Several years go I read Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald and loved it. As soon as I saw that Therese Anne Fowler had a new book coming out, I instantly ordered it from Amazon. And I loved it.
This fictionalized account of Alva Vanderbilt's life could have focused on high society in the late 1800s: the fashion and social happenings of New York City's upper class. Instead, Fowler's novel treats us to the life story of Alva Smith Vanderbilt, a complex and interesting woman with more on her mind than clothes and parties.
Alva Smith was the daughter of a wealthy Southern plantation owner whose family fell on hard times during the Reconstruction era after the Civil War. Needing to secure her future and those of her sisters, Alva manages to receive a marriage proposal from William Vanderbilt, an attractive and eligible bachelor, part of New York's new money. Although this is not a love match, Alva enjoys the status she acquires with her marriage.
And Alva's life makes many twists and turns along the way as she proves she is not just a fashionable, wealthy woman, but has interests in architecture and women's suffrage among other things.
Fowler's novel transported me back to the late 1800's in New York City. I loved the name dropping, the different events in history that are chronicled from this vantage point, and the way Alva's story is shared. I have always been curious about the Vanderbilts and this novel has piqued my curiosity even more.
Fans of Fowler's novel, Zelda, will thoroughly enjoy this fictionalized account of a strong woman who is certainly not all that well-behaved!
2 comments:
Looks good! The only one of this author's books I've read is Exposure (think that's the name). It's present day and tell of two teens and a sexting thing. I'm pretty sure I read that it's based on something that happened to her son.
The not well behaved bit will definitely make for intriguing reading
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