Tiffany Girl by Deeanne Gist

Description:

From the bestselling author of It Happened at the Fair and Fair Play comes a compelling historical novel about a progressive “New Woman”—the girl behind Tiffany’s chapel—and the love that threatens it all.

As preparations for the 1893 World’s Fair set Chicago and the nation on fire, Louis Tiffany—heir to the exclusive Fifth Avenue jewelry empire—seizes the opportunity to unveil his state-of-the-art, stained glass, mosaic chapel, the likes of which the world has never seen.

But when Louis’s dream is threatened by a glassworkers’ strike months before the Fair opens, he turns to an unforeseen source for help: the female students at the New York Art Institute. Eager for adventure, the young women pick up their skirts, move to boarding houses, take up steel cutters, and assume new identities as the “Tiffany Girls.”

Tiffany Girls is the heartwarming story of the impetuous Flossie Jayne, a beautiful, budding artist who is handpicked by Louis to help complete the Tiffany chapel. Though excited to live in a boarding house when most women stayed home, she quickly finds the world is less welcoming than anticipated. From a Casanova male, to an unconventional married couple, and a condescending singing master, she takes on a colorful cast of characters to transform the boarding house into a home while racing to complete the Tiffany chapel and make a name for herself in the art world.

As challenges mount, her ambitions become threatened from an unexpected quarter: her own heart. Who will claim victory? Her dreams or the captivating boarder next door?

My Opinion:

Deeanne Gist has been one of my favorite authors from the get go. All her books are a thrill to read and set my imagination soaring on what it would be like to live in the time periods her books are set in. I find myself wondering, what would it be like to be a 'mail ordered bride', a 'Biltmore maid', or an 'Oil Rig managing spinster'? Now, after reading Tiffany Girl I wonder what it would be like to be a 'New Woman'. What kind of job would I have? What would my wages look like? How would I be treated by the opposite sex and what would my family think? I love books that keep me thinking even after I have finished them. 

Reeve Wilder was not the nicest guy through half of the book. In fact, most everyone probably would despise him for his views on woman's rights and why they are here on earth. I know it took a long time for him to grow on me. However, I liked that I got to see his views slowly change as he started to have feelings for Florence. (Yes, I use the name Florence because, sorry, but I hated calling her Flossie). 

I liked how Florence's character was depicted as an average person. She showed that people do not have to be good at everything to be important or cherished by society. However, I was upset when we found out she was average at both glasswork, and her art. It made her seem like she was basic in every aspect, and we all know that everyone excels in at least one specific area. That we ALL are talented at SOMETHING in life. Furthermore, Florence's little drawings were described in a lot of detail and would require a lot of work. I consider myself talented in the art department and I know I could not draw any of the things Florence did without a picture for reference. In other words, I would say that she was extremely skilled at art. 

Now getting to what most people want to hear and what will most likely be the deciding factor on if the read Tiffany Girl or not. As most of us know, Deeanne Gist has switched over from the Christian Fiction genre to the secular world of writing to hopefully widen and expand her writing to more people. So what does that mean about the Religious and Romantic sides of the story? I know I have read reviews on goodreads which say that their are sex scenes in this novel and I just want to clarify that that is NOT TRUE! This is actually the most CHASTE book of all Deeanne's novels! Their might be two kissing scenes and then a wedding night scene. The wedding night scene only entailed that they undressed a little. By the end of the book they were still wearing more than what we do today on a daily basis. 

I would still consider this a christian novel. Even though her being a 'New Woman' was the focal point, the characters still talked about God and mentioned prayer. 

All in all, I liked the book but their were a few little things that I would have changed. 

Stars: 4