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She means to do right by all, but good behavior will only get a woman so far. One must tread carefully.Īnd what of her maddening sister-in-law, Alice? Her husband William, who's hiding a terrible betrayal? The not-entirely-unwelcome attentions of his friend Oliver Belmont, who is everything William is not? What of her own best friend, whose troubles cast a wide net?Īlva will build mansions, push boundaries, test friendships, and marry her daughter to England's most eligible duke or die trying. No obstacle puts her off for long.īut how much of ambition arises from insecurity? From despair? From refusal to play insipid games by absurd rules? -There are, however, consequences to breaking those rules. Denied abox at the Academy of Music, Alva founds The Met.

She does have a knack for getting all she tries for: the costume ball-no mere amusement-wrests acceptance from doyenne Caroline Astor. Marrying into the newly rich but socially scorned Vanderbilt clan, a union contrived by Alva's bestfriend and now-Duchess of Manchester, saved the Smiths-and elevated the Vanderbilts.įrom outside, Alva seems to have it all and want more. costume ball-a coup for the former Alva Smith, who not long before was destitute, her family's good name useless on its own. In 1883, the New York Times prints a lengthy rave of Alva Vanderbilt's Fifth Ave.

A novel of a family as they rule Gilded-Age New York,