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Title details for A Well-Behaved Woman by Therese Anne Fowler - Available

A Well-Behaved Woman

A Novel of the Vanderbilts

by Therese Anne Fowler
Barrie Kreinik
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available

The New York Times and USA Today bestseller
"More than a rewriting of history, this is history reimagined from a fresh angle, delivered here with energy, sensitivity, and flair." — AudioFile Magazine
This program includes a bonus interview with the author.
A Well-Behaved Woman is the riveting audiobook about iron-willed Alva Vanderbilt and her illustrious family as they rule Gilded Age New York, from the New York Times bestselling author of Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald.
Alva Smith, her southern family destitute after the Civil War, married into one of America's great Gilded Age dynasties: the newly wealthy but socially shunned Vanderbilts. Ignored by New York's old-money circles and determined to win respect, she designed and built 9 mansions, hosted grand balls, and arranged for her daughter to marry a duke. But Alva also defied convention for women of her time, asserting power within her marriage and becoming a leader in the women's suffrage movement.
In A Well-Behaved Woman, Therese Anne Fowler paints a glittering world of enormous wealth contrasted against desperate poverty, of social ambition and social scorn, of friendship and betrayal, and an unforgettable story of a remarkable woman.
Meet Alva Smith Vanderbilt Belmont, living proof that history is made by those who know the rules—and how to break them.
Praise for A Well-Behaved Woman:
"A Well-Behaved Woman is an extraordinary portrait of a strong, fascinating woman who rose above societal convention and even her own expectations to become so much more than anyone might have predicted." — Christina Baker Kline, New York Times Bestselling author of A Piece of the World and Orphan Train
"Oh how I loved every instant I spent in the world Fowler has recreated here. The story of Alva Vanderbilt is elegantly and emphatically told. Prepare to be enthralled!" —Elin Hilderbrand, New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Couple
"To step into Therese Anne Fowler's stunning novel is to step into Alva Vanderbilt's rarefied world of sprawling homes, delicious society intrigue, and incomparable Gilded Age luxury." — Allison Pataki, New York Times Bestselling author of The Accidental Empress

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    October 16, 2018

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781427299192
      • File size: 412427 KB
      • Duration: 14:19:13

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Learning about the Vanderbilt family in the closing years of the nineteenth century through this audiobook seems far more fulfilling and unconflicted than being married into it. Fowler, best known for Z: A NOVEL OF ZELDA FITZGERALD, is in full command of the history, manners, and social structure of the era, and in Barrie Kreinik she has a narrator of particular skill and insight. Fowler's title is ironic in the modern sense, and Kreinik's rendering of narrative and of Fowler's heroine, Alva, carries that edginess, along with the air of independence and free thinking that we now value in the women of that time. More than a rewriting of history, this is history reimagined from a fresh angle, delivered here with energy, sensitivity, and flair. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from August 6, 2018
      As accomplished as its subject, redoubtable socialite and women’s suffrage crusader Alva Vanderbilt Belmont, Fowler’s engrossing successor to 2013’s Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, again showcases her genius for seeing beyond the myths of iconic women. In 1874, 21-year-old Alva Smith and her three sisters have impeccable antecedents but no money. Marrying well being the only way to keep her family secure, Alva sets her sights on railroad scion William K. Vanderbilt. Her effort pays off—William inherits $65 million in 1885—though she finds neither love nor sexual pleasure with her amiable, self-absorbed husband. Wealth offers scope for Alva’s formidable leadership skills: in the same years she bears three children, wins the parvenu Vanderbilts a position in elite society, and collaborates with architect Richard Hunt on a series of influential projects. Impeccably virtuous and self-disciplined, Alva nevertheless faces frequent censure for her lack of feminine deference, particularly when, in her 40s, she refuses to ignore her husband’s infidelity. Instead, she negotiates a divorce, weathers the scandal, and finds new fulfillment. The novel doesn’t sentimentalize its subject’s unsympathetic moments and qualities, and Fowler puts Alva in a clear context, revealing the narrow constraints of her era, class, and gender, and the fierce courage and creativity with which she negotiated them. Though the novel’s lavish sweep and gorgeous details evoke a vanished world, Fowler’s exploration of the way powerful women are simultaneously devalued and rewarded resonates powerfully. 100,000-copy announced first printing.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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