The Jewel of Sugar Hill by Fiona Davis: Release Date, Plot and the Real Mansion

Fiona Davis’s The Jewel of Sugar Hill is scheduled for U.S. release on Tuesday, January 26, 2027. The historical novel follows two women drawn to Manhattan’s Morris-Jumel Mansion about two centuries apart. In the 1800s, Eliza Brown sees the house as a way to secure the future she wants. In 2010, architect Abby Dorrance has to decide what she’s willing to risk to save it.

When does The Jewel of Sugar Hill come out?

Dutton will publish the 384-page U.S. hardcover on January 26, 2027. Penguin Random House lists the ebook, large-print edition, and downloadable audiobook for the same day. The audiobook is listed at 12 hours.

What is The Jewel of Sugar Hill about?

In the historical storyline, Eliza Brown wants a place in New York society, where her background makes her an outsider. Her relationship with Aaron Burr and her pursuit of an impressive Manhattan house are both tied to that ambition. Someone from her past threatens to bring the life she’s building down around her.

In 2010, Abby Dorrance’s father, a real estate developer, dies after falling at the mansion. Abby, an architect whose reputation is already damaged, starts looking into his death. The investigation forces her to weigh her family’s fortune and reputation against the future of the house itself.

That reversal is what makes the premise interesting. For Eliza, the mansion promises security in a city where she has little of it. For Abby, keeping the same building standing could cost her the security she inherited. The two timelines give readers a reason to care about what happens to the house even before the mystery of the fall comes into focus.

Is the Morris-Jumel Mansion real?

Yes. Built in 1765, the Morris-Jumel Mansion is Manhattan’s oldest surviving residence. George Washington used it as a headquarters during the American Revolution, and Stephen and Eliza Jumel bought it in 1810. It became a museum in 1904. The museum credits Duke Ellington with calling the house the jewel in Sugar Hill’s crown, a phrase the novel’s title echoes.

Eliza Jumel was also a real person. She and Stephen remodeled the house, and after his death she briefly married Aaron Burr. Those details give Davis a historical basis for Eliza’s storyline. The novel uses that history to ask what owning a house like this could mean to someone trying to establish her place in New York.

Can you start here if you’ve never read Fiona Davis?

Yes. The Jewel of Sugar Hill is a standalone novel. It’s an especially good one to put on your radar if you like historical fiction with a present-day investigation or stories about the people who decide which parts of a city’s past are worth saving.

If the Morris-Jumel Mansion has you curious about the other New York landmarks in Davis’s novels, our Fiona Davis reading guide lists her books in publication order and helps you choose one to read while you wait for The Jewel of Sugar Hill.

Where can you preorder The Jewel of Sugar Hill?

The U.S. hardcover is available to preorder. Fiona Davis’s official book page also links to signed and personalized copies from The Strand. Hardcover preorder at Barnes & Noble · Signed-copy information from Fiona Davis

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