The American Heiress (Paperback) by Daisy Goodwin

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Anyone suffering Downton Abbey withdrawal symptoms (who isn't?) will find an instant tonic in Daisy Goodwin's The American Heiress. The story of Cora Cash, an American heiress in the 1890s who bags an English duke, this is a deliciously evocative first novel that lingers in the mind. --Allison Pearson, New York Times bestselling author of I Don't Know How She Does It and I Think I Love You

Be careful what you wish for. Traveling abroad with her mother at the turn of the twentieth century to seek a titled husband, beautiful, vivacious Cora Cash, whose family mansion in Newport dwarfs the Vanderbilts', suddenly finds herself Duchess of Wareham, married to Ivo, the most eligible bachelor in England. Nothing is quite as it seems, however: Ivo is withdrawn and secretive, and the English social scene is full of traps and betrayals. Money, Cora soon learns, cannot buy everything, as she must decide what is truly worth the price in her life and her marriage.

Witty, moving, and brilliantly entertaining, Cora's story marks the debut of a glorious storyteller who brings a fresh new spirit to the world of Edith Wharton and Henry James.

For daughters of the new American billionaires of the 19th century, it was the ultimate deal: marriage to a cash-strapped British Aristocrat in return for a title and social status. But money didn't always buy them happiness. --Daisy Goodwin in The Daily Mail

The American Heiress was originally sold and distributed in the UK as My Last Duchess

Review Quotes

"Ms. Goodwin...writes deliciously." --Janet Maslin, The New York Times

"A propulsive story of love, manners, culture clash, and store-bought class from a time long past that proves altogether fresh." --Publishers Weekly

"Top-notch writing....will please fans of historical romance, including book club members." --Library Journal (starred review)

"[An] exceptionally thoughtful and stunning historical novel that will leave you reeling and astonished...and give you the urge to re-read it the instant the last page is turned." --BookReporter.com

"Smart, emotional, entertaining writing....a delicious tale that captivates." --RT Book Reviews

"Deliciously classy. A story that gallops along, full of exquisite period detail." --Kate Mosse, New York Times bestselling author of Labyrinth

"Sparkling and thoroughly engaging...a highly enjoyable and intelligent read." --The Sunday Times (U.K.)

"I was seduced by this book, rather as Cora was seduced by her duke: with great skill and confidence. Intriguing, atmospheric, and extremely stylish." --Penny Vincenzi, author of The Best of Times

"A wonderful, guilty pleasure of a read. The detailing is beautiful...and the relief of reading a novel that puts enjoyment first so rare and gratifying that I am ready for a sequel." --Amanda Foreman, New York Times bestselling author of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire and A World on Fire

About The Author

DAISY GOODWIN, a Harkness scholar who attended Columbia University's film school after earning a degree in history at Cambridge University, is a leading television producer in the U.K. Her poetry anthologies, including 101 Poems That Could Save Your Life, have introduced many new readers to the pleasures of poetry, and she was Chair of the judging panel of the 2010 Orange Prize for Fiction. She and her husband, an ABC TV executive, have two daughters and live in London. The American Heiress is her first novel.