Saturday, March 4, 2023

Molly Murphy's New York

RHYS BOWEN: My daughter Clare and I are getting ready to release a new Molly Murphy book. We're having our launch party at the Poisoned Pen bookstore in Scotsdale on Saturday March 11 (where we'll be serving Irish goodies and will probably have a touch of the Blarney) and the official release date is March 14. So I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite pix from Molly's New York.

When I first started writing the series I used to go to New York and walk every yard that Molly walked so I could get a feel for the place. What could she see? Smell? Experience? Did the wind blow straight off the Hudson here? Could you hear tugs on the East River from here? I've sat in Pete's Tavern, although Molly would not have been allowed in. Now I know my way around well and could give you a lovely guided tour of Molly's New York. (My publisher jumped at this idea, but no thank you!)

Every time I go to New York I visit Molly's neck of the woods--Greenwich Village--just to remind myself of where she lives.  It's nice to imagine coming out of Molly's front door and going across the street to visit Sid and Gus. Or to push Liam in his stroller to Washington Square.I am lucky that it is pretty much unchanged. Her little backwater of Patchin Place is exactly as it was, although it's now quite upscale and I'm sure the houses cost a fortune! 

Sid and Gus's house is just across the street:

And here is Molly's house. I got an email from the man who lives there now. He sent me pictures of the interior and the garden. 


This is the Jefferson Market, across the street from Patchin Place. It was once the market building, as well as the police station and jail. Now it has housed a library until recently (it's closed at the moment or was when I was there last.)

And this is the last existing gas lamp in New York City and it's in Patchin Place.

This is Molly's pharmacy, just around the corner. Still going since eighteen eighties!


And Washington Square where Molly takes her little son to play.



And lastly, here is the house on Fifth Avenue where Molly finds herself moving in the new book, ALL THAT IS HIDDEN. It's a lovely house, a step up in the world, but at what price? How can Daniel have become involved in Tammany Hall politics? No good can come of it!


Aren't I lucky to be writing historical novels about a place I can still visit and experience? Tomorrow I'll share what I love most about New York.













But it's nice to imagine coming out of Molly's front door and going across the street to visit Sid and Gus. Or to push Liam in his stroller to Washington Square.

24 comments:

  1. What a treat to see the places that are such an integral part of Moly's life. Thanks for the lovely tour . . . .

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  2. Thanks for sharing. It's nice to visualize a character's life.

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  3. I love that those places are still standing - the homes, the pharmacy, the police building. What a treat! Thank you for the tour. I can't wait for the new book!

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  4. The pictures are great, Rhys. Debs' fans always talk about a Gemma- Duncan tour of London. I would also do a Molly tour of New York!

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  5. I love this! So much fun to see the actual places used to create Molly's life in NY.

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  6. Thank you for the pictures! What a great help they will be when I read your new book!

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  7. Hank Phillippi RyanMarch 4, 2023 at 9:42 AM

    This is absolutely perfect! And must be so much fun to revisit. And cannot wait to read more about Molly’s snazzy new home! How did you choose that particular one?

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    1. We knew it had to be on 5 th Avenue and it needed a particular layout!

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  8. What a treat, Rhys! So much fun to be able to wander through the neighborhood with Molly's eyes! (Flora)

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  9. How fun to visit Patchin Place, virtually! Are you sure you won't give a lovely guided tour of Molly's New York? If you change your mind, I'll sign up!

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  10. Rhys, that was a beautiful walk through Molly’s neighborhood. Reine

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  11. Woo hoo!!! I will be at that launch party! Can't wait!

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  12. Love the tour, Rhys, especially the photo of the townhouse. Can't wait to read the new book!

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  13. Thank you for that visual tour. I had trouble picturing Patchin Place, mainly because I automatically see houses standing alone, not attached. The nextdoor neighbors must be horrified at some of the things that have happened at Molly's house!

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  14. What a great tour! I miss the Village. It was a beautiful and unique place located at the crossroads of today and then. All the best with the launch!

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  15. Like Pat D's comment above, I picture houses as single standing units, too. When I watch shows on HGTV where someone is picking out a new home and they're shown a townhouse or attached housing, I keep thinking that choosing the attached housing doesn't seem like its really just your own place. Then I remind myself that just because I didn't grow up with it or am used to it doesn't mean the rest of the world is quite familiar with it. And, I have to admit that the townhouse was absolutely the best choice for the woman on My Lottery Dream Home last night. However, having acquiesced that attached houses are a perfectly acceptable form of housing, I still have a vastly different picture in my mind of Molly's house and that of Sid and Gus. I see Molly and Daniel and Liam and Bridie and Daniel's mother all living in quite a small red-brick house with just two stories. The rooms are small, which makes having Mother Sullivan in residence even more trying. Across the street Sid and Gus live in a rather fat, white, wood-framed house with large rooms and a comfortable, airy feel. It also has two floors.

    I did enjoy your tour, Rhys. I can't help but wonder how Molly is going to like living on 5th Avenue instead of here beloved Patchin Place where comfort and adventure lives just across the street.

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    1. We’ll just have to see, Kathy!

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  16. I love seeing those places, the better to imagine myself in the middle of Molly's adventures. Thanks!

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  17. It's great to see the locations in the book in real life. Now, we'll see if it changes how I picture things when I read about Molly. After so many years of picturing her world in my mind, I doubt it, but hopefully I can retrain my mind.

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  18. This was such a fun tour/post. I love the Molly Murphy series. I've been hooked on it since Book one. Your writing always made her world easy to visualize, but now I 'll be able to enter her world even more.

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  19. This gives me a whole different perspective on that part of Manhattan… so nice that so much of it survives … not taken over by skyscrapers.

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  20. Congratulations, Rhys and Clare! I'm so pleased for you both.

    Thank you so much for the photos, Rhys! Now I can see how it was so easy for Molly to communicate with Sid and Gus, and how they could know when one another was in or out. I had no idea the houses were so close to the street, or the street quite that narrow. I remember times when carriages couldn't navigate Patchin Place, but couldn't quite visualize why. Now we know.

    And it's truly remarkable that the last gaslight is on that little street!

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  21. Rhys, we need to talk about NY! I shared a link to your tweet.

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