Sub-title: A novel of the Vanderbilt's
I read this for my church book club. I enjoy reading about the lives of the rich and famous and the Vanderbilt family were one of the richest in the late 1800s when their patriarch, Cornelius "the Commodore" made his fortune in transportation, primarily railroads.
This book is the story of Alva Smith, the wife of one of his grandsons, William Vanderbilt. They married because she had old aristocratic lines from the South that extended to New York but her family money had run out. Her husband and his family was nouveau riche and not accepted into New York society. Alva bore three children; Consuelo, named after her best friend, William and Harold. She ushered the Vanderbilt family into high society and divorced William when her best friend confessed to an affair with him of many years. Alva then married Oscar Belmont and she later was involved in women's suffrage.
I found the story provided a different look at the "gilded age" and the time period.
Published: 2018 Read: April 2021 Genre: historical fiction
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