By Deanne Gist
Howard Books, 2015. 544 pgs. Fiction.
Tiffany Girl tells the story of Flossie Jayne, a late nineteenth century “New Woman” and student at the New York Art Institute. Though raised in a conservative family, Flossie’s feminist ideals cause her to leave home to work on the Tiffany Chapel, Louis Comfort Tiffany’s stained-glass mosaic chapel created for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. After moving into a boarding house, Flossie hurries to bond with her fellow boarders, including Reeve, a cynical journalist with opposing social views.
Although length doesn't typically bother me, Tiffany Girl struck me as being a little overly long and as having unneeded plot twists. Gist spends more time on secondary characters in this novel than she typically does, which accounts for some of the length. Nevertheless, the novel was a fun read. Unlike Gist’s earliest works, Tiffany Girl avoids overt Christian themes, as it was published by a non-Christian publisher. Readers can still expect interesting and detailed historical information about a largely unknown historic event, though, as well as plenty of romance.
SR
1 comment:
I really enjoyed Tiffany Girl. I didn't know much about this time in history when women were going outside of the home and finding jobs. They faced so much criticism from their families and society. Flossie begins the book as a very naive girl who just wants to do something on her own. She brightens and lifts everyone she comes in contact with which grates on her neighbor at the boarding house. He is a newspaper man who vocally opposes the New Woman movement. I do agree that this book was a little on the longer side, but I liked getting to know some of the characters better.
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