The Chelsea Girls A Novel

Fiona Davis — 2019

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 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.

Reviews

Jennifer Dieter@jdeets03

Dec 30, 2021

3.5/4 stars. I had the pleasure of seeing Fiona Davis speak in Minnesota shortly after The Masterpiece was released. I, just like her, am always intrigued by places and stories that may have transpired in those spaces. I hadn't had a chance to read any of her books, so I was excited to finally dive in and discover Davis as an author thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House who offered an ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Chelsea Girls commences at the end of World War II. Hazel and Maxine meet while entertaining troops. Maxine is asked to lend her German translation skills to try to sway the German soldiers to the American side through radio. Hazel becomes her writer. The two quickly become friends and their lives become further entwined through The Chelsea Hotel, an artist commune in New York City. Hazel writes a play based on her war experience, Maxine becomes the lead, and the two find themselves defending their work and themselves during the Red Scare of the 1950s when several artists were accused of being communists and forced to answer to the government. I really enjoyed The Chelsea Girls. You don't often get to read books that center around friendships between women where their relationships to men feel secondary or less important. Fiona Davis definitely puts more focus on plot and space than character development. The plot was what kept me reading, and I didn't feel emotionally invested in what happened to any of the characters. I appreciate Davis' choice to quickly shift away from World War II since I think that's a time period overused in historic fiction. While the Red Scare wasn't *new* to me when it comes to understanding history, I still found it interesting to read from the perspective of those who were being targeted. Overall, I recommend this book to readers who enjoy a fast moving plot, historic fiction, and enjoy smart, feminist reads centered around friendship instead of romance.