The Address

This book by Fiona Davis was selected by my mystery book group and focuses around the (in)famous Dakota building in New York City. Two protagonists are occupants there, 100 years apart--in 1884 when it was just opening and in 1984 when it had gained infamy as the place where John Lennon was killed (1980). Theodore Camden, one of the architects of the grand apartment house brought Sara Smythe from her position as head of housekeeping at a posh London hotel to become the "manageress" of the building, which was, at the time, on the far outskirts of New York City. She and Theodore are like minded and this soon leads to a passionate affair --ended, ostensibly, when she went mad and stabbed him to death. We learn all this from Sara's point of view. The unraveling of this story will tie her to the more contemporary narrator, Bailey Camden, a recovering drug addict, tangentially connected to the Camden name through her grandfather, who was adopted by the Camdens. Bailey's cousin, who is heir to the apartment where Theodore Camden and his family lived in the Dakota, has decided to totally gut the place and remodel, hiring disgraced designer and "cousin" Bailey to live there temporarily and manage the Project. When Bailey discovers property belonging to the Camden in the basement of the building, she begins to investigate, prodded by the building manager, who points out a striking resemblance between Bailey and an old photograph of Sara Smythe.  The ending won't surprise anyone, but it is an interesting look into the Gilded Age of architecture and culture in New York City. The title is appropriate as the building itself is the most well-developed character of the book.
Reviews from the Historical Novel Society, Kirkus, The Chicago Review of Books, and Publishers Weekly.