The Lions of Fifth Avenue

Sadie Donovan is the protagonist of The Lions of Fifth Avenue’s present timeline. Bookish, she works among the rarest artifacts in the New York Public Library. She values her work for its direct line to the past as well as its distance from tourists. Sadie is described as loving books more than people, which may speak to her aesthetic appreciation of old manuscripts, or the fact that she is reeling from a divorce and the uncomfortable aftermath of an office romance. She is mostly driven by work, the only exceptions being her brother’s family and punk rock clubs. Two narrative developments force her out of her shell: the mystery of the book thefts and the appearance of Nick Adriano, a security consultant. Once on the trail of the book thief, Sadie is unexpectedly in her element—seeing clues others have missed and using her encyclopedic knowledge of the library to make deductions. Her character arc is a familiar one: She is an emotionally scarred loner who comes out of her self-imposed isolation to embrace life in all of its risks and joys. Sadie learns that she is not only perfectly capable of putting together a successful exhibit, but trusting another human being, Nick.

Aspiring novelist Jack Lyons serves as both Laura’s main supporter and primary antagonist. Although somewhat trepidatious at Laura’s desire to learn journalism, he nevertheless encourages her and applauds her early success. Jack appears to be the ideal, forward-thinking husband, eager to help Laura elevate her social status to be equal to his own. As it turns out, Jack approves of Laura’s aspirations as long as everything remains stable within their home. Once they discover Harry has been missing school, Jack defaults to the gender norms of the day, wondering why his wife hasn’t been paying attention to the children, despite the fact that he’s at home all day. When he discovers Laura’s infidelity, his hurt and anger take the form of patriarchal—and eventually, physical—dominance. Fiona Davis is careful to give Jack adequate motivation for his rage, while not justifying his physical abuse (roughly grabbing Laura and slapping Harry). While it’s true he could have monitored Harry himself, his anger at Laura’s love for Amelia feels justified. Furthermore, he likely dies to take the fall for his son, which, unwittingly, gives Laura the space to become the woman she always wanted to be.

Dr. Amelia Potter, pediatrician to the poor, is both a fully formed character and a narrative catalyst. A former classmate of Laura’s, Amelia enters the story in grand fashion—facing down an abusive, drunken husband and saving Laura from a potential assault. Laura is struck by Amelia’s powerful presence and sartorial style (as she wears a man’s necktie). Once they become acquainted, Amelia ushers Laura into the secret world of the Heterodoxy Club, where Laura gets her first taste of the kind of woman she will eventually become. Amelia is the antithesis of Manhattan’s uptown, prudish crowd. She refuses to “know her place,” advocates loudly for women’s rights, and defies sexual norms by loving another woman; she does all this seemingly without fear or self-consciousness, a lesson for Laura in assertiveness. Without Amelia, Laura might have become a typical reporter, covering issues that don’t interest her, but Amelia’s love and support push her Laura toward a life of advocacy and of fulfillment.

Nick Adriano, a security consultant hired to assist in the book theft investigation, finds a willing partner in Sadie, who is just as eager to solve the mystery. Just as Amelia pushes Laura toward self-realization, Nick does the same for Sadie, although in a less socially defiant fashion. He persuades Sadie—once content to devote all of her time to the library—to loosen up and have fun. Their chance meeting at a pop-up dance event pushes Sadie out of her comfort zone and onto a dance floor, where she glimpses a life beyond the musty stacks of the library. Nick, who acts professional until he and Sadie develop romantic chemistry, is no stranger to literature. A lover of poetry and salsa dancing, Nick is hardly the stereotypical ex-cop, and over the course of the investigation, he learns to appreciate the value of rare books almost as much as Sadie. He guides Sadie’s instincts and calls in the authorities when needed, and although Sadie incriminates herself through a series of ill-timed coincidences, Nick never appears to lose faith in her (even though his suspicions are aroused). In the end, Nick gives Sadie something even more valuable than a rare book: a chance at love.

Robin Larkin is a scam artist, biding her time and insinuating herself into Harry, Lonnie, and Sadie’s good graces until she can pull off her heist. Fiona Davis gives Robin a tragic backstory as well as a glimmer of promise. Abandoned as a child and separated from her sister, Robin grows up, ironically, much like Harry, without parental role models—but she discovers books, which she claims “saved her sanity” (348). Harry, now the owner of a bookstore in Massachusetts, gives Robin a job and a fresh start, but his childhood tales of growing up in a library full of rare books prove too tempting for Robin, and she soon teams up with library board member Mr. Jones-Ebbing to steal from the New York Public Library. Interestingly, neither Robin’s tragic past nor her love of Shakespeare is enough to sway Sadie, who wants the court to make an example of her. As a result, Robin is sentenced to five years in prison, a sentence that elicits cheers from the courtroom. Robin is a criminal with a heartbreaking past, but The Lions of Fifth Avenue grants her no reprieve, seeing only her crimes, not their cause.

Pearl Lyons, the younger child of Jack and Laura, is depicted most clearly as a dying woman with too many secrets to keep. As a child, she hovers in the background, and Fiona Davis reveals her traumatic past gradually, giving readers time to ponder her cryptic comments and harsh exterior (as she chides her daughter, Sadie, for not “moving on” fast enough after her divorce). Pearl is Sadie’s link to the past just as much as any rare manuscript, but she is frustratingly tight-lipped about it. Once Davis reveals the horrors she’s witnessed—Harry’s destruction of Jack’s manuscript and her father’s suicide—her reticence about her childhood becomes justified. Pearl’s clues about the past, delivered in a haze due to her dementia, are enticing enough to keep Sadie on the trail of the thief and readers turning the page.