What the Lady Wants
  • Published: 2 January 2015
  • ISBN: 9780451466716
  • Imprint: Berkley
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 448
  • RRP: $35.00

What the Lady Wants

A Novel of Marshall Field and the Gilded Age

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From the author of the critically acclaimed debut novel, DOLLFACE, comes a new historical novel set in 19th century Chicago, featuring the longtime mistress of the legendary Merchant Prince, Marshall Field.

In late-nineteenth-century Chicago, visionary retail tycoon Marshall Field made his fortune wooing women customers with his famous motto: “Give the lady what she wants.” His legendary charm also won the heart of socialite Delia Spencer and led to an infamous love affair.
 
The night of the Great Fire, as seventeen-year-old Delia watches the flames rise and consume what was the pioneer town of Chicago, she can’t imagine how much her life, her city, and her whole world are about to change. Nor can she guess that the agent of that change will not simply be the fire, but more so the man she meets that night...

Leading the way in rebuilding after the fire, Marshall Field reopens his well-known dry goods store and transforms it into something the world has never seen before: a glamorous palace of a department store. He and his powerhouse coterie—including Potter Palmer and George Pullman—usher in the age of robber barons, the American royalty of their generation.

But behind the opulence, their private lives are riddled with scandal and heartbreak. Delia and Marshall first turn to each other out of loneliness, but as their love deepens, they will stand together despite disgrace and ostracism, through an age of devastation and opportunity, when an adolescent Chicago is transformed into the gleaming White City of the Chicago’s World’s Fair of 1893.
  • Published: 2 January 2015
  • ISBN: 9780451466716
  • Imprint: Berkley
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 448
  • RRP: $35.00
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Also by Renee Rosen

Let's Call Her Barbie
Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl
The Social Graces
Park Avenue Summer
Windy City Blues
White Collar Girl
Dollface
See all

Praise for What the Lady Wants


"With the rat-a-tat tempo of a Tommy gun, Rosen delivers a smart and snappy shot of Roaring Twenties drama." - Booklist, Carol Haggas

Rosen has done her homework and written a flashy story that is more than your average gangster noir. As Vera's life unfolds and the consequences of her choices become clear, the novel evolves with her--from a coming-of-age tale, to a love story, and, finally, a lesson on redemption and coming home. Those interested in novels set in the 1920s and all things Gatsby will not be disappointed.--Library Journal Starred Review, Jennifer Funk, ­McKendree Univ. Lib., Lebanon, IL

"Rosen evokes the era colorfully...from the Stockyards to a certain Clark Street garage on Valentine's Day. Vera is a compelling character, her background intriguing and her relationships with her men, female friends and especially her widowed mother captured with emotional understanding."
- Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune

"In Vera Abrambowitz, author Renée Rosen has a created an unforgettable heroine who is both universal, and uniquely of her time period. She is a jazz-aged Marjorie Morningstar, and like her classic predecessor, Vera takes readers on a journey through love, life, and the perils of wanting it all."
- Jamie Brenner, Heroes and Heartbreakers

"This is a wild tale of romance, danger and glamour, all told during the Roaring Twenties. Though all flawed, the characters also somehow manage to all be sympathetic. This lavish story of crime rivals and romantic rivals would be a great movie!"
- Amy Phelps, Graffiti

Dollface" is a sensational read... Vera is a fascinating character. ...Rosen does an amazing job of making you feel as if you're right alongside Vera in 1920's Chicago..."Dollface" is an incredible and unique read..."

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