Fiona Davis Talks About Her New American Girl Book and Recommends 9 Historical Fiction Novels (Exclusive)
Plus, learn what else the bestselling author is working on (hint: Another new book is coming!)
Key Takeaways
- Fiona Davis talks about ‘Samantha: The Next Chapter,’ her newest novel.
- The bestselling author shares how she became a novelist in her 40s and what inspires her.
- Davis reveals nine favorite historical fiction books set in New York City.
Fiona Davis is the New York Times bestselling author of eight historical fiction novels, all of which are set at famous buildings in New York City. And now, she’s gearing up to release her ninth novel, which is inspired by the beloved American Girl doll Samantha. But Davis is also working on another novel that will be released in January 2027 and she’s reading other historical fiction books set in New York. To learn what they are, keep scrolling!
Fiona Davis’ American Girl connection
Samantha: The Next Chapter, which is inspired by the American Girl doll Samantha Parkington, is available today. In the story, Samantha is now an adult searching for justice in 1920s New York City after her family’s legacy is stolen.
“I didn’t have an American Girl doll growing up—I was already in college when they launched, and I don’t have children to play with them either,” Davis tells Woman’s World. “So when the American Girl doll team first reached out, I wondered what was going on. Then they explained they wanted an adult book about Samantha as a 25-year-old in 1920s New York, and I thought, what a brilliant concept! I love that era for its fashion and the women’s movement.”
Since the historical fiction story was set in Manhattan, Davis was a natural choice. “I also had all these weird connections with the story, including the fact that Samantha’s very passionate about suffrage, and I’d co-edited a group of short stories about the suffrage movement several years ago,” says Davis. “There was just so much there, and I was really taken by the idea that I didn’t have to come up with the backstory for the character—it was all right there, and it was so deep and interesting. I had ideas right away as I was reading the stories. I was like, ‘Okay, that has to happen. This has to happen. Let’s have this happen.’ And the plot just came to me very quickly, which is always a good sign.”
As with any Davis novel, Samantha: The Next Chapter is detailed and descriptive and transports readers back in time in an easy-to-understand way.
Fiona Davis on her research and writing process
There was one big difference writing in partnership with American Girl. Most of the time, when writing, Davis said she spends countless hours researching and visiting the buildings featured in her novels, and while she did some of that here, a lot of it was done by American Girl.
“The boarding house where she stays when she realizes that her grandmother’s inheritance has been stolen and she has to track it down—that’s based on the Rehearsal Club, which I’d written about in The Spectacular, because a lot of Radio City Rockettes stayed there. It’s not the same, but it’s inspired by it,” Davis says.
“The lucky thing—and the difference with this book from any of my others—is that there’s a historian on staff at American Girl who was there to help me research, and she came up with so many brilliant finds. If I needed to know how much a shop girl was paid in 1920, she would find that information, and it was so detailed. She would do a deep dive and come up with things I could have never found on my own, which I think really enriched the story in many ways.”
Fiona Davis talks about her next historical fiction novel, coming soon
Along with Samantha: The Next Chapter, Davis has another book, The Jewel of Sugar Hill, which will be available in January next year. It takes place at New York City’s Morris-Jumel Mansion in the 1800s and follows Eliza Brown, who vows to make Aaron Burr, one of the country’s founding fathers, fall in love with her.
“That’s based on the oldest residence in New York City, the Morris-Jumel Mansion. It served as George Washington’s headquarters during the Revolutionary War for a little over a month, and it was later owned by a woman named Eliza Jumel, who became the richest woman in New York City,” the author explains. “She was born into poverty, but she came to New York and became the richest woman in the city because she was so skilled at buying and selling real estate. Her story is terrific, and it was a lot of fun to research and write.”
Fiona Davis talks about becoming an author in her 40s
Unlike many authors, Davis didn’t begin writing books until she hit her 40s—a decision she’s very proud of.
“In my 20s, I hadn’t really experienced much, and so to write about love or loss, it—it wouldn’t have flown. No one would have believed it. And then as you get older and you’ve been through things, and you’ve possibly suffered, but you’ve also had great joy and surprises and all kinds of life experiences—that’s when I felt like I was ready to write a book, and that’s when I started, which was in my mid-40s,” she explains. “Things are always changing, and you go through different stages of life. And now I have some friends who are retiring, and I’m shocked, because how can that be? And they’re—they’re older than I am, but still, it’s kind of fascinating to see how life unfolds.”
“Even my mom, who’s 88 now, she keeps a diary of these wonderful things that happen at the place where she lives, which is an assisted living facility, and every day she finds some kind of funny story that struck her, or she has a thought that she wants to share, and she keeps a diary and writes it down,” Davis adds. “So I think that’s a wonderful thing: It doesn’t matter if you’re 20 or 80, you have something to say and figure it out and get it out there.”
Fiona Davis reveals her favorite books set in New York City
When she’s not writing books in New York City, Davis can often be found reading books set in New York City. One of her favorites is The Alienist by Caleb Carr, which follows newspaper reporter John Schuyler Moore and his friend Dr. Laszlo Kreizler in 1896 as they attempt to figure out who killed a young boy on the Williamsburg Bridge. Davis calls the thrilling, page-turning novel “a classic.”
“There’s so many great books set in New York City,” she adds. “I could pull a list together for sure.”
And that’s just what she did. After the interview ended, Davis sent us a list of her favorite historical fiction books set in New York, which you can view below.
- The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
- A Pair of Aces by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
- Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray
- The Matchmaker’s Gift by Lynda Cohen Loigman
- The Two-Family House by Lynda Cohen Loigman
- Passing by Nella Larsen
- City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
- Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
- Time and Again by Jack Finney
You can pick up Samantha: The Next Chapter by Fiona Davis now wherever books are sold.
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