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 Deborah Kalb:
Q: What inspired you to center your new novel on New York’s Grand Central Terminal?Visit Fiona Davis's website.
A: A reader, actually. I was giving an author talk for The Address and an audience member suggested I look into the Terminal for my next book. Later, she mentioned she could arrange for a behind-the-scenes tour. I couldn’t resist.
Yet even after the tour, I still wasn’t sure it would work as a setting. The space is massive, and there are so many possibilities, I was quite overwhelmed.
But then I read about the Grand Central School of Art, which was co-founded by John Singer Sargent in the 1920s and located on one of the top floors. I realized if I focused on that as a setting, it might work.
I love the fact that my first book, The Dollhouse, dealt with jazz, the second with architecture, and this one with art. The...[read on]
My Book, The Movie: The Address.
My Book, The Movie: The Masterpiece.
--Marshal Zeringue