Heidi's Reviews > A Well-Behaved Woman

I haven’t devoured a book like this in a long time— certainly my favorite book of the year so far.

Kudos to Ms Fowler for following up her last book about Zelda Fitzgerald with an equally enthralling book about Alva Smith Vanderbilt. I was fascinated by her portrayal from the first page through to the acknowledgements page.

Fowler acknowledges that Alva has not been treated kindly by history in that her fellow society mavens chose to portray strength as scheming, leadership skills as bossy and conniving, and self-protection at a time when women owned nothing as self-serving greed. It seemed to me that this woman was painted with a very ugly brush by some early 20th century historians.

It’s amazing how timely this novel is despite the 100 plus years that have gone by. Is Alva Vanderbilt (Belmont) remembered for her contributions to women’s suffrage, architecture, charity and other work? No— after reading this book, I googled her to learn more— was sad to see more uncomplimentary details about how she ruthlessly married her daughter off to British royalty or how demanding she was of her architect than covering the work she did for the women of this country — how many modern readers know she worked behind the scenes to ensure the 19th amendment passed?

We’ve seen that history is rarely kind to strong women. However, in this new era of #MeToo and increasing female voices in politics and places of power, I thank Fowler for treating Alva Vanderbilt as a whole person— the good and the bad. Here’s a woman I would loved to have had a cocktail with!!

On a side note, this book is equally interesting for fans of American history— especially the Gilded Age. I was fascinated by the inner-workings of society and the upstairs/downstairs soap opera like sagas of the families of 19th century captains of American Industry.

The battle for acceptance between Caroline Astor and Alva Vanderbilt is the epitome of Gilded Age society maneuvering! Made me want to go pick up an Edith Wharton or Henry James novel. No doubt I’d now recognize more characters for their true life counterparts.

(Reviewed 3/10/19)