Fiona Davis Talks "The Stolen Queen"

Kardashian with looted sarcophogus

I love a good literary festival, whether or not I've read the authors I'm off to see. Case in point: Hearing from Fiona Davis at the Southwest Florida Reading Festival. If you're not familiar with her work, Davis writes historical fiction inspired by iconic New York City buildings. 

Davis' latest is "The Stolen Queen" and revolves around a purloined antiquity in the Met's collection. It's safe to save that I never expected to post a picture of Kim Kardashian in my blog, but Davis got the idea for her novel after this photo from the 2018 Met Gala led to Egypt's reclamation of Nedjemankh's golden coffin, circa 1st century B.C. For a fascinating article about the post-Gala recovery of this stolen antiquity -- which came about in part because the disgruntled thief never got paid -- click here. But back to Davis' own story. 

Davis didn't set out to become a novelist. For a decade, she worked in theater in New York. (The production of "Wilder, Wilder, Wilder" in which she played Leonora was nominated for both a Tony and a Drama Desk Award for Best Revival.) She realized, though, that many actresses she knew were aging out of roles while the men were coming into their own. What to do (other than fume about sexism in the industry)? Somewhat hilariously, she took a Myers-Briggs test and learned she was best suited to be a journalist or a cop. It wasn't hard to decide which of the two careers to explore. So off she went to Columbia's School of Journalism.

Post-graduation, Davis had a gig writing for "O" magazine. She came upon a potential story involving the famous Barbizon Hotel (formerly the Barbizon Hotel for Women). She was fascinated to learn that, thanks to rent control, some of the residents paid a mere $250/month for their apartments while many owners had paid north of $15 million for their condos. She realized she had the beginnings of more than a story for the magazine. The result was "The Dollhouse," Davis' first novel. Her now trademark dual plotline enabled Davis to explore both what it was like to live in the building now and back in the day. 

Fast forward to Davis' latest novel, which she describes as "Travel and Leisure" meets Indiana Jones meets "The Devil Wears Prada." The dual timeline in this book moves between 1936 Egypt when a young Charlotte Cross joins an archeological dig and 1978 New York City when Charlotte works in the Met's Egyptian Art Department. Charlotte's passion project is researching the life and accomplishments of Hathorkare, a female pharaoh inspired by the real life Hatshepsut who ruled between 1479 B.C. and 1458 B.C. 

The action at the Met begins when an Egyptian artifact previously owned by Hathorkare goes missing during the 1978 Gala. Setting the novel in 1978 wasn't random. It was the year both the King Tut exhibit and the Temple of Dendur opened at the Met. It was also one of the many years when Diana Vreeland, a character in "The Stolen Queen," chaired the Gala. As a bit of an aside, it was under Vreeland's leadership of the Gala that the event morphed from an intimate fundraiser to the zoo which it has become. All of this history and more can be found in Davis' novel. 

For a bit more about "The Stolen Queen," click here for Davis' website. In addition to some background, she has put together a scavenger hunt for objects in the Met that are mentioned in the book. Not wanting to make it too challenging, she's included the galleries in which the objects can be found. Fun! It's one of the outings on my "to do" list the next time I'm in New York. I am particularly eager to see the gorgeous and intriguing "Fragment of a Queen's Face" shown in the image above. 

Happy reading -- and exploring!