If you haven’t seen The Gilded Age on HBO, I highly suggest you remedy that immediately. The period drama is pure immersive escapist television, transporting readers back to a time of decadent balls, slow-burn courtships, high-stakes gossip and staggering social strategy. If you are a fan, I’m thrilled to share five recent novels set in Gilded Age New York which are sure to scratch a similar itch, a list which delightfully span across genres (a few dramas, a thriller, and even a caper).
My Fair Frauds by Lee Kelly & Jennifer Thorne
Billed as Ocean’s 11 with ballgowns, the recently released My Fair Frauds centers around a female-led con set against the 1884 New York social season, where a fallen woman out for revenge posing as a grand duchess and a scrappy magician’s assistant team up to take down five of New York’s wealthiest (and most ruthless) families. Garnering early glowing and starred reviews from Library Journal, Booklist, and Shelf Awareness, Frauds is as much a story about found family as it is about vengeance, and will have you cheering these con women time and again.
The Social Graces by Renee Rosen
Based on true events, this sweeping novel centers around the ongoing Gilded Age feud between social arbiter of good taste, Mrs. Caroline Astor, and new money magnate, Alva Vanderbilt, who is determined to claim her place in society. While The Social Graces is filled with sumptuous details and lavish parties, the real heart of the story is Alva’s ambition and desire to belong. Epic and immersive, The Gilded Age fans will find lots to love within Rosen’s pages.
The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin
New money debutante Cora Cash has been married off by her mother to become Duchess of Wareham. Sounds glamorous, and yet Cora’s new husband, Ivo, keeps her at an arm’s length, and English society proves unwelcoming, even impenetrable. Goodwin’s evolution of Cora’s character is masterful, and her descriptions of how the upper crust lived will leave you swooning. A page-turning stunner.
The Address by Fiona Davis
Historical fiction star Davis writes of the Gilded Age from the “downstairs” experience in The Address, following the escapades of Sara Smythe, head housekeeper of a fancy London hotel–but when Smythe gets the chance to work in America as a manager of the new Dakota for architect Theodore Camden, the sky opens up. Davis then takes readers to the 1980s, where Camden’s granddaughter stumbles on literally buried secrets in the Dakota’s basement about Camden and the woman who murdered him–Sara Smythe. Beautifully crafted, unique, and propulsive.
The Alienist by Caleb Carr
One of the older novels on this list, and by far the most harrowing, The Alienist centers on the investigation of a gruesome murder taking place on the Williamsburg Bridge in 1896. A team of “alienists” (today known as psychologists) are employed by police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt to track the killer, employing criminology efforts unheard of at the time. Grisly, gripping, and unforgettable, The Alienist was also made into a binge-worthy TV show on TNT starring Dakota Fanning as a talented young woman fighting to be seen as more than a socialite.