Alva Vanderbilt wants nothing more than to fit in society, but society says she is "new" money and no one feels that status has any value. The chief society lady who is shunning Alva is Caroline Astor. Caroline runs all social functions, events, and controls who is in and who is out.
There are no murders here, but you will see tons of drama. Picture the mom from the Titanic movie times ten and that is what these characters are like (and remember the characters are based on real women). They are trying to one-up each other and tear each other down, they are complete MEAN GIRLS.
All that being said, I found this a fun, and worthy book pick. It is such a departure from my normal reads as it is set in the last 19th century New York City and features no war.
Renee Rosen always knows how to give us a story that is unique and interesting and she does not fail with this one.