Discover A Well-Behaved Woman: A Novel Of The Vanderbilts Engineered By Therese Anne Fowler Displayed As Paper Edition

Well Behaved Woman: A Novel of the Vanderbilts is a hybrid tale of fact and fiction, truth and embellishment.
It explores the life of a strong and remarkable woman, Alva Smith, born into what would become a harsh world of poverty and injustice.
Due to this, she sets her sights on William Vanderbilt and eventually, she marries into a life of wealth, prominence and materialism.
This is excellent historical fiction that is full of intrigue and details of the elite world Alva finds herself in a world most of will only ever see from afar.


What is most notable, however, is what Alva decided to do after her rise to prominence, The causes she championed despite them being, in most people's minds and of the time period, out there, for want of better terminology.
Alva could put her mind to whatever she thought fit, and one of those schools of thought she had a substantial part in was that of feminism.
To say that this type of strongmindedness and passion by women was frowned upon in The Gilded Age would be an understatement women were supposed to be seen and not heard, to be the homemaker and to be there to cater to their husbands every whim but stubborn Alva turned this on its head and was determined to do what she could to change the way society worked.
Her innate fighting spirit was reawakened by the suffrage movement, This is a tale of a woman who refused to conform to the social norms of the time and made her own way in the world as much as possible.


All in all, this is a beautifully written novel that simply oozes readability and is so compelling that it demands to be devoured in a single sitting.
Highly recommended.

Many thanks to Two Roads for an ARC, Well Alva Vanderbilt was a determined woman! This is a novel of the Gilded Age , an era I knew little about before I read this.
This is a story of excess and ambition, I am inspired to spend more time reading books and novels about this period of American history, Thanks to Netgalley for giving me a chance to read an arc of this book, This was okay. I mean really, just okay, I think I skipped around a lot, BUT. I now know everything about the Vanderbilt family and other swankyth century families in NYC, So, I wasnt a huge fan, but it did instigate further research, Whatever. I love research. This book was kind of a win on that front,

starts planning summer trip to Newport so I can pretend to be a distant relation,.stars.
This is an enjoyable novel about Alva Smith Vanderbilt Belmont, a noted figure of the Gilded Age, Alva was born into a wealthy family whose fortunes declined after the Civil War, After her mother dies and her father becomes ill and can no longer work, Alva sees the only way to save herself and her family is marry a wealthy man.
To this end she manages to wed William K, Vanderbilt, the grandson of Commodore Vanderbilt, who built a fortune in railways, Theirs is not a love match, but they each had what the other needed: she needed money and he needed a respectable wife.
Their marriage produceshealthy children, but no satisfaction for Alva, She contents herself with charity work and being the “perfect wife”, until she no longer can keep up the facade.
After overyears of marriage, she shockingly files for divorce on the grounds of Williams adultery, Her divorce ostracizes her from the wealthy society that she had once craved, She soon finds love with Oliver Belmont, a man she has known for years, After his untimely death, she immerses herself in the Womens Suffrage Movement,

This is a well written book about the Gilded Age and the people who inhabited it, Alva is definitely a force to be reckoned with, She knows what she wants and figured out how to get it, even within the societal constraints of the times.
She knows that she has to be careful about how she is perceived and what she does, She feels that her reputation is everything, until she no longer cares and forges ahead with her own life.
Her best friend, Consuelo, the Duchess of Manchester, loves her but is very conniving, sometimes not in Alvas best interest.
Her husband, William, is a wealthy, spoiled, boor of a man, who only thinks of his own self interest.
The only man who is portrayed in a positive light is Oliver, her one true love,

There are wonderful descriptions of the clothes, the mansions, the food and the way of life of this elite society.
It is fun to Google the Newport “cottages” and see these ostentatious mansions and look up the elaborate fashions of the times.


I deducted a half a star because the story primarily revolves around Alvas life in relation to the men in her life.
Most of the book is about her and William, A short section is about her marriage to Oliver, Its only in the authors notes that we learn about her activities regarding womens rights, There is a slight mention of an issue at the opera, that they cant get a box because of the social caste system, and she wants her husband and his friends to build a new music hall.
Then a few pages later, it states that she “ solved the problem of the opera box and aimed to reshape New York societys music scene.
. . ” The author never says

how she did this, or that her solution was to found The Metropolitan Opera, which has survived to this day.
For an historical fiction book about a woman who worked tirelessly fo womens rights, this book only views her as an appendage to wealthy men.
I found the title of the book to be somewhat ironic, The title comes from Alvas belief, ingrained by her mother, that she should always be “A WellBehaved Woman, ” But we all know that wellbehaved women seldom make history, And Alva certainly has made history, especially when she threw off the shackles of good behavior as defined by her times.


That said, I definitely recommend this book, It is a fascinating read and a wonderful study of a unique woman, I have no idea why I read this book sinceI seldom, if ever, read historical fiction, andthe antics of NYC "high society" of the Gilded Age give me a pain in the bum.
So my review will be short and not too sweet,

The Astors, Vanderbilts, et al were the ruling class of society and were constantly trying to outdo each other to gain even more prominence.
They built hideous, overblown houses in NYC and the Hamptons, bought huge yachts, and threw elaborate parties and balls that made headlines all over the country.
They married for money to solidify their position in society and trolled Europe for titled husbands for their daughters.
Happiness or love never entered the picture and most had miserable marriages, . and the antidote to that was to spend more money,

This book follows the life of Alva Vanderbilt, wife of William K, Vanderbilt, and she turns out to be as boring and shallow as all the others, even though the author attempts to give the impression that she was more independent and did great charitable works.
Somehow I missed that part! When one dislikes the character, it is hard to give the book a good review.
My apologies to the author, gilded to a WellBehaved Woman!

A childhood visit to The Biltmore Estate will certainly add Vanderbilt intrigue to ones list of interests, and I lapped up this story of Alva Smith Vanderbilt.


Alva Smiths family had once known prominence but lost it all that is, until her best friend orchestrates her union with William Vanderbilt.
The latter family is new money, but not wellaccepted into society,

Alva works hard for the acceptance in society she receives, If she finds a door closed, she opens a window, She pushes the envelope and puts herself, and her family, out there, She is not constrained by the notion of “goodness” or good behavior,

Alva is a hero is many senses, Because she takes a backseat to no man, certainly not her husband, she finds herself in roles women typically did not fill at the time.
She helps design her mansions, she is on the front lines of the charities in which she works not just handing over the money, and most of all, she does not turn a blindeye to Williams infidelity.
Alva is passionate about suffrage and womens rights, and Im grateful to have made her acquaintance through this book.


A WellBehaved Woman is the story of a strong woman before her time who pushed boundaries and broke through them.
Beautifullywritten, interesting, and insightful, historical fiction fans will enjoy Alvas take on living during the Gilded Age as a Vanderbilt.


Thanks to St, Martins Press for the complimentary ARC, All opinions are my own,

My reviews can also be found on my blog sitelinkwww, jennifertarheelreader. com.