Title: A well-behaved woman
Description: Alva Smith, her southern family destitute after the Civil War, married into one of America's great Gilded Age dynasties: the newly wealthy but socially shunned Vanderbilts. Ignored by New York's old-money circles and determined to win respect, she designed and built 9 mansions, hosted grand balls, and arranged for her daughter to marry a duke. But Alva also defied convention for women of her time, asserting power within her marriage and becoming a leader in the women's suffrage movement.
Subjects: Social life and customs, FICTION / Family Life / General, Socialites, Manners and customs, FICTION / Historical / General, Fiction, Fiction, biographical, United states, fiction, Social classes, Rich people
Places: United States
People: Alva Belmont (1853-1933), Vanderbilt family
Time periods: 1865-1918