Published by St. Martin's Press
Publication date: October 16, 2018
Genres: Fiction, Historical
The Vanderbilt family is one of the great success stories in American history. Author Therese Fowler picks up the line with the third generation in her novel, A Well-Behaved Woman. The woman in question is Alva Smith—a 21-year-old with a perfect pedigree, but no money. Teetering, in fact, on the edge of outright poverty, until her dear friend Consuelo (a Cuban sugar heiress), throws her in front of the eligible Vanderbilt grandson, William. The Vanderbilts have the money, but New York society is closed to them because they are newly rich and considered vulgar. The plan works and Alva joins the family and gives them the gloss they need to move in the circles they want. In return, she gets a life of luxury far beyond her greatest dreams. But is it enough?
Fowler’s debut novel, Z, was about the life of Zelda Fitzgerald and was combustible reading. Comparisons between the two aren’t fair, mostly due to the times. Alva lived in the late 1800s, a time of restraint and manners. Zelda and F. Scott lived in the 1920s a time that was anything but restrained. So, if you’re expecting Zelda levels of drama, you’re going to be disappointed. Alva’s main goal in her marriage was being a good wife and promoting the Vanderbilt family. Also, to spend as much of their money in ways that were acceptable at the time and enhanced the family name. She accomplished this by working with renowned architects to build numerous homes and founding the Metropolitan Opera.
It’s in looking beyond Alva’s marriage that A Well-Behaved Woman lost me a bit. By midpoint in the novel there are a few mentions of a man she finds intriguing. They are so limited, crop up unexpectedly, and have virtually no detail to them that it’s hard to credit them as important feelings of passion. In reality, they are, but without getting into spoilers, the initial aspects of this relationship feels stilted. I realize the era was one of decorum, but this is fiction, so creative license is expected and would have gone a long way towards making Alva’s feelings more relatable, less manufactured
Her personal life aside, I wanted more of the later years of Alva’s life. It isn’t until the novel is 80% over that she comes into her own and becomes a supporter of causes far outside the comfort zone of her society friends. A Well-Behaved Woman is a successful chronicle of the highs and lows of Alva’s life, with enough details about her exorbitant expenses to satisfy even the biggest fan of conspicuous consumption. And while it didn’t go as far into her inner life or outer activities as I would have liked there is no doubt this well-behaved woman was so much more than a woman who married well.
I just finished A Well-Behaved Woman and also liked it, though not quite as much as Z. I hadn’t thought much about how that might be due to their different eras, but that makes sense. I really liked the parts of the book where it was very focused on Alva. When it moved to details about other things, my mind wandered. I thought there was quite a bit of lead up to “the man,” The consumption was amazing and so was just how far a couple million dollars would go back then!
There was a long lead-in, but I had went back through the book to look for references about him and the were small and innocuous. It did not give me the sense that she was passionate about this man. I got a much greater sense of what a dud Vanderbilt was!
I wanted so much more about her later life!
I’ve never read one of Fowler’s books. That’s a beautiful cover. Sounds like there wasn’t enough drama to really hook you, though.
There was drama but it was focused on when she was married to Vanderbilt and I’m sick of rich old white men. I wanted to read more about her later years when she really came into her own. It’s my own personal oddness.
I think I will pass for now on The Vanderbilts and Alva, but I enjoyed reading your review about them.
I think you’re safe. If you were going to read any Fowler, read Z. It was so good!
Totally agree about the least interesting parts being whatever was outside of her marriage and own identity. All the social machinations started to really bore me…who cares?! I realize the characters cared deeply, but I just couldn’t make myself care. I thought the most interesting stuff was Alva’s stifled feeling in her marriage, her desire to have her own hobby beyond home-making and party-throwing, and her modern-for-that-time observations about women’s roles.
But, yes, everything felt incredibly stilted…I realize that’s how it was during that time period, but I just thought it made for boring reading. Maybe story selection was the big downfall here?
Story selection meaning which time of her life to portray? I’d agree with that- I wanted more of the later years.