Paperback, 400 pages
Published April 20th 2021 by Berkley
Renee Rosen Author
My Review
The Social Graces is just one of those books that's so excellent I'm still thinking of it even though I'm done with it. This is high society upper crust Manhattan during the Gilded Age .
Society was everything and if you weren't part of high society you were a nothing and no one would associate with you they believed. + I really didn't know much about the Vanderbilts and the Astors. What I found very interesting is this book is based on true events. One woman marries into one of America's wealthiest families the other comes from a family who got theirs from the railroads.
These women had dizzying wealth beyond imagination but did they have true
happiness? In my opinion no! They were not satisfied with what they had they were in fierce competition with each other for their places in society while snubbing each other publicly and privately.
Nothing was enough,houses and yachts were never big enough,fashions had to be made by foreign seamstresses out of the country and balls were thrown so extravagantly they worried how they would top it with the next social event.
Did they have true love, I don't believe so. Marrying for their place in society was more important to them than love and they encouraged their children to do so as well.
Divorce was not something women initiated back then because if you did it would cause a scandal and the invites to balls and other high society ranking would go down, But when one woman did dare to stand up for herself see what happens by reading this absolutely mesmerizing book.
Pub Date 20 Apr 2021
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.
GoodReads Summary
The author of Park Avenue Summer throws back the curtain on one of the most remarkable feuds in history: Mrs. Vanderbilt and Mrs. Astor's notorious battle for control of New York society during the Gilded Age.
In the glittering world of Manhattan's upper crust, where wives turn a blind eye to husbands' infidelities, and women have few rights and even less independence, society is everything. The more celebrated the hostess, the more powerful the woman. And none is more powerful than Caroline Astor—the Mrs. Astor.
But times are changing.
Alva Vanderbilt has recently married into one of America's richest families. But what good is money when society refuses to acknowledge you? Alva, who knows what it is to have nothing, will do whatever it takes to have everything.
Sweeping three decades and based on true events, this is a gripping novel about two fascinating, complicated women going head to head, behaving badly, and discovering what’s truly at stake.
About The Author
Born
in The United States
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Renee is the bestselling author of historical fiction including: PARK AVENUE SUMMER, WHAT THE LADY WANTS, WINDY CITY BLUES, WHITE COLLAR GIRL and DOLLFACE, as well as the YA novel, EVERY CROOKED POT. THE SOCIAL GRACES, a novel of Alva Vanderbilt and Mrs. Astor vying for control of New York society during the Gilded Age, will be published in April 2021 from Penguin Random House / Berkley. Most people discover their love of reading first and then decide to try writing. For Renee Rosen, it was just the opposite. From the time she was a little girl she knew she wanted to be a writer and by age seventeen had completed her first novel, with what she admits was the worst opening line of all time. Her hopes of being the youngest published author on record were soon dashed when her “masterpiece” was repeatedly rejected. Several years and many attempts later, Renee finally became a reader first. Since then she has been fortunate enough to study the craft of writing from such esteemed novelists as Michael Cunningham, Susan Minot and Carol Anshaw. Renee now lives in Chicago where she is working on a new novel. You can find her online at https://www.facebook.com/ReneeRosenAu..., https://twitter.com/ReneeRosen1 or visit her website at www.reneerosen.com
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