The Chelsea Girls

Author: Fiona Davis
Genre: Historical Fiction (USA)
Type: Hardcover
Pages: 368
Source: Local Public Library
Publisher: Dutton Books
First Published: July 30, 2019
Opening Lines: "New York City, March 1967 -- In the dead of night, during the dreary month of March, the Chelsea Hotel is a quiet place. The only sound that cuts through the silence is the squeal of a police siren, and that fades fast."

Book Description from GoodReads: 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 national bestselling author of The Dollhouse and The Address.

From the dramatic redbrick facade to the sweeping staircase dripping with art, the Chelsea Hotel has long been New York City's creative oasis for the many artists, writers, musicians, actors, filmmakers, and poets who have called it home--a scene playwright Hazel Riley and actress Maxine Mead are determined to use to their advantage. Yet they soon discover that the greatest obstacle to putting up a show on Broadway has nothing to do with their art, and everything to do with politics. A Red scare is sweeping across America, and Senator Joseph McCarthy has started a witch hunt for Communists, with those in the entertainment industry in the crosshairs. As the pressure builds to name names, it is more than Hazel and Maxine's Broadway dreams that may suffer as they grapple with the terrible consequences, but also their livelihood, their friendship, and even their freedom.

Spanning from the 1940s to the 1960s, The Chelsea Girls deftly pulls back the curtain on the desperate political pressures of McCarthyism, the complicated bonds of female friendship, and the siren call of the uninhibited Chelsea Hotel.

My Rating: 3.5 stars

My Review: New York City's Chelsea Hotel was a haven for its bohemian inhabitants who were a melange of artists, musicians and performers in the mid-1900's. It's around this iconic hotel that Fiona Davis sets her latest Historical Fiction novel. The story focuses on the friendship of two women and how Red Scare accusations and the ensuing blacklisting, often lead to horrific results for those who were (often unjustly) under suspicion of being Communists.

Davis pulls her readers into the sights, sounds and emotions of the era - especially the fear and finger pointing as the witch hunt for communists ran rampant. These are some big issues and a dark time (and a new historical setting for this reader) but this book was more of a lighter Historical Fiction read. I loved the descriptions of the Chelsea Hotel (but wish it had a more crucial role) and its focus on strong female friendships but unfortunately, I found the character development wasn't up to Davis' typical standard.  Good, but not strong.  

While there are some slower parts, this was an enjoyable, well-researched novel about a complicated friendship, a peek at an iconic hotel's history and I appreciated that its strong focus on the turbulent and uncertain McCarthy era enlightened this Canadian reader.