It's a novel with much affection for New York and a very strong sense of place, both Old New York and new. The chapters alternate between the two narrators very skillfully--often a tricky thing for writers to accomplish. Rather than try to depict Olive's story completely through her journal, Lehmann includes a paragraph from Olive's diary, and then the chapter goes off into Olive's POV and narration.
I was not enamored of Amanda's character, due to her enormously bad judgment in her personal affairs, but liked the novel very much anyway and found both stories equally compelling. Well written and pretty well researched, it also includes some charming photos of old New York--very much a novel for anyone who loves New York City.