I went into this book expecting a sense of the real nineteenth century Manhattan, and was rather disappointed with the results. Certainly, there was an abundance of description regarding chairs, mirrors, rooms, and dresses, dresses, dresses. But the characters were for the most part sad mock-up of young girls; they all seemed either stereotypes of society or deliberately scandalous. The actions and dialogue of many seemed ill-suited to the time or the story. The central cast, including five Victorian teens: Elizabeth, Henry, Penelope, Carolina, and Diana, was a perfect example of this. Henry Schoonmaker – New York's most sought after bachelor-never showed an ounce of appeal. Elizabeth Holland -perfect daughter- was dull. Her sister Diana was incredibly ill-bred for some one of her class and Penelope-her friend/enemy- was shallow. Carolina seemed to have been placed to add conflict to the plot, and her actions jarred with her station. At times I wondered why am I reading this? until I hit the middle of the story and the plot locked into place and carried me to the end. It wasn’t spectacular, but it was solid- if unbelievable. I confess what snared me in the end was how the author managed to make each character view the others from a new point of view, which is rare and oddly refreshing.

Final Word: I finished with mixed feelings. It not a good historical fiction and only a middling book- yet I may end up picking up the others for the sake of its unusual construction and perspective.
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Boo! Competently written, but I guessed the ending by page six. (That I was compelled to actually finished the book is the only true compliment I can pay it.) ( )

I blew through three quarters of this book in just a few days, so it gets more than 3 stars in terms of the enjoyment factor. I predicted the ending in the first 50 pages of the book though, so that kills it a little. Still, I think I'll probably read the next one in the series. ( )

Alright, as a reader well versed in the world of Edith Wharton and Gilded Age mores, I've got to say it was a lazy "fix for when the classics got a bit dry"...

What started promising soon spirited into a love web of unending proportions, with plot thin enough to glaze a donut and it's predictability so startling I asked myself if the last hundred pages were even worth skimming. I slogged my way through it though, with some interesting themes playing through my head to distract me from the mess held in my hands.

Firstly it helped to imagine all the characters in Forsyte Saga level costumes (who let them get away with that atrocious cover?) and May Welland conversation abilities, so I guess that masked the sometimes lazy social etiquette and dialogue. It's wasn't bad per se, I don't mind bypassing historical accuracy (which was for the most part impressive and I commend) for some fun.

This takes me to my second point: unfortunately the pretty Astor allusions and Newport mummery could not save the complete pointlessness of this novel. Never once did I feel the characters come alive. To me they all felt like horrible stock fillers dressed up and swept from scene to scene, floating abysmally and near drowning in the fabricated woes of their lives. No lessons where learned, no growth could be measured, nothing but whining about how awful their situation was. Where are the strong characters? Is it too much to ask for a character that has more than one personality trait and can properly express inner feelings in a believable way? (And before you mention Diana — no — a strong female character /=/ having little interest in feminine qualities and displaying a more boyish attitude. That belief is almost in itself as annoying as the antithesis it tries to contrast, ugh.)

At the end of the day, if this really interests you, don't bog yourself down in the nitpicky historical inaccuracies. I genuinely see it as a "what if" book of manners; the bad kids stories that never reach the light of day.

(Unfortunately still a massive time waster. Will not be reading the rest. Would not recommend.) ( )

Facinating depiction of turn of the century high society New York, witha frisson of who done it? mixed in. ( )