their friendship is renewed.
The description of the hotel's decorations, th ...more
Hazel was in a family of performers, but Hazel wasn’t a performer. Hazel was a playwrite.
We meet Hazel when she was on tour with the USO during the war. Hazel met many actors and became friends with them.
We follow Hazel as she moves out of her childhood home and into The Chelsea Hotel during the McCarthy Era. When her friend, Maxine, from the USO, moves in too their friendship is renewed.
The description of the hotel's decorations, th ...more
I couldn’t get through either “The Address” or “The Masterpiece” by this author, but I enjoyed this book. Fortunately, it did not have dual time periods and I liked the theater setting and the description of the impact of the blacklisting in the 1950s.
EDITED
2.5 stars The Chelsea Girls follows Hazel and Maxine from 1940s Europe, near the end of WWII to the late 1960s New York. The titular Chelsea is a hotel known for its many resident artists of various stripes...both political and professional. The bulk of the story takes place during the 1950s at the height of McCarthyism in the US, which led to the blacklisting of many in the entertainment industry for supposed communist connections. Maxine, an actress on the rise, and Hazel, an understudy ...more
2.5 stars The Chelsea Girls follows Hazel and Maxine from 1940s Europe, near the end of WWII to the late 1960s New York. The titular Chelsea is a hotel known for its many resident artists of various stripes...both political and professional. The bulk of the story takes place during the 1950s at the height of McCarthyism in the US, which led to the blacklisting of many in the entertainment industry for supposed communist connections. Maxine, an actress on the rise, and Hazel, an understudy ...more
I love the way this Author writes and each book I have read of her's I truly enjoyed. This book is based at the beginning on 1947 with the film industry coming under attack for being suspected of being in the communist party. This book is based on the true story that happened to many in the industry who's career's were destroyed by being blacklisted unfairly. Author Fiona Davis makes a great story out of this with moviestars, writer, spys, FbI and close friendships within a beautiful hotel where
...more
Jul 09, 2019
Sarah
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
netgalley,
historical-fiction
I had high hopes for this book as I greatly enjoyed the other novels by Fiona Davis, but this book fell flat for me. The time period was interesting, especially because there isn't much historical fiction set during the McCarthy Era. Unfortunately the book was overly dramatic and tragic without much character development. I was disappointed.
I received an ARC from NetGalley. It will be released on July 30, 2019. ...more
I received an ARC from NetGalley. It will be released on July 30, 2019. ...more
Life is too short to waste on mediocre books. So for your own sanity, skip this one. The Chelsea Girls is rife with poor character development, typos, and stilted sentence structure. It simply cannot compare with historical fiction greats by authors such as Philippa Gregory or Sharon Kay Penman.
But also, as a random aside, my love for Sharon Kay Penman knows no bounds so it is *almost* an unfair comparison. Almost.
The Chelsea Girls features, to no one’s surprise, the Chelsea Hotel in New York, h ...more
But also, as a random aside, my love for Sharon Kay Penman knows no bounds so it is *almost* an unfair comparison. Almost.
The Chelsea Girls features, to no one’s surprise, the Chelsea Hotel in New York, h ...more
Another beautiful and heart-wrenching historical novel by Fiona Davis. This one focuses on the fabled downtown Chelsea Hotel, beginning in the 1940s.
As a transplanted New Yorker, I love reading about old New York and its most famous haunts. Once again, just as in The Lions of Fifth Avenue, Davis transports the reader to a magical and complex time in the history of the Chelsea Hotel. Not just a story of the hotel itself, but also a beautiful (and at times, tragic) story of a changing New York.
Th ...more
As a transplanted New Yorker, I love reading about old New York and its most famous haunts. Once again, just as in The Lions of Fifth Avenue, Davis transports the reader to a magical and complex time in the history of the Chelsea Hotel. Not just a story of the hotel itself, but also a beautiful (and at times, tragic) story of a changing New York.
Th ...more
This is a little bit of a departure for Fiona Davis. No dual timeline, and the landmark—the Chelsea Hotel—plays a slightly less crucial role than the landmarks in her previous works. But the examination of McCarthyism and its impact on the theater world is dark and devastating.
Whether it’s the Barbizon, the Dakota, Grand Central Terminal or The Chelsea Hotel, Fiona Davis has the great talent of weaving her wonderful stories around some of New York City’s most interesting and iconic landmarks. I’ve long been intrigued by the Chelsea Hotel and its history with its wide range of artist inhabitants (check out Leonard Cohen singing about fellow resident Janis Joplin in Chelsea Hotel No. 2.) In The Chelsea Girls, we are taken back to the 1940s to 1960s and the lives of Haze
...more
I read The Chelsea Girls before it was published and found it unsettling for reasons unknown. I put it aside hoping that I would feel differently at a later date which is now. Unfortunately, while I was able to finish the book this time through, my thoughts about the book still are not positive.
The Chelsea Girls is set at the famous Chelsea Hotel in an era spanning the 1940s and 50s. Part of my concern with the book is that I don't believe we are quite far enough removed from this time period t ...more
The Chelsea Girls is set at the famous Chelsea Hotel in an era spanning the 1940s and 50s. Part of my concern with the book is that I don't believe we are quite far enough removed from this time period t ...more
Fiona Davis has captured the hearts of readers with the way she brings life to New York City landmarks through compelling historical fiction. Setting her sights on the Chelsea Hotel, she delves into the world of theater in the McCarthy era. As two women wrestle with wartime memories, fractured friendship, love, and trust, readers will find themselves immersed in the world that Davis created and will be eager for more.
Fiona Davis is absolutely one of my favorite voices in historical fiction and her latest, The Chelsea Girls, proves why. This time around, Davis takes on post WWII communism and does so within the world of theater and performing arts in NYC. Deviating from the dual timelines of her past work, The Chelsea Girls begins in Italy where Hazel & Maxine meet on a USO tour and then a few years later, they are reunited in NYC at the Chelsea Hotel to work in theater together. Underneath all the friendship
...more
Yet another fabulously intriguing story by Fiona Davis!!
This story set in the McCarthy era is chilling. It is a reminder what happens to people who are persecuted for their speech or opinion. This centers around the entertainment world and two friends, Hazel and Maxine, and how the McCarthy investigation impacts their lives.
The two meet in Naples, Italy in an USO troupe entertainment troupe. Hazel becomes a budding playwright and Maxine a famous actress after the War. They unite to put on Hazel's first play on Broadway when the charge of Communism ...more
The two meet in Naples, Italy in an USO troupe entertainment troupe. Hazel becomes a budding playwright and Maxine a famous actress after the War. They unite to put on Hazel's first play on Broadway when the charge of Communism ...more
The Chelsea Girls
A intriguing and satisfying story of a iconic hotel, female friendships and a dark era of our political history.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
SUMMARY
Hazel Ripley first meets actress, Maxine Mead on a USO Tour in Naples, Italy. It was 1945 and the start of a lifelong friendship arising from the bonds of shared heartbreak and devastation inevitable in wartime.
After the war, Maxine heads to Hollywood and Hazel returns to New York City to pursue a career as a playwright. Having heard about the histor ...more
A intriguing and satisfying story of a iconic hotel, female friendships and a dark era of our political history.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
SUMMARY
Hazel Ripley first meets actress, Maxine Mead on a USO Tour in Naples, Italy. It was 1945 and the start of a lifelong friendship arising from the bonds of shared heartbreak and devastation inevitable in wartime.
After the war, Maxine heads to Hollywood and Hazel returns to New York City to pursue a career as a playwright. Having heard about the histor ...more
On a recent Italian USO tour, actress Maxine Mead and playwright Hazel Riley become fast friends in spring of 1945. After WWII, Max successfully transitions into a Hollywood starlet while Hazel relocates to NYC ending up residing in the illustrious famed Chelsea Hotel. With great delight, Hazel again meets up with Maxine, and the two set sights on making their theatrical mark in the Big Apple. But a black cloud hovers over the country due to political pressures and the communistic Red scare due
...more
Between a 4 and 4.5
Fiona Davis always writes an entertaining, historical-fiction novel; with a powerful ending.
Author’s notes are stellar.
Fiona Davis always writes an entertaining, historical-fiction novel; with a powerful ending.
Author’s notes are stellar.
Enjoyed the setting (Hotel Chelsea, the hotel for authors, poets, theater folks, and artists, in the 1920s-1950s), the theater storyline, and history in this but wasn't sure I believed the characters rang true, especially Maxine. I'll keep thinking about this story for a while though & that's the mark of a good novel.
...more
Sep 01, 2019
Tasha
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical-fiction,
own
3.5⭐ rounded up to 4 because I felt the second half was stronger and grabbed my interest more than the beginning. My first by the author and I'll try her again. I love the setting but would have loved more detail on the interior of the Chelsea!
...more
Another beautiful and heart-wrenching historical novel by Fiona Davis. This one focuses on the fabled downtown Chelsea Hotel, beginning in the 50s and spanning a decade.
As a transplanted New Yorker, I love reading about old New York and its most famous haunts. Once again, just as in The Lions of Fifth Avenue, Davis transports the reader to a magical and complex time in the history of the Chelsea Hotel. Not just a story of the hotel itself, but also a beautiful (and at times, tragic) story of a ...more
As a transplanted New Yorker, I love reading about old New York and its most famous haunts. Once again, just as in The Lions of Fifth Avenue, Davis transports the reader to a magical and complex time in the history of the Chelsea Hotel. Not just a story of the hotel itself, but also a beautiful (and at times, tragic) story of a ...more
|Thank you to @NetGalley @duttonbooks #partner|
.
The Chelsea Girls opens during WWII. The two main characters, Hazel and Maxine, meet on a USO tour in Italy and their friendship is born out of shared trials and circumstances. After the war they return to the states. Hazel returns to New York and her life in the theater world. Maxine goes to Hollywood to try and make it on the silver screen. The rest of the book follows the next 20 years as they endure separation, develop their own lives, and reun ...more
.
The Chelsea Girls opens during WWII. The two main characters, Hazel and Maxine, meet on a USO tour in Italy and their friendship is born out of shared trials and circumstances. After the war they return to the states. Hazel returns to New York and her life in the theater world. Maxine goes to Hollywood to try and make it on the silver screen. The rest of the book follows the next 20 years as they endure separation, develop their own lives, and reun ...more
This is Historical Fiction set in the early 1950's. I liked the setting of this. It is frustrating though to think these events or similar, actually took place. So I liked the history in this, but overall, this was a solid 3 stars for me. It seemed kind of light in some areas considering what was going on regarding Un-American Activities and the lives that were ruined because of it. And for some reason I expected more from Hazel. Her life seemed kind of uneventful in the latter portion. I would
...more
I’m a big fan of Fiona Davis and her latest book did not disappoint. Filled with unique characters who are each fighting their own demons in an era where no one could be trusted and loyalty was never guaranteed. A quick satisfying read for anyone who enjoys some history and intrigue with strong female characters
Apr 17, 2019
Julia Kelly
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favorite-women-s-historical-fiction
A dazzling story of loyalty, friendship, and betrayal in 1950s Bohemian New York amid the danger of the Red Scare. It will leave readers wishing they could spend a night at the Chelsea Hotel for a taste of Broadway glamor and a well-shaken cocktail.
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| Mary Lib Saleh Eu...: Historical Fiction | 1 | 6 | Jan 17, 2020 09:37AM |
Readers also enjoyed
Fiona Davis is the New York Times bestselling author of historical novels set in iconic New York City buildings, including THE LIONS OF FIFTH AVENUE (a GMA Book Club Pick) and THE CHELSEA GIRLS. She began her career in New York City as an actress, working on Broadway, off-Broadway, and in regional theater. After getting a master's degree at Columbia Journalism School, she fell in love with writing
...more
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“None of us knew how these new rules worked, where someone could be taken away for questioning and then disappear. As if we were living under siege in some authoritarian state, not America.”
—
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“And many of you bought the lies ... You didn't question them. You didn't fight back. You let this happen ... This is how a society is corrupted, from the inside out. We must make a promise to not ever let this happen again. We must promise to be vigilant against our own worst tendencies. Only by doing so will our country sustain its ideals of freedom.”
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