Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “The Chelsea Girls” by Fiona Davis, Dutton, July​ 2019

Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “The Chelsea Girls” by Fiona Davis, Dutton, July 2019

Kudos to Fiona Davis, Author of “The Chelsea Girls” for writing such intriguing, intense, captivating, riveting, enthralling, historical and entertaining novel. The Genres for this Novel are Historical Fiction and Fiction.  The author writes about The Chelsea Hotel and its history, and the entertainment industry. In a good portion of the novel the McCarthy era, and witch hunt for Communists is mentioned.  Fiona Davis vividly describes the architecture, landscape, and characters in her novel.  The dramatic cast of characters are described as complex and complicated. There are betrayals and danger. Friendship is one of the themes in this novel, and the timeline is approximately 20 years.

Hazel Ripley first meets Maxine Mead in a USO tour during World War Two in Italy. The two work together to entertain the troops and then do a radio show. Up to this point, Hazel has been an understudy in the theater.  Both seem to work well together.

The Chelsea Hotel has been historically known as the hub for creativity. Writers, musicians, actors, artists, and others have been known to stay there. New York City is where the Chelsea Hotel is located. After the war, Hazel goes to The Chelsea hotel hoping to be a playwright. Hazel does write a play, and Maxine returns to become one of the actors in the play.  Unfortunately, the political times are not stable in the entertainment history.  Senator Joseph McCarthy is looking at the industry for communists. There is a book that blacklists suspected people in this industry.

In this amazing story, there is espionage, love, betrayal, danger, and shattered dreams and hopes.  I highly recommend this intense thought-provoking novel.