THE FIFTH AVENUE ARTISTS SOCIETY (Joy Calloway)

The gilded age in New York City was a time of intellectual and artistic awakening set against a backdrop of old-fashioned social mores and class distinction.  The Loftin family is living in what we would call genteel poverty, each of the 5 adult children working to keep their home and maintain a reasonable lifestyle after the death of their father.  The 4 sisters, all artists in their own way, are expected to seek advantageous marriages while brother Franklin, twin to Virginia tries to support the family with his sales position.  Bess is a talented milliner, frequently sought after to create fantastic hats for society's elite, like the Astors and Vanderbilts.  Alevia is a wonderful pianist, rejected time and again from the local symphony because of her gender, but in great demand to play for various social gatherings at the homes of the best families.  Mae, the youngest, is an aspiring teacher like their mother, and Virginia, the main protagonist of the story, is a writer.  Virgina has been in love with Charlie, the boy next door, since she was a young girl, and she is shocked and devastated when he proposes marriage to another, wealthier, young woman right in front of her at a party.

Franklin eventually introduces Virginia to John Hopper, who frequently hosts artists' salons at his beautiful home on Fifth Avenue, welcoming writers and artist of both genders to work and critique each other.  Having been rejected from other salons because she is a woman, Virginia is thrilled to be welcomed and develops close relationships with several of the people she meets there, including John Hopper, with whom she forms a special bond.  Calloway includes Oscar Wilde and Edith Wharton as guests at the salon, which adds a special touch of authenticity to the story.

This isn't just a sweet story about a young woman trying to find success as a writer and rediscover love.  As the novel progresses, Calloway weaves in several intriguing plot lines involving Franklin's work and a couple of mysterious deaths that will keep every reader wondering and waiting for the next development.  This is Calloway's first novel and I hope it isn't her last!