An American Beauty
Inspired by the true rags-to-riches life of Arabella Huntington, this historical novel opens in 1867 Richmond where seventeen-year-old Arabella works at Worsham’s gambling parlor wearing the same low-cut purple gown as the other girls. Her statuesque beauty, grit, and resolve set her apart and lead to a charged affair with railroad baron Collis Huntington, thirty years her senior.
With Collis’s help Arabella moves to New York posing as a genteel Southern widow. Using Collis’s seed money and her own shrewd investing instincts she amasses a fortune, marries Collis after his wife’s death, and must navigate the rules of Society, threats of blackmail, and an unexpected, impossible romance that tests her ambitions and loyalties.
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Book details
- Publisher
- Kensington
- Publication date
- April 25, 2023
- Print length
- 384 pages
- Language
- English
- ISBN
- 978-1496739421
Biographical
What to Know Before Reading An American Beauty
Arabella’s rise begins in a Richmond gambling parlor and quickly becomes a story of social climbing, money, and reputation. The narrative focuses on her relationship with Collis Huntington, her calculated financial moves, and the scrutiny of New York’s Four Hundred elite. Expect conflicts about ambition, loyalty, and social rules, plus blackmail and a disruptive romance that complicates her carefully built life. The setup centers on people and social pressure more than on speculative or supernatural elements.
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About the author
Shana Abé
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