Fiona Davis's "The Chelsea Girls"

Fiona Davis began her career in New York City as an actress, where she worked on Broadway, off-Broadway, and in regional theater. After getting a master's degree at Columbia Journalism School, she fell in love with writing, leapfrogging from editor to freelance journalist before finally settling down as an author of historical fiction. She's a graduate of the College of William & Mary and is based in New York City.

Here Davis dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, The Chelsea Girls:

The Chelsea Girls is set in the New York City theater world during the McCarthy era, as a playwright and an actress are trying to mount a show on Broadway. Then it jumps to 1967, as the ramifications of that time become clear. Hazel and Maxine live in the Chelsea Hotel, which is full of eccentric characters, many taken from real life. In a perfect world, I’d have the people who make cameos in the book appear in the movie, musicians like Leonard Cohen and Janis Joplin, playwrights like Arthur Miller. (Deep sigh).

However, while I was writing the manuscript, I had three photos above my desk of actors who I imagined as the lead characters. In real life, the actors come from a mix of generations, which means we unfortunately can’t bring them all together for the movie shoot.

Hazel Ripley is a reluctant actress and budding playwright who’s trying to mount a play on Broadway during the McCarthy era. I imaged Grace Kelly in the role, as she’s someone who is pretty but in a soft, quiet, smart way.

Her best friend, Maxine Mead, is the exact opposite, a flashy redhead who’s not afraid of attention. I bet Jessica Chastain would eat that role right up.

Finally, there’s an FBI agent who’s sweet and vulnerable, and I pictured Ryan Reynolds as Sam as I was writing the book. He’d be great. And then I’d get to meet him…

Visit Fiona Davis's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Address.

My Book, The Movie: The Masterpiece.

--Marshal Zeringue