🚂 💋 💸 🎲
Amidst the opulent glamor and vicious social circles of Gilded Age New York, this stunning biographical historical novel by the New York Times bestselling author of The Second Mrs. Astor conjures 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.
Sexual assault, sex work.
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.
Don't just take our word for it...
“This is an interesting examination of a lesser-known figure from the Gilded Age, one whose story extends beyond the confines of late-19th-century New York…This story of one woman’s ascent offers a fascinating look at the choices she made to become a Gilded Age titan.”
– Kirkus Reviews
“Abé is an exquisite storyteller.”
– Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Magnolia Palace
Taste the very first page
Prologue
The Homestead
Throggs Neck, New York August, 1902
She wasn’t going to be allowed inside the mansion itself, apparently. Lucy could glimpse it from the graveled path she walked, however: acres away, maybe miles away, the rows and rows of windows, diamond-sharp in the sunlight. The heavy Italianate towers marking either end, cutting cream and black against the cobalt sky.
She didn’t want to be caught gawking, not by the army of straw-hatted servants working in the gardens around her, or by the footman—guard, more like—at her side. Lucy returned to pretending to admire the grounds.
It was sticky hot; she was already starting to perspire through her corset and shirtwaist. She’d had to park the Model A by the entrance gates (also maybe miles away), as the gatekeeper had in- formed her she’d only be allowed to proceed to the estate on foot. Lucy didn’t mind the walk; she was spry enough and to be perfectly honest, the grounds were begging to be admired, a careful…
You might also like
The House of Eve
A daring and redemptive novel set in 1950s Philadelphia and Washington, DC, that explores what it means to be a woman and a mother, and how much one is willing to sacrifice to achieve her greatest goal.
The New Life
A brilliant and captivating debut, in the tradition of Alan Hollinghurst and Colm Tóibín, about two marriages, two forbidden love affairs, and the passionate search for social and sexual freedom in late 19th-century London.
The Key to My Heart
A Goodreads Most Anticipated Romance. A heartwarming novel about hope after loss as a young widow receives mysterious messages of love from the “must-buy author” (Jodi Picoult) of Eight Perfect Hours.
Twice in a Lifetime
The Time Traveler’s Wife meets Oona Out of Order in this imaginative and moving debut novel of a love more powerful than time.
Factory Girls
A funny, fierce, and unforgettable read about a young woman working a summer job in a shirt factory in Northern Ireland, while tensions rise both inside and outside the factory walls.
The Socialite’s Guide to Murder
The hotel was her refuge, but scandal is afoot—and a killer stalks the halls in this charming series debut perfect for fans of Rhys Bowen and Ashley Weaver.
Closer to Okay
Weaving culinary delights with an honest, appraising look at how we deal with the world when it becomes too much, Closer to Okay is the comfort food we all need in these, well, crazy times.
Gilded Mountain
Set in early 1900s Colorado, the unforgettable tale of a young woman who bravely faces the consequences of speaking out against injustice.
The Night Ship
Illuminates the lives of two characters: a girl shipwrecked on an island off Western Australia and, three hundred years later, a boy finding a home with his grandfather on the very same island.
Ithaca
Beyond Ithaca’s shores, the whims of gods dictate the wars of men. But on the isle, it is the choices of the abandoned women—and their goddesses—that will change the course of the world.
The House in the Orchard
A startling gothic tale of corrupted innocence that asks—when we look closely—what it really means to know the truth.