The Tiffany Girls

A Novel

By: Shelley Noble

Narrated by: Caroline Hewitt

Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times bestselling author Shelley Noble wows with a gripping historical novel about the real-life “Tiffany Girls,” a fascinating and largely unknown group of women artists behind Tiffany’s most legendary glassworks.

It’s 1899, and Manhattan is abuzz. Louis Comfort Tiffany, famous for his stained-glass windows, is planning a unique installation at the Paris World’s Fair, the largest in history. At their fifth-floor studio on Fourth Avenue, the artists of the Women’s Division of the Tiffany Glass Company are already working longer shifts to finish the pieces that Tiffany hopes will prove that he is the world’s finest artist in glass. Known as the “Tiffany Girls,” these women are responsible for much of the design and construction of Tiffany’s extraordinary glassworks, but none receive credit.

Emilie Pascal, daughter of an art forger, has been shunned in Paris art circles after the unmasking of her abusive father. Wanting nothing more than a chance to start a new life, she forges a letter of recommendation in hopes of fulfilling her destiny as an artist in the one place where she will finally be free to live her own life.

Grace Griffith is the best copyist in the studio, spending her days cutting glass into floral borders for Tiffany’s religious stained-glass windows. But none of her coworkers know her secret: she is living a double life as a political cartoonist under the pseudonym of G.L. Griffith—hiding her identity as a woman.

As manager of the women’s division, Clara Driscoll is responsible for keeping everything on schedule and within budget. But in the lead-up to the most important exhibition of her career, not only are her girls becoming increasingly difficult to wrangle, she finds herself obsessed with a new design: a dragonfly lamp that she has no idea will one day become Tiffany’s signature piece.

Brought together by chance, driven by their desire to be artists in one of the only ways acceptable for women in their time, these “Tiffany Girls” will break the glass ceiling of their era and for working women to come.

This historical fiction novel set in the Gilded Age of New York City is a perfect gift for any woman interested in art, history, or strong women breaking the glass ceiling of their era.

©2023 Shelley Noble (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

Loved the details

So interesting- lots of respect for the process described regarding the making of Tiffany designs. Fictional backstory is good as well. If you’re a fan of Tiffany you will love this book!

The Intriguing Tiffany Girls

Read about the Tiffany girls and how their lives mingled with their lives in a boarding house and working at Tiffanys design building. Mr. Tiffany’s character was well-written with strong traits and at times a humorous bent.

Interesting historical fiction

I enjoyed the historical fiction - but usually the history is background to the story. In this instance, there wasn’t much story and the only purpose of the characters seemed to be to depict the historical moment. Not uninteresting, but not a lot going on in the story. I could put it down for days and not think about the characters. It did make me look up some of the Tiffany glass pieces depicted and while interesting, just not my cup of tea.

So good

This is a terrific, interesting, and delightful book to listen to.
The evocations of color and light, the differences in the two worlds which the heroine inhabits bring your senses alive. The flawless narration by Ms. Hewitt gives each character its own identity and lends greater clarity to the story.
A wonderful journey to the past.

The description of the glassworks and the building of the characters

Although the story is a bit slow at times, it tells a tale based on real people and events and introduced me to people and the work they did that many do not think of and gives such an appreciation to the art.

Loved this book

Enjoyable historical fiction loved the story and the history. Love this author can’t wait to read more of her books

Wonderful story

Great historical novel. The history and works are fascinating. The performer is excellent. I’ll listen to more by her and the author.

Loved it!

Not only was this a truly good story, but gave a clear depiction
of the history of the time.
The characters were
representative of that as well.

Almost 5 stars

The author.could have cut down by not saying multiple things multiple times. It felt repetitive at times but otherwise I absolutely loved this book

fine example of historical fiction

a pleasantly enjoyable historical fiction. only thin threads of accuracy to events, but the author creates a fiction out of "what could some of their stories be like, if the nameless women in history had a voice?" She did however get her glass tradecraft processes correct and allowed them to shine in the story as a character of its own. Mostly I loved the portrayal of the love of light that glass artists share.