When I invited fellow authors to recommend a book for #read99women my only conditions were that each book be written by or about a woman (or both). I hoped we’d have a mix of well-known and little-known, new books and old — and so far, it’s working out great!

Today’s recommendation is a true classic, and our recommender is Fiona Davis, a superstar of the historical fiction genre.

Fiona Davis; photo credit: Deborah Feingold

The bestselling author of THE DOLLHOUSE, THE ADDRESS, THE MASTERPIECE, and THE CHELSEA GIRLS, Fiona 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. Fiona's books have been translated into more than a dozen languages. She's a graduate of the College of William & Mary and is based in New York City. Her new novel THE LIONS OF FIFTH AVENUE is forthcoming on July 28, 2020.

So what book does Fiona recommend for #read99women? Fittingly for a New Yorker who writes across multiple eras, it’s one of the best and best-known books about New York high society in a particular age — THE AGE OF INNOCENCE, by Edith Wharton.

Fiona says: “I recently re-read The Age of Innocence and this time around was struck by how funny Wharton is. She skewers Gilded Age high society with her vibrant wit, while at the same time offering up characters who are flawed, tragic, sometimes irritating, and always relatable.”

You can read the rest of Fiona’s recommendation here.

For more recommendation from Fiona and information about her (fabulous!) books, follow her on BookBub here.

Will tomorrow’s #read99women book be a well-known classic or an undiscovered pleasure? Contemporary or historical? Light reading or intense drama? Only one way to find out…