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In the 1890s, a small Rhode Island town reigned as America’s “Queen of
Resorts,” capturing the world’s attention with its outrageous opulence.
Giant marble mansions arose for a summer colony of society elites.
Reputations were made and lost in a whirlwind of extravagant parties,
yacht races, tennis matches and, sometimes,
illicit romances. Underneath the glitter lay depression, even madness
the price of social failure. Sam Driver, railroad mogul, and one of the few
surviving “robber barons,” knocks on Newport’s
door, determined to give his daughter Jenny the
best Newport can offer.
But some in Newport know Sam’s past. One Wall
Streeter with wealth and position schemes to
defeat Sam at every turn, while Jenny is drawn
into a dangerous affair with an impoverished
young Irishman and an arranged marriage with a
dashing European who may or may not be a
ruthless fortune hunter.
Says author Jakes, “I couldn’t invent this supporting cast of
tycoons and grand dames, tarts and
social climbers - they were all real. Newport’s
heyday is the raw stuff of American history, and
a great story.” |