"Jane Eyre's Daughter"

IN THIS SEQUEL TO JANE EYRE, young Janet Rochester is consigned to Highcrest Manor and the guardianship of the strict Colonel Dent while her parents journey to the West Indies. As Janet struggles to make a life for herself, guided by the ideals of her parents, she finds herself caught up in the mysteries of Highcrest.

Why is the East Wing forbidden to her? What lies behind locked gates? And what is the source of the voices she hears in the night? Can she trust the enigmatic Roderick Landless, or should she transfer her allegiance to the suave and charming Sir Hugo Calendar?

Whether riding her mare on the Yorkshire moors, holding her own with Colonel Dent, or waltzing at her first ball, Janet is strong, sympathetic, and courageous. After all, she is her mother's daughter.

Bridgerton season 3

It's back! Bridgerton season 3 has finally been announced...let the excitement begin!

Season 3 trailers

"The Lost Orphan"

London, 1754. Six years after leaving her illegitimate newborn at the Foundling Hospital, Bess Bright returns to reclaim the daughter she has never known. Dreading the worst, that she has died in care, she is astonished to discover someone pretending to be Bess has already claimed her. Her life is turned upside down as she tries to find out who has taken her little girl—and why.

Less than a mile from Bess’s poor lodgings, in a quiet Georgian townhouse, lives Alexandra, a reclusive young widow. When her close friend—an ambitious doctor at the orphanage—persuades her to hire a nursemaid to help care for her daughter, she is hesitant to welcome someone new into her home. But her past is threatening to catch up with her and tear her carefully constructed world apart.

From the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Familiars comes this captivating story of mothers and daughters, class and power, and love against the greatest of odds.

Liberty Lane series

UK version

US version

The year is 1837. Queen Victoria, barely eighteen, has just ascended to the throne of England, and a young woman named Liberty Lane has just had her first taste of true sorrow. Refusing to accept that her gentle, peace-loving father has been killed fighting a duel, she vows to see justice done...
The trail she follows is a twisting and dangerous one, leading the spirited young Englishwoman into an intricate weave of conspiracy. Contacted by secret agents, she is asked to pose as a governess in order to infiltrate cold, rambling Mandeville Hall and spy on its master, Sir Herbert Mandeville, who is at the center of a treasonous plan.
Nothing at the hall is what it seems, and every turn reveals another deceit, another surprise, another peril, leaving Libby to wonder who to trust and embroiling her in a deadly affair that could destroy the young queen and place Libby herself in mortal peril...

UK version

US version

In Victoria's England, there are perilous intrigues a proper young lady would do well to avoid...

Liberty Lane, still in her early twenties, is doing her best to make a new life for herself in London after being bruised by loss and treachery. But there's no chance for her to settle down as a conventional young lady. First, a disturbingly attractive young politician, Benjamin Disraeli, wants her to use her contacts in the theatre world to find out more about a prima ballerina with a notorious love life called Columbine. He hints that some important interests may be at stake. Then Columbine is murdered in her dressing room, after an on-stage brawl with a younger and less successful dancer, who becomes prime suspect. Liberty is at the center of the investigation because one of her dearest friends, Daniel Suter, is convinced of the girl's innocence and will put his own neck in danger to save her. Liberty's determination to save them from the gallows leads her from the upper reaches of the aristocracy to some of London's lowlife haunts, posing the question: How far would you go to save a friend?

UK version

US version

London. Summer 1839. And the temperature is rising as Liberty Lane takes on her strangest case yet.

Deranged aristocrat Lord Brinkburn is nearing death and his elder son, Stephen, is expecting to inherit the title. But Lady Brinkburn's sudden announcement that Stephen is illegitimate throws the family into turmoil. Tensions reach boiling point between the two brothers, one of whom stands to gain everything, and they come to blows in public-much to the amusement of London Society.

Liberty is engaged privately to get to the truth of the matter, but a macabre murder raises the stakes considerably...added to which she finds her own judgement being undermined by the beguiling Lady Brinkburn. She is only too aware that time is running out-one of the brothers may be next, but which will it be...?

Autumn, 1839.  As the London nights darken, rumours spread about the devil’s chariot, which preys on young women walking alone at night. Novice private investigator Liberty Lane has no time for such horror stories, so when a poetic young man begs her to find his missing fiancée, she accepts, suspecting there is a more prosaic explanation. Meanwhile, she is engaged to help prevent a royal scandal involving Prince Albert’s worldlier brother, Prince Ernest. Liberty begins work on both cases, but when young women begin showing up dead, the tales of the devil’s chariot don’t seem so ridiculous any more.

London, 1840. Private investigator Liberty faces a conundrum when her younger brother Tom, an East India Company employee, is unexpectedly summoned to London to give evidence at an official enquiry into the murder of a wealthy merchant’s assistant, found with his throat cut en route to Bombay. A connection between the dead man and escalating rows with China over the lucrative opium trade has caused the government concern. Can Liberty solve a murder that took place six months previously almost five thousand miles away?

July, 1840. Liberty Lane has left London for Cheltenham, where she’s been hired by a local magistrate to establish the guilt or innocence of young Jack Picton, who stands accused of killing governess Mary Marsh. Picton is a known rebel and political agitator. But is he a murderer?

Liberty shares the magistrate’s doubts as to whether the right man is in the dock. But how can she help Picton when he refuses to reveal his whereabouts on the night of the murder? He’s certainly hiding something. But what?

As Liberty is about to discover, behind Cheltenham’s genteel façade lies a hotbed of vice including gambling, drunkenness and illicit love affairs. A place where the poor are driven to desperate lengths to escape the horror of the workhouse. A place which is harbouring a ruthless killer. Can Liberty uncover the truth in time?

September, 1840. Novelist and patron of the arts Lady Blessington has hired Liberty Lane to escort a French gentleman to The Hague. For he has in his possession important papers that will assist in the forthcoming trial of Prince Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, the late emperor’s nephew who has failed in an attempt to seize power in France.
Plans for the undercover expedition are disrupted however when a body is found hanging in the attic at Gore House, Lady Blessington’s Kensington mansion.
Uncovering evidence that the murder was meticulously prepared for and planned well in advance, Liberty determines to track down the killer. But she is about to find herself plunged into a highly dangerous game involving blackmail, treachery, espionage–and cold-blooded murder.

September, 1841. A new arrival has taken London society by storm. Lord Byron’s handsome illegitimate son, George, recently arrived from the exotic island of Cephalonia in the company of his guardian, the mysterious Mr Vickery, has been setting female hearts aflutter.

But not all the attention George attracts is welcome. Mr Vickery has been receiving disturbing letters from a woman who calls herself Helena, and he hires Liberty Lane to find out who Helena is and what she wants.

As Liberty is to discover, there is more to this case than meets the eye. Is George really Lord Byron’s son–or is he an imposter? And who exactly is Mr Vickery? What is his agenda? When Liberty comes across a body shot dead near Mr Vickery’s home in Muswell Hill, the investigation takes a shocking turn.

July, 1847. Now a happily married mother-of-two, Liberty Lane is undertaking very few private investigative assignments. But when she is kidnapped from outside a smart London townhouse, where she had been attending a dinner party with her husband Robert, she must call on all her old investigative skills to discover who has taken her, and why.

As Libby tries to formulate a plan of escape, her old friends, former street urchin Tabby and groom Amos Legge, desperately search for her. Convinced that somebody in the Maynard household, where the dinner party was held, knows something about Libby’s disappearance, Tabby keeps watch on the house–and makes a truly shocking discovery.

Revolutionary War novels

Some novels I think are worth looking into should you love the the Revolutionary War era and/or these iconic figures:

Set against the dramatic backdrop of the American Revolution, and featuring a cast of legendary characters, historian and master storyteller Elizabeth Cobbs tells the sweeping, tumultuous, true story of Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler, from passionate and tender beginnings of their romance to his fateful duel on the banks of the Hudson River.
Alexander Hamilton was a bastard and orphan, raised in the Caribbean and desperate for legitimacy, who became one of the American Revolution's most dashing--and improbable--heroes. Admired by George Washington, scorned by Thomas Jefferson, Hamilton was a lightning rod: the most controversial leader of the new nation. Elizabeth Schuyler was the wealthy, beautiful, adventurous daughter of the respectable Schuyler clan--and a pioneering advocate for women. Together, the unlikely couple braved the dangers of war, the perils of seduction, the anguish of infidelity, and the scourge of partisanship that menaced their family and the country itself.
With flawless writing, brilliantly drawn characters, and filled with politics, scandal, adultery, and true love, this historical novel tells a story of love forged in revolution and tested by the bitter strife of young America, and will take its place among the greatest novels of American history ever written.

From the New York Times bestselling authors of America's First Daughter comes the epic story of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton--a revolutionary woman who, like her new nation, struggled to define herself in the wake of war, betrayal, and tragedy. In this haunting, moving, and beautifully written novel, Dray and Kamoie used thousands of letters and original sources to tell Eliza's story as it's never been told before--not just as the wronged wife at the center of a political sex scandal--but also as a founding mother who shaped an American legacy in her own right.

A general's daughter...

Coming of age on the perilous frontier of revolutionary New York, Elizabeth Schuyler champions the fight for independence. And when she meets Alexander Hamilton, Washington's penniless but passionate aide-de-camp, she's captivated by the young officer's charisma and brilliance. They fall in love, despite Hamilton's bastard birth and the uncertainties of war.

A Founding Father's wife...

But the union they create--in their marriage and the new nation--is far from perfect. From glittering inaugural balls to bloody street riots, the Hamiltons are at the center of it all--including the political treachery of America's first sex scandal, which forces Eliza to struggle through heartbreak and betrayal to find forgiveness.

The last surviving light of the Revolution...

When a duel destroys Eliza's hard-won peace, the grieving widow fights her husband's enemies to preserve Alexander's legacy. But long-buried secrets threaten everything Eliza believes about her marriage and her own legacy. Questioning her tireless devotion to the man and country that have broken her heart, she's left with one last battle--to understand the flawed man she married and imperfect union he could never have created without her...

“Love is not easy with a man chosen by Fate for greatness...”

 
As the daughter of a respected general, Elizabeth Schuyler is accustomed to socializing with dignitaries and soldiers. But no visitor to her parents’ home has affected her so strongly as Alexander Hamilton, a charismatic, ambitious aide to George Washington. They marry quickly, and despite the tumult of the American Revolution, Eliza is confident in her brilliant husband and in her role as his helpmate. But it is in the aftermath of war, as Hamilton becomes one of the country’s most important figures, that she truly comes into her own. 
In the new capital, Eliza becomes an adored member of society, respected for her fierce devotion to Hamilton as well as her grace. Behind closed doors, she astutely manages their expanding household, and assists her husband with his political writings. Yet some challenges are impossible to prepare for. Through public scandal, betrayal, personal heartbreak, and tragedy, she is tested again and again. In the end, it will be Eliza’s indomitable strength that makes her not only Hamilton’s most crucial ally in life, but also his most loyal advocate after his death, determined to preserve his legacy while pursuing her own extraordinary path through the nation they helped shape together.

He was a hero of the Revolution, a brilliant politician, lawyer, and very nearly president; a skillful survivor in a raw new country filled with constantly shifting loyalties. Today Aaron Burr is remembered more for the fatal duel that killed rival Alexander Hamilton. But long before that single shot destroyed Burr’s political career, there were other dark whispers about him: that he was untrustworthy, a libertine, a man unafraid of claiming whatever he believed should be his.

Sold into slavery as a child in India, Mary Emmons was brought to an America torn by war. Toughened by the experiences of her young life, Mary is intelligent, resourceful, and strong. She quickly gains the trust of her new mistress, Theodosia Prevost, and becomes indispensable in a complicated household filled with intrigue—especially when the now-widowed Theodosia marries Colonel Aaron Burr. As Theodosia sickens with the fatal disease that will finally kill her, Mary and Burr are drawn together into a private world of power and passion, and a secret, tangled union that would have shocked the nation...

Everyone knows Benedict Arnold—the Revolutionary War general who betrayed America and fled to the British—as history’s most notorious turncoat. Many know Arnold’s co-conspirator, Major John André, who was apprehended with Arnold’s documents in his boots and hanged at the orders of General George Washington. But few know of the integral third character in the plot: a charming young woman who not only contributed to the betrayal but orchestrated it.

Socialite Peggy Shippen is half Benedict Arnold’s age when she seduces the war hero during his stint as military commander of Philadelphia. Blinded by his young bride’s beauty and wit, Arnold does not realize that she harbors a secret: loyalty to the British. Nor does he know that she hides a past romance with the handsome British spy John André. Peggy watches as her husband, crippled from battle wounds and in debt from years of service to the colonies, grows ever more disillusioned with his hero, Washington, and the American cause. Together with her former love and her disaffected husband, Peggy hatches the plot to deliver West Point to the British and, in exchange, win fame and fortune for herself and Arnold.

Told from the perspective of Peggy’s maid, whose faith in the new nation inspires her to intervene in her mistress’s affairs even when it could cost her everything, The Traitor’s Wife brings these infamous figures to life, illuminating the sordid details and the love triangle that nearly destroyed the American fight for freedom.

An independent-minded young maid tells the story of social-climber Peggy Shippen and how she influenced Benedict Arnold’s betrayal of the Patriot forces. Revolutionary Philadelphia is brought to life as Becca seeks to find her “missing pieces” while exploring the complicated issues of the war between the impoverished independence men and the decadent British Tories.

From her earliest days, Patsy Jefferson knows that though her father loves his family dearly, his devotion to his country runs deeper still. As Thomas Jefferson's oldest daughter, she becomes his helpmate, protector, and constant companion in the wake of her mother's death, traveling with him when he becomes American minister to France.

It is in Paris, at the glittering court and among the first tumultuous days of revolution, that fifteen-year-old Patsy learns about her father's troubling liaison with Sally Hemings, a slave girl her own age. Meanwhile, Patsy has fallen in love--with her father's protégé William Short, a staunch abolitionist and ambitious diplomat. Torn between love, principles, and the bonds of family, Patsy questions whether she can choose a life as William's wife and still be a devoted daughter.

Her choice will follow her in the years to come, to Virginia farmland, Monticello, and even the White House. And as scandal, tragedy, and poverty threaten her family, Patsy must decide how much she will sacrifice to protect her father's reputation, in the process defining not just his political legacy, but that of the nation he founded.

Harriet Hemings has always been happy in the comfortable, protected world that is Monticello. She's been well treated there; no one has ever called her a slave. But that is what she is, a slave of a man who wrote the Declaration of Independence. And there are rumors that she might be more than Thomas Jefferson's slave - she might be his daughter.Now Harriet has to make a choice - to run to freedom or to stay. If she stays, she'll remain a slave. But how can she choose freedom, if it means leaving behind her family, her race, and the only home she's ever known?

Beloved author novels

Authors Gill Hornby, Michaela MacColl and Jude Morgan bring us the reimagined lives of some of or most beloved and revered authors:

Whoever looked at an elderly lady and saw the young heroine she once was?

England, 1840. Two decades after the death of her beloved sister, Jane, Cassandra Austen returns to the village of Kintbury and the home of her family friends, the Fowles. In a dusty corner of the vicarage, there is a cache of Jane’s letters that Cassandra is desperate to find. Dodging her hostess and a meddlesome housemaid, Cassandra eventually hunts down the letters and confronts the secrets they hold, secrets not only about Jane but about Cassandra herself. Will Cassandra bare the most private details of her life to the world, or commit her sister’s legacy to the flames?

Moving back and forth between the vicarage and Cassandra’s vibrant memories of her years with Jane, interwoven with Jane’s brilliantly reimagined lost letters, Miss Austen is the untold story of the most important person in Jane’s life. With extraordinary empathy, emotional complexity, and wit, Gill Hornby finally gives Cassandra her due, bringing to life a woman as captivating as any Austen heroine.

Jane Austen’s family is eager to secure her future by marrying her off. But Jane is much more interested in writing her novels, and finds every suitor lacking—until the mysterious Mr. Lefroy arrives. Could he be the one? Before Jane can find out, she must solve a murder, clear her family’s name, and face a decision that might cost her true love.

Emily and Charlotte Brontë are about as opposite as two sisters can be. Charlotte is practical and cautious; Emily is headstrong and imaginative. But they do have one thing in common: a love of writing. This shared passion will lead them to be two of the first published female novelists and authors of several enduring works of classic literature. But they’re not there yet. First, they have to figure out if there is a connection between a string of local burglaries, rumors that a neighbor’s death may not have been accidental, and the appearance on the moors of a mysterious and handsome stranger. The girls have a lot of knots to untangle—before someone else gets killed.

One day, fifteen-year-old Emily Dickinson meets a mysterious, handsome young man. Surprisingly, he doesn’t seem to know who she or her family is. And even more surprisingly, he playfully refuses to divulge his name. Emily enjoys her secret flirtation with Mr. “Nobody” until he turns up dead in her family’s pond. She’s stricken with guilt. Only Emily can discover who this enigmatic stranger was before he’s condemned to be buried in an anonymous grave. Her investigation takes her deep into town secrets, blossoming romance, and deadly danger.
Exquisitely written and meticulously researched, this novel celebrates Emily Dickinson’s intellect and spunk in a page-turner of a book that will excite fans of mystery, romance, and poetry alike.

Louisa May Alcott can't believe it—her mother is leaving for the summer to earn money for the family and Louisa is to be in charge of the household. How will she find the time to write her stories, much less have any adventures of her own? But before long, Louisa finds herself juggling her temperamental father, a mysterious murder, a fugitive slave seeking refuge along the Underground Railroad, and blossoming love. Intertwining fact, fiction, and quotes from Little Women, Michaela MacColl has crafted another spunky heroine whose story will keep readers turning pages until the very end.

The Anatomy Duology

The host of the Royal Blood podcast is also a bestselling author! If you enjoy the podcast, do check out her novels!

Hazel Sinnett is a lady who wants to be a surgeon more than she wants to marry.

Jack Currer is a resurrection man who’s just trying to survive in a city where it’s too easy to die.

When the two of them have a chance encounter outside the Edinburgh Anatomist’s Society, Hazel thinks nothing of it at first. But after she gets kicked out of renowned surgeon Dr. Beecham’s lectures for being the wrong gender, she realizes that her new acquaintance might be more helpful than she first thought. Because Hazel has made a deal with Dr. Beecham: if she can pass the medical examination on her own, Beecham will allow her to continue her medical career. Without official lessons, though, Hazel will need more than just her books—she’ll need corpses to study.

Lucky that she’s made the acquaintance of someone who digs them up for a living.

But Jack has his own problems: strange men have been seen skulking around cemeteries, his friends are disappearing off the streets, and the dreaded Roman Fever, which wiped out thousands a few years ago, is back with a vengeance. Nobody important cares—until Hazel.

Now, Hazel and Jack must work together to uncover the secrets buried not just in unmarked graves, but in the very heart of Edinburgh society.

 

Hazel Sinnett is alone and half-convinced the events of the year before—the immortality, Beecham’s vial—were a figment of her imagination. She doesn’t even know if Jack is alive or dead. All she can really do now is treat patients and maintain Hawthornden Castle as it starts to decay around her.
When saving a life leads to her arrest, Hazel seems doomed to rot in prison until a message intervenes: Hazel has been specifically requested to be the personal physician of Princess Charlotte, the sickly granddaughter of King George III. Soon Hazel is pulled into the glamor and romance of a court where everyone has something to hide, especially the enigmatic, brilliant members of a social club known as the Companions to the Death.
As Hazel’s work entangles her more and more with the British court, she realizes that her own future as a surgeon isn't the only thing at stake. Malicious forces are at work in the monarchy, and Hazel may be the only one capable of setting things right.

"The Secret Wife of George 4"

A novel about the infamous Mrs. Fitzgerbert:

Although it was illegal, secret, and against the express commands of his famously mad father, King George IV of England married twice--once for duty and once for love. While Caroline of Brunswick eventually became his lawful queen, it was the beautiful Maria Fitzherbert, recognized as his wife by the Catholic Church but not by the laws of England, who claimed his heart. In the hands of author Diane Haeger, their relationship becomes a mesmerizing love story, filled with intrigue and passion. The characters and drawing rooms of 18th Century England come alive to create a portrait of the age that is colorful and resonant with historical detail.

Vanderbilt novels

One of the most famous and illustrious families of turn of the 20th century New York, these novels tell the stories of Alva Vanderbilt, one of the original "pushy mamas" and her daughter Consuelo...the "good girl" who pushed back and became the Duchess of Marlborough:

Karen Harper tells the tale of Consuelo Vanderbilt, her “The Wedding of the Century” to the Duke of Marlborough, and her quest to find meaning behind “the glitter and the gold.”

On a cold November day in 1895, a carriage approaches St Thomas Episcopal Church on New York City’s Fifth Avenue. Massive crowds surge forward, awaiting their glimpse of heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt. Just 18, the beautiful bride has not only arrived late, but in tears, yet her marriage to the aloof Duke of Marlborough proceeds. Bullied into the wedding by her indomitable mother, Alva, Consuelo loves another. But a deal was made, trading some of the vast Vanderbilt wealth for a title and prestige, and Consuelo, bred to obey, realizes she must make the best of things.

At Blenheim Palace, Consuelo is confronted with an overwhelming list of duties, including producing an “heir and a spare,” but her relationship with the duke quickly disintegrates. Consuelo finds an inner strength, charming everyone from debutantes to diplomats including Winston Churchill, as she fights for women’s suffrage. And when she takes a scandalous leap, can she hope to attain love at last…?

From the dawning of the opulent Gilded Age, to the battles of the Second World War, American Duchess is a riveting tale of one woman’s quest to attain independence—at any price.

1876. In the glittering world of Manhattan's upper crust, women are valued by their pedigree, dowry, and, most importantly, connections. They have few rights and even less independence—what they do have is society. 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 dizzying wealth 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 the mesmerizing story of two fascinating, complicated women going head to head, behaving badly, and discovering what’s truly at stake.

The granddaughter of the richest man in America, Consuelo Vanderbilt was the prize catch of New York Society. But her socially ambitious mother, Alva, was adamant that her daughter should make a grand marriage, and the underfunded Duke of Marlborough was just the thing—even though Consuelo loved someone else.

The story of these two women is not simply one of empty wealth, Gilded Age glamour, and of enterprising social ambition. Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt is also a fascinating account of how two women struggled to break free from the deeply materialistic, stifling world into which they were born, taking up the fight for female equality. In this brilliant and engrossing book, Amanda Mackenzie Stuart suggests that behind the most famous transatlantic marriage lies an extraordinary tale of the quest for female power.

Then there's these biographies by a man who would know:

Anderson Cooper’s intensely busy career as a journalist for CNN and CBS’ 60 Minutes affords him little time to spend with his ninety-one year old mother. After she briefly fell ill, he and Gloria began a conversation through e-mail unlike any they had ever had before—a correspondence of surprising honesty and depth in which they discussed their lives, the things that matter to them, and what they still want to learn about each other.

Both a son’s love letter to his mother in her final years and an unconventional mother’s life lessons for her grown son, The Rainbow Comes and Goes offers a rare window into their close relationship and fascinating lives. In these often hilarious and touching exchanges, they share their most private thoughts and the hard-earned truths they’ve learned along the way. Throughout, their distinctive personalities shine through—Anderson’s darker outlook on the world is a brilliant contrast to his mother’s idealism and unwavering optimism.

An appealing blend of memoir and inspirational advice, The Rainbow Comes and Goes is a beautiful and affectionate celebration of the profound and universal bond between a parent and child, and, like Tuesdays with Morrie, a thoughtful reflection on life and love, reminding us of the precious knowledge and insight that remains to be shared, no matter what age we are.

When eleven-year-old Cornelius Vanderbilt began to work on his father’s small boat ferrying supplies in New York Harbor at the beginning of the nineteenth century, no one could have imagined that one day he would, through ruthlessness, cunning, and a pathological desire for money, build two empires—one in shipping and another in railroads—that would make him the richest man in America. His staggering fortune was fought over by his heirs after his death in 1877, sowing familial discord that would never fully heal. Though his son Billy doubled the money left by “the Commodore,” subsequent generations competed to find new and ever more extraordinary ways of spending it. By 2018, when the last Vanderbilt was forced out of The Breakers—the seventy-room summer estate in Newport, Rhode Island, that Cornelius’s grandson and namesake had built—the family would have been unrecognizable to the tycoon who started it all.

Now, the Commodore’s great-great-great-grandson Anderson Cooper, joins with historian Katherine Howe to explore the story of his legendary family and their outsized influence. Cooper and Howe breathe life into the ancestors who built the family’s empire, basked in the Commodore’s wealth, hosted lavish galas, and became synonymous with unfettered American capitalism and high society. Moving from the hardscrabble wharves of old Manhattan to the lavish drawing rooms of Gilded Age Fifth Avenue, from the ornate summer palaces of Newport to the courts of Europe, and all the way to modern-day New York, Cooper and Howe wryly recount the triumphs and tragedies of an American dynasty unlike any other.

Written with a unique insider’s viewpoint, this is a rollicking, quintessentially American history as remarkable as the family it so vividly captures.

For fans of Downton Abbey, a real-life American version of the Crawley family—Fortune's Children is an enthralling true story that recreates the drama, splendor, and wealth of the legendary Vanderbilts.

Vanderbilt: The very name is synonymous with the Gilded Age. The family patriarch, "the Commodore,” built a fortune that made him the world's richest man by 1877. Yet, less than fifty years after his death, no Vanderbilt was counted among the world's richest people. Written by descendant Arthur T. Vanderbilt II, Fortune's Children traces the dramatic and amazingly colorful history of this great American family, from the rise of industrialist and philanthropist Cornelius Vanderbilt to the fall of his progeny—wild spendthrifts whose profligacy bankrupted a vast inheritance.

Cornelius Vanderbilt had no illusions about his life. He didn’t start out with grand plans and ungodly greed. He merely stepped in this world one foot at a time, one boat at a time, one market at a time—one day at a time. He worked sixteen hours a day, seven days a week. He worked hard and played hard. When all was said and done, though, he was a simple man who pushed the world of transportation to be all it could be—to be what it is today.

The times he lived through and contributed to is the history that forms the foundation of our present life. He teaches us through his actions how to hit the pavement of life every day relentlessly seeking to do better and to do it with pragmatism and realistic goals. He was tough as nails in body, mind, and spirit. He did what he wanted to and never hid it. Vanderbilt was never a hypocrite.

The greatest part of his life are the years when he bounced from shore to shore across all the islands in New York Harbor and then ventured farther inland, farther north, and even farther south until he became the first man to sail a steamboat up the San Juan River in Nicaragua in search of a path to cut from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

In this groundbreaking biography, T.J. Stiles tells the dramatic story of Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt, the combative man and American icon who, through his genius and force of will, did more than perhaps any other individual to create modern capitalism. Meticulously researched and elegantly written, The First Tycoon describes an improbable life, from Vanderbilt’s humble birth during the presidency of George Washington to his death as one of the richest men in American history. In between we see how the Commodore helped to launch the transportation revolution, propel the Gold Rush, reshape Manhattan, and invent the modern corporation. Epic in its scope and success, the life of Vanderbilt is also the story of the rise of America itself.

"Longbourn"

 

While Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters fuss over balls and husbands, Sarah, their orphaned housemaid, is beginning to chafe against the boundaries of her class. When a new footman arrives at Longbourn under mysterious circumstances, the carefully choreographed world she has known all her life threatens to be completely, perhaps irrevocably, upended.
Mentioned only fleetingly in Jane Austen’s classic, here Jo Baker dares to take us beyond the drawing rooms of Regency England and, in doing so, uncovers the real world of the novel that has captivated readers’ hearts around the world for generations.

Gilded Age novels

In the spirit of "The Gilded Age" making it's return, here's a few novels set during the same time if you're hungry for more:

This sweeping novel of historical fiction is inspired by the true rags-to-riches story of Arabella Huntington—a woman whose great beauty was surpassed only by her exceptional business acumen, grit, and artistic eye, and who defied the constraints of her era to become the wealthiest self-made woman in America.

1867, Richmond, Virginia: Though she wears the same low-cut purple gown that is the uniform of all the girls who work at Worsham’s gambling parlor, Arabella stands apart. It’s not merely her statuesque beauty and practiced charm. Even at seventeen, Arabella possesses an unyielding grit, and a resolve to escape her background of struggle and poverty. 

Collis Huntington, railroad baron and self-made multimillionaire, is drawn to Arabella from their first meeting. Collis is married and thirty years her senior, yet they are well-matched in temperament, and flirtation rapidly escalates into an affair. With Collis’s help, Arabella eventually moves to New York, posing as a genteel, well-to-do Southern widow. Using Collis’s seed money and her own shrewd investing instincts, she begins to amass a fortune. 

Their relationship is an open secret, and no one is surprised when Collis marries Arabella after his wife’s death. But “The Four Hundred”—the elite circle that includes the Astors and Vanderbilts—have their rules. Arabella must earn her place in Society—not just through her vast wealth, but with taste, style, and impeccable behavior. There are some who suspect the scandalous truth, and will blackmail her for it. And then there is another threat—an unexpected, impossible romance that will test her ambition, her loyalties, and her heart...

An American Beauty brings to vivid life the glitter and drama of a captivating chapter in history—and a remarkable woman who lived by her own rules.

The Luxe series:

In a world of luxury and deception, where appearance matters above everything and breaking the social code means running the risk of being ostracized forever, five teenagers lead dangerously scandalous lives. This thrilling trip to the age of innocence is anything but innocent.

Pretty girls in pretty dresses, partying until dawn. Irresistible boys with mischievous smiles and dangerous intentions. White lies, dark secrets, and scandalous hook-ups. This is Manhattan, 1899.

Beautiful sisters Elizabeth and Diana Holland rule Manhattan's social scene. Or so it appears. When the girls discover their status among New York City's elite is far from secure, suddenly everyone—from the backstabbing socialite Penelope Hayes to the debonair bachelor Henry Schoonmaker to the spiteful maid Lina Broud—threatens Elizabeth's and Diana's golden future.

With the fate of the Hollands resting on her shoulders, Elizabeth must choose between family duty and true love. But when her carriage overturns near the East River, the girl whose glittering life lit up the city's gossip pages is swallowed by the rough current. As all of New York grieves, some begin to wonder whether life at the top proved too much for this ethereal beauty, or if, perhaps, someone wanted to see Manhattan's most celebrated daughter disappear...

As old friends become rivals, Manhattan’s most dazzling socialites find their futures threatened by whispers from the past. In this delicious sequel to the New York Times bestselling The Luxe, nothing is more dangerous than a scandal...or more precious than a secret.

True love. False friends. Scandalous gossip. This is Manhattan, 1899.

After bidding good-bye to New York’s brightest star, Elizabeth Holland, rumors continue to fly about her untimely demise.

All eyes are on those closest to the dearly departed: her mischievous sister, Diana, now the family’s only hope for redemption; New York’s most notorious cad, Henry Schoonmaker, the flame Elizabeth never extinguished; the seductive Penelope Hayes, poised to claim all that her best friend left behind—including Henry; even Elizabeth’s scheming former maid, Lina Broud, who discovers that while money matters and breeding counts, gossip is the new currency.

In the thrilling third installment of Anna Godbersen’s bestselling Luxe series, Manhattan’s most envied residents appear to have everything they desire: Wealth. Beauty. Happiness. But sometimes the most practiced smiles hide the most scandalous secrets.

Jealous whispers. Old rivalries. New betrayals. This is Manhattan, 1899.

Two months after Elizabeth Holland’s dramatic homecoming, Manhattan eagerly awaits her return to the pinnacle of society. When Elizabeth refuses to rejoin her sister Diana’s side, however, those watching New York’s favorite family begin to suspect that all is not as it seems behind the stately doors of No. 17 Gramercy Park South.

Farther uptown, Henry and Penelope Schoonmaker are the city’s most celebrated couple. But despite the glittering diamond ring on Penelope’s finger, the newlyweds share little more than scorn for each other. And while the newspapers call Penelope’s social-climbing best friend, Carolina Broad, an heiress, her fortune—and her fame—is anything but secure.

In the dramatic conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Luxe series, Manhattan’s most dazzling socialites chase dreams, cling to promises, and tempt fate. Only one question remains: Will they fade away or will they shine ever brighter?

New beginnings. Shocking revelations. Unexpected endings. This is Manhattan, 1899.

As spring turns into summer, Elizabeth relishes her new role as a young wife, while her sister, Diana, searches for adventure abroad. But when a surprising clue about their father’s death comes to light, the Holland girls wonder at what cost a life of splendor comes.

Carolina Broad, society’s newest darling fans a flame from her past, oblivious to how it might burn her future. Penelope Schoonmaker is finally Manhattan royalty—but when a real prince visits the city, she covets a title that comes with a crown. Her husband, Henry, bravely went to war, only to discover that his father’s rule extends well beyond New York’s shores and that fighting for love may prove a losing battle.

Pearl and Ginevra grow up in the era known as the Gilded Age in Newport, Rhode Island. One lives above the stairs, the other below.

Surrounded by Astors and Vanderbilts, Pearl fills her days with teatime and shallow friendships, yearning for something more. A chance meeting with Mary Cassatt sparks her secret desire to be an artist. Meanwhile Ginevra, fresh off the boat from Italy, finds her own dreams out of reach as she joins the unwelcoming household as a servant and seamstress.

Kindred souls, the girls become fast friends but must keep their friendship hidden from Pearl’s controlling mother. Every summer, they meet in a hidden spot beneath the weeping beeches to talk of art and life, and their struggles to break the barriers of their lives.

Soon, the two young women must decide who they want to be in this world, and survive what it takes to get there…no matter what it takes.

From the bestselling author of GILDED SUMMERS comes a powerful novel of the last eight years of the American Women’s fight for suffrage.

The battle for the vote is on fire in America. The powerful and rich women of Newport, Rhode Island, are not only some of the most involved suffragettes, their wealth - especially that of the indomitable Alva Vanderbilt Belmont - nearly single-handedly funded the major suffrage parties. Yet they have been left out of history, tossed aside as mere socialites. In GILDED DREAMS, they reclaim their rightful place in history.

Pearl and Ginevra (GILDED SUMMERS) are two of its most ardent warriors. College graduates, professional women, wives, and mothers, these progressive women have fought their way through some of life’s harshest challenges, yet they survived, yet they thrive. Now they set their sights on the vote, the epitome of all they have struggled for, the embodiment of their dreams.

From the sinking of the Titanic, through World War 1, Pearl and Ginevra are once more put to the test as they fight against politics, outdated beliefs, and the most cutting opponent of all... other women. Yet they will not rest until their voices are heard, until they - and all the women of America - are allowed to cast their vote. But to gain it, they must overcome yet more obstacles, some that put their very lives in danger.

An emotional and empowering journey, GILDED DREAMS is a historical, action-packed love letter to the women who fought so hard for all women who stand on the shoulders of their triumph.

1886. Charlotte Gleason embarks from England with conflicting emotions. She is headed to New York City to marry one of America's wealthiest heirs—a man she has never even met.
When her doubts gain the upper hand, she swaps identities with her maid Dora. Charlotte wants a chance at "real life," even if it means giving up financial security. It's a risk she's willing to take.
But what begins as the whim of a spoiled rich girl becomes a test of survival beyond her blackest nightmare.
For the maid, Dora, it's the chance of a lifetime. She is thrust into a fairy tale life amid ball gowns and lavish mansions, yet she is tormented by the possibility of discovery. And what of the man who believes she is his intended? Can they find happiness sharing a life based on a lie?

Spend a season in glamorous 1895 Newport with three women looking for purpose and love.

Lucy Scarpelli, an Italian dressmaker from New York, befriends socialite Rowena Langdon as she's making her summer wardrobe. It's an unlikely friendship, but one that Rowena encourages by inviting Lucy to the family mansion in Newport, Rhode Island. Grateful for Lucy's skill in creating clothes that hide her physical injury, Rowena encourages Lucy to dream of a better future
One day Lucy encounters an intriguing man on the Cliff Walk, and love begins to blossom. Yet Lucy resists, for what Newport man would be interested in an Italian dressmaker working to support her family?
Rowena faces an arranged marriage to a wealthy heir she doesn't love. Dare a crippled girl hope for better?

And Lucy's teenage sister, Sofia, takes up with a man of dubious character. Can love blossom? Should it?
As the lives of three young women--and their unlikely suitors--become entangled in a web of secrets and sacrifice, will the season end with any of them finding true happiness?

Wealth. Security. Or love?

The prize possession of New York ingénue Ada Wallace is the bridal quilt she’s been working on for years. If only she’d find a rich man worthy of marrying.
When Ada finds herself responsible for the injury of a poor man and a boy, she takes them into her home out of guilt. But the man is someone from her past—a wealthy man who gave up everything to help the poor.
Their Christmas presence changes Ada’s view of the world, her faith, and her future.
What is she willing to sacrifice for true love?

This historical biography is based on the true story of Gilded Age débutante Sara Swan Whiting, a favorite of Mrs. Astor’s, and the scandal that ensued from her marriage to socialite Oliver H.P. Belmont. But how much is truth and how much is propaganda generated by rumors and the newspapers?
Newport, R.I. 1880 - American débutante Sara Swan Whiting has been trained for one purpose: to marry well into society. Together with her friends, Carrie Astor, and Edith Jones (Wharton) Sara débuts into society and is introduced to the bachelor’s of New York’s wealthiest families, hoping to find the perfect marriage.
‘Ethereally beautiful’ and ‘the spirit of the ball’, Sara garners many suitors. But none steal her heart, until destiny steps in and she is introduced to Oliver Belmont, the handsome son of financier August Belmont. Sara begins courting the handsome Mr. Belmont who is intent on escaping his father’s persistence that he finds a suitable career. Knowing that marriage will garner him a large stipend, Oliver chooses matrimony as an option to his dilemma.
While on an afternoon outing Oliver spontaneously proposes marriage, breaking protocol by not getting his parents approval first. Sara accepts the proposal – only to discover his parents disapprove of the match.
What develops is a true tale that will transport you through time as ‘American Gilt – Début’ unfolds. With information gathered from letters, historical newspapers and personal interviews, author J. D. Peterson weaves a compelling trilogy based on the true account of the Belmont-Whiting Scandal of 1883.

This historical biography is based on the true story of Gilded Age débutante Sara Swan Whiting, a favorite of Mrs. Astor’s, and the scandal that ensued from her marriage to socialite Oliver H.P. Belmont. But how much is truth and how much is propaganda generated by rumors and the newspapers?

Volume 2 begins in Paris,1883 – The new year finds Oliver and Sara enjoying their honeymoon on the Champs-Élysées. Soon Telltale signs of alcoholism cause uncharacteristic mood changes, making Oliver quarrelsome and temperamental. Sara grows frightened, realizing there is a darker side to her groom.

In “Absinthe”, book two of the AMERICAN GILT TRILOGY, readers are transported through time to the beauty and confines of propriety during America’s gilded age. With information gathered from family letters, historical newspapers and personal interviews, author J. D. Peterson weaves a compelling trilogy based on the true account of the Belmont-Whiting Scandal of 1883.

Based on the life of Sara Swan Whiting, ‘Scandal’ the final book in the American Gilt Trilogy continues in 1884 as Sara Swan Whiting, once a popular gilded age débutante finds herself disgraced by divorce and left with a child to raise alone. Previously an admired member of the social set, Sara is now shunned and the target of harsh judgment and criticism by her contemporaries in the wake of a divorce from her short-lived marriage to socialite Oliver H.P. Belmont, who continues his life unscathed by the scandal due to a double-standard of acceptable conduct for men.

But how much is truth and how much is propaganda generated by rumors and the newspapers? In this exciting finale to the American Gilt Trilogy readers are transported through time to the wealth and confines of America’s elite Gilded Age society.

Based on the true story ‘American Gilt – Scandal’ concludes with information gathered from letters, historical newspapers and personal interviews. Author J. D. Peterson weaves a compelling trilogy based on the historical account of the Belmont-Whiting Scandal of 1883.

The night of the Great Fire, as seventeen-year-old Delia watches the flames rise and consume what was the pioneer town of Chicago, she can’t imagine how much her life, her city, and her whole world are about to change. Nor can she guess that the agent of that change will not simply be the fire, but more so the man she meets that night...

Leading the way in rebuilding after the fire, Marshall Field reopens his well-known dry goods store and transforms it into something the world has never seen before: a glamorous palace of a department store. He and his powerhouse coterie—including Potter Palmer and George Pullman—usher in the age of robber barons, the American royalty of their generation.

But behind the opulence, their private lives are riddled with scandal and heartbreak. Delia and Marshall first turn to each other out of loneliness, but as their love deepens, they will stand together despite disgrace and ostracism, through an age of devastation and opportunity, when an adolescent Chicago is transformed into the gleaming White City of the Chicago’s World’s Fair of 1893.

Roddy and Val DeVere series:

In her Fifth Avenue mansion in autumn, 1898, silver heiress Val DeVere learns a third young woman's strangled body has been found nearby in New York's Central Park. The victim could be someone like Val's late mother-or her-for the Valentine Mackle DeVere is one generation from the Irish immigrants who now risk their lives toiling in the city that promised a better life.

Heartsick, Val joins her well-connected husband, Roddy (Roderick Windham DeVere), to press the mayor for action, but scandal-ridden city hall finds little time for the case of "disposable" young women who frequent the park at night.

A maverick police detective urges the DeVeres to help him find the killer, but his "evidence" ensnares a family friend and could send an innocent man to death row. The couple feel on trial when the detective baits them with Roddy's Old New York heritage: "Tell me this, Mr. DeVere...how many more murders before you and Mrs. DeVere cooperate to save the park your forefathers built?"

A formal dinner in palatial, Gilded Age Newport stuns Val DeVere when her closest friend whispers a terrifying rumor. The friend’s ultra-rich auntie’s fatal heart attack at Mrs. Astor’s annual ball last winter was murder.

When the aunt’s reclusive daughter—and heir—succumbs to “heart failure,” Val and husband Roddy probe the deaths to shield their dear friend who is next in line to inherit the family fortune—and sudden death.

Society’s “odd couple,” Val and Roddy, a.k.a. Valentine and Roderick DeVere, blend his Old New York savvy and her mountain West vision to ask: Is Newport truly Society’s “place to take root in,” or a dear friend’s place to die?

New York’s “Diamond Horseshoe” balcony in the Metropolitan Opera House glittered with ladies’ jewels in January 1899, and Society seated in private boxes heard Mozart’s murder victim sing his song of death—unaware that the sudden death of a “Coal King” in Box 18 will be ruled a homicide.
When opera-goers Val and Roddy DeVere are asked to investigate (“on the q.t.”), Val finds herself suspected of complicity in the murder.
The police have “material evidence” against her. Before a jury, Val’s lawyer husband reminds her, “‘material’ evidence can be the bright, shiny object that overrides all reason and fact.”

Toxic medicine, a fanatic Chicago detective, and a fatal plunge down a steep staircase embroil Val and Roddy DeVere in a dangerous quest for facts in 1899. Roddy’s fledgling business teeters as his partner begs him to free him from a detective’s “witch hunt.” The question: was the partner’s wife’s fatal free fall an accident? Or was it murder?

As a girl in the West, Valentine Mackle dodged quicksand along the rivers of the mining camps, but as Mrs. Roderick W. DeVere of New York’s Fifth Avenue, Val is sucked into Society’s own quicksand in spring, 1899, when a weekend at a country estate in the Hudson Valley turns deadly. Val’s “soul sister” drowns on family property, and the host’s best “practical jokes” double as death traps.

A Gilded Drowning Pool snarls Val and husband Roddy in a bogus adult health camp, a brothel, a town-and-country pocked with probable killers—and an ambitious police chief convinced that Val and Roddy DeVere played a part in the death that is ruled a homicide.

Newport Summer 1899—yachts, balls, and famed artists eager to paint portraits of Society’s “Queens.”
Western silver heiress Val Mackle DeVere (Mrs. Roderick W.) agrees to “sit” for a portrait for her beloved Roddy, only to stumble on a scene of bloody, grisly homicide at an art gallery.
Like a figure from Pompeii, the dead Newport gallery manager screams in silence, his hands like claws clutching at a gilt frame pulled down over his head and shoulders while blood darkens his cream-colored suit.
Impulsive, Val reaches for the murder weapon and will find herself suspected, shamed, and shunned as she seeks the killer while learning yet again a lesson taught by Cornelius Vanderbilt IV: “No city on earth is as hostile to outsiders as Newport.”

And finally, some from the author who started it all:

In the glittering high society of New York at the turn of the twentieth century, beautiful Lily Bart, aged twenty-nine, navigates a precarious social terrain. Born into a declining aristocratic family, her main asset is her charm and beauty - tools she must use wisely to secure a wealthy husband who can ensure her continued place among the elite.
Edith Wharton's "The House of Mirth" is a brilliant and ultimately tragic exploration of the gilded cages in which women of the era were confined. Focusing on Lily's descent from the luminous center of high society to its despised fringes, the novel is a critical examination of the social mores and moral judgments of her time.
Lily, torn between the desire for luxury and her yearning for genuine affection, finds herself caught in a series of unfortunate engagements and diminishing prospects. Her decision seems to pull her further from the safety of a secure marriage and closer to social exile. Wharton masterfully portrays a world where the slightest misstep or rumor can ruin a woman, and societal pressures weigh heavily on individual destiny.
Witty, poignant, and exquisitely crafted, "The House of Mirth" not only dissects the manners and hierarchies of New York's upper class but also offers a heart-wrenching look at the human cost of maintaining such a facade. Lily Bart's journey is an enduring story of societal constraints and personal choices, making this novel a compelling portrait of a woman's struggle against her confines and a critical statement on the opulence and superficiality of the American Gilded Age.

In Edith Wharton's incisive novel "The Custom of the Country," readers meet one of the most unforgettable heroines in American literature: Undine Spragg, a strikingly beautiful Midwesterner who aspires to ascend New York City’s highest social echelons.

Wharton, with her characteristic wit and keen observations of class and societal norms, dissects the ambitions and pretensions of the American nouveau riche, contrasting them with the older, established customs of the European elite. Set against the backdrop of early 20th-century New York and Paris, the novel is both a sharply drawn portrayal of a powerfully ambitious woman and a social satire that lays bare the mercenary nature of the Gilded Age.

"The Custom of the Country" stands as one of Wharton’s most scathing critiques of a society captivated by wealth and status. This novel, with its vivid characterizations and sharp social commentary, is a timeless piece that resonates with the ongoing conversations about gender, class, and the American Dream.

"The Age of Innocence" is a masterfully crafted novel that examines the choices between personal happiness, l, and social approval. Newland Archer, is a young, affluent lawyer who is engaged to May Welland, a suitable match within their social circle. However, the arrival of May's cousin, Ellen Olenska, who has separated from her European husband and carries an air of European sophistication and scandal, deeply intrigues Newland. As he falls in love with Ellen, he questions the values and rules of the elite world he inhabits.
Wharton's novel is not just a love triangle but also a critique of the rigid social norms of the time, offering a vivid picture of a society on the cusp of change and making "The Age of Innocence" a timeless, Pulitzer Prize-winning classic in American literature.