Fiona Davis began her career in New York City as an actress, where she worked on Broadway, off-Broadway, and in regional theater. After getting a master's degree at Columbia Journalism School, she fell in love with writing, leapfrogging from editor to freelance journalist before finally settling down as an author of historical fiction. She's a graduate of the College of William & Mary and is based in New York City.Davis's new novel is The Masterpiece.
From her Q&A with Nancy Gilson for The Columbus Dispatch:
Q: What made you decide to write “The Masterpiece” about the Grand Central School of Art?Visit Fiona Davis's website.
A: The idea came during an author talk for my second book (“The Dakota”). A reader said she could get me a behind-the-scenes tour of the Grand Central Terminal. The tour was spectacular. We got to go into the crosswalks, so we were looking down at the concourse ... and to an abandoned train car that supposedly belonged to FDR.
But it all didn’t really connect until I read about the School of Art, which no one seems to know about. It was founded by (painter) John Singer Sargent. ... I didn’t know much about fine arts, and it terrified me to start writing about painters and illustrators, but I did a lot of research.
Q: Your main characters are based on real artists who taught at the school: painter Arshile Gorky and illustrator/industrial designer Helen Dryden. How different are the characters from the real people?
A: I would say they are more...[read on]
My Book, The Movie: The Address.
My Book, The Movie: The Masterpiece.
--Marshal Zeringue