Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland

Clara Driscoll was one of the many woman who worked for Louis Comfort Tiffany and was in fact responsible for many of the elegant creations which bore only his name. In addition to the discovery of her role in the Tiffany legend, this is also a fascinating window into life in New York City at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. The women who worked for him were often immigrants and were not allowed to marry while employed in the Tiffany factory. Clara and others like her lived independently in boarding houses, rode bicycles around the city, and pursued rich intellectual lives. The portrayal of Tiffany as slightly odd and the daily romances and struggles of the characters make this fiction but Clara was a real person and my research into Tiffany after I read this book revealed there was more than a kernel of truth to this story.