The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis

 Although Davis' style is more young adult than grand literary, it's a book about the New York Public Library so you know I had to read it.  Like her other books, this one celebrates one of New York's iconic buildings.  And like her other books she attaches a fictional female hero from past and present to tell its story.   In 1913, Laura Lyon and her family actually live in an apartment within the library while her husband serves as building superintendent but she has dreams that extend even beyond these grand library walls.  In 1993, Librarian Sadie Donovan is distressed over the loss of several valuable books just as she prepares for an important exhibit.  She also has a worrisome secret of her own - Laura is her grandmother - but there is a mysterious, troublesome history there that she fears might affect her career at the library she loves. And so back and forth across the decades - red herrings abound.  Still - it is about the New York Public Library and there really is a secret apartment - and hidden staircases - and the remains of the walls of the old city water reservoir and ...