I came across this teen novel while I was exploring one of the Newport Mansion (the one that was the original building for Salve Regina University) during the Rhode Island Library Association Conference. One of my friends had mentioned that she had just read it, and that the building really reminded her a lot of the book.

Set in the Gilded Age, this novel is one part Edith Wharton and two parts Gossip Girl with just a hint of John Jakes' The Gods of Newport. The year is 1899, and the story kicks off during a funeral for one of the young maidens at the core of New York's high society. All the reader learns is that she died after ending up in the Hudson River. The book then rewinds and introduces the reader to Elizabeth Holland, future dead girl, and her younger sister.

As with the Bennetts in Pride and Prejudice, the family has fallen on the cliched hard times, mostly due to the death of Liz's father and his surviving debts. As a result, her mother is hoping that she will wed well and quickly.

In the process we are introduced to a difficult series of romantic inter-relations that made Wharton so interesting, but written in modern prose and less shyness about the more risque events that today's audiences prefer to have more details about.

It is definitely a fun read, though, there are some minor flaws in place about high society in at that time, but kids will care less and so will those willing to just read for fun rather than strong ties to the realities of the Gilded Age. Godbersen seems to have done John Jakes proud in this book for teens.