Colony Club (2024)

This historical novel follows the creation of the Colony Club, the first women’s club of its kind, against the dazzling backdrop of Gilded Age New York. When young society matron Daisy Harriman is refused a room at the Waldorf because the hotel does not cater to unaccompanied women, she establishes the Colony Club, where visiting women can stay overnight, dine with friends, discuss new ideas, address social issues and make their voices heard. She hires New York’s sought-after architect Stanford White to design the clubhouse. Elsie de Wolfe, known as the best-dressed actress on the Rialto, is invited to design its interiors, while Nora Bromely, raised in the Lower East Side tenements, works to become an architect despite hostility and sabotage from her male colleagues. When White is murdered and the resulting Trial of the Century exposes his scandalous personal life, fearful backers begin withdrawing their support, putting the club’s future in doubt. Daisy, Elsie and Nora form an unlikely friendship born of crisis and must overcome society’s conventions as well as their own prejudices about women, wealth and one another. Together, they strive to turn Daisy’s dream into a reality: a place that supports social justice and preserves the work of the women known as the “Mink Brigade” for the future.