On Location with The Metropolitan Affair

One of the great things about writing a novel set in 1925 Manhattan is that many of the settings are still around and can be visited today. If you’ve not been there personally, I hope this virtual tour of some of the sites will help you picture the scenes in The Metropolitan Affair.

Let’s start with the obvious: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is where the protagonist, Dr. Lauren Westlake, serves as an assistant curator of Egyptian art. It’s a gigantic structure on Central Park, as are all three institutions featured in this new series—hence the series name, On Central Park.

Speaking of Central Park, you’ve probably seen many movie and/or TV scenes set here already. It’s a lovely green oasis in the heart of a bustling metropolis. Lauren’s apartment building, The Beresford, is on the opposite side of the park from the museum, so she walks through it every day to get to work.

On one corner of Central Park, The Plaza Hotel rises up like a massive French chateau. Afternoon tea at the Palm Court inside was a special indulgence then, just as it is now. This was one delicious research outing!

Below, I’m pictured with my faithful research and travel assistant and friend, Mindelynn Young Godbout. (Yes, the same Mindelynn the novel is dedicated to!)

Our hero, Joe Caravello, is a detective with the NYPD. He works out of the headquarters building at 240 Centre Street, which today houses posh apartments. What a gorgeous police building!

I couldn’t resist setting a few scenes inside the New York Public Library. If you are ever in the city, please make this one of your stops. The Rose Reading Room is featured in the novel, although back then it was just called the Main Reading Room. The murals on the ceiling are hard to appreciate in this photo, so plan to see it yourself when you can.

Another Manhattan landmark I used for a few scenes was Grand Central Terminal. This is Vanderbilt Hall inside it, with the ceiling painted to look like the night sky with constellations. In 1925, the paint wasn’t nearly so bright, though, since it was stained and dingy with cigarette smoke. Thank goodness for restoration!

Below you'll see historic photos of Grand Central's exterior, and then Vanderbilt Hall again, taken in 1919. Because the buildings that have been constructed around Grand Central since then, we won't see light streaming into Vanderbilt Hall quite like this again.

Of course, as with any novel I write, my goal is to pick you up and plop you right into the setting even if you’ve never been there, and don’t have access to photos. I hope you’ll come along with Lauren and Joe as they traipse around Manhattan and the North Shore of Long Island on their hunt for the forger! Even with all the dazzle of Prohibition-era New York City, you’ll find that the most dramatic landscape is the unseen terrain of their hearts.

Have you been to any of these locations? If not, which of these would you like to visit?

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