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A Novel of Consuelo Vanderbilt
by Karen Harper
Before there was Meghan Markle, there was Consuelo Vanderbilt, the original American Duchess.
Karen Harper tells the tale of Consuelo Vanderbilt, her "The Wedding of the Century" to the Duke of Marlborough, and her quest to find meaning behind "the glitter and the gold."
On a cold November day in 1895, a carriage approaches St Thomas Episcopal Church on New York City's Fifth Avenue. Massive crowds surge forward, awaiting their glimpse of heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt. Just 18, the beautiful bride has not only arrived late, but in tears, yet her marriage to the aloof Duke of Marlborough proceeds. Bullied into the wedding by her indomitable mother, Alva, Consuelo loves another. But a deal was made, trading some of the vast Vanderbilt wealth for a title and prestige, and Consuelo, bred to obey, realizes she must make the best of things.
At Blenheim Palace, Consuelo is confronted with an overwhelming list of duties, including producing an "heir and a spare," but her relationship with the duke quickly disintegrates. Consuelo finds an inner strength, charming everyone from debutantes to diplomats including Winston Churchill, as she fights for women's suffrage. And when she takes a scandalous leap, can she hope to attain love at last…?
From the dawning of the opulent Gilded Age, to the battles of the Second World War, American Duchess is a riveting tale of one woman's quest to attain independence' - at any price.
"Lively...This immersive novel believably puts the reader in Consuelo's shoes." - Publishers Weekly
"A sweeping history of the Gilded Age, this novel is for fans of historical fiction, PBS's Downton Abbey, and the recent royal wedding." - Library Journal
"Sure to please historical fiction fans and those who enjoy Harper's previous novels or the works of Kristin Hannah, Kathleen Tessaro, and Lucinda Riley, this tender, well-researched novel lets readers see the economic, social, and political highlights of the nineteenth-century Gilded Age brought to life through Consuelo Vanderbilt's eyes" - Booklist
"This is a fascinating story about an extraordinary woman." - Gill Paul, bestselling author of The Secret Wife
"This absorbing and evocative tale is an excellent reminder of what women have long sacrificed over the centuries for family honor and duty, and how they navigated their circumstances and influence to change the world for the better." - Heather Webb, international bestselling author of Last Christmas in Paris
This information about American Duchess was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Karen Harper is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, a former Ohio State University instructor, and high school English teacher. Published since 1982, she writes contemporary suspense and historical novels about real British women. Two of her recent Tudor-era books were bestsellers in the UK and Russia. Harper won the Mary Higgins Clark Award for Dark Angel, and her novel Shattered Secrets was judged one of the best books of the year by Suspense Magazine.
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