The American Heiress

The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin.

Paperback: 496 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin(March 27, 2012)
ISBN-10: 0312658664

The American Heiress.

The story of Cora Cash, an American heiress in the 1890s who bags an English duke, this is a deliciously evocative first novel that lingers in the mind." --Allison Pearson, New York Times bestselling author of I Don’t Know How She Does It and I Think I Love You
Be careful what you wish for. Traveling abroad with her mother at the turn of the twentieth century to seek a titled husband, beautiful, vivacious Cora Cash, whose family mansion in Newport dwarfs the Vanderbilts’, suddenly finds herself Duchess of Wareham, married to Ivo, the most eligible bachelor in England. Nothing is quite as it seems, however: Ivo is withdrawn and secretive, and the English social scene is full of traps and betrayals. Money, Cora soon learns, cannot buy everything, as she must decide what is truly worth the price in her life and her marriage.
Witty, moving, and brilliantly entertaining, Cora’s story marks the debut of a glorious storyteller who brings a fresh new spirit to the world of Edith Wharton and Henry James.
"For daughters of the new American billionaires of the 19th century, it was the ultimate deal: marriage to a cash-strapped British Aristocrat in return for a title and social status. But money didn’t always buy them happiness." --Daisy Goodwin in The Daily Mail

I must be on a roll! (about time too!) I am not sure i knew what to expect with this book other than I had already known (heard?) about in “days gone by”, how the very rich Americans went to Europe (in this case England) to marry someone with a “title” (such as Duke) and hopefully with money of their own. 

After reading this book it seemed more that money was “one sided”.. love was discounted all together..and saving the “castles” / “mansions” were all that mattered.

I have to say, I really enjoyed this book!  It was a bit of a surprise.  It had plenty of history of “money” and wealth and how it matters.  But the American Heiress had one thing going for her that no one else had.. love.

Now I am not a reader of “romantic” books  but add into the book all the history of what it was like back then and what choices were available and what many of the wealthy were like..its quite the read!

This is a novel not at biography or memoir but certainly the way it’s written it could be either!

I enjoyed it very much.. you might enjoy it too!