The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin

A literary example of cash for class, The American Heiress revolves around American socialite Cora Cash. The reader follows her life starting at Newport, Rhode Island and through her marriage to English bachelor Ivo Maltravers, The Duke of Wareham. As Cora navigates the traps of English hierarchy as the new American duchess, she matures in marriage, and uncovers a betrayal. During her new life in England, she learns the true meaning of value, there are things that money can't buy.

When I first read The American Heiress, I had checked it out from the library several years ago, and was done within the week. I had recently found the book for purchase within my budget, so of course, I bought it immediately. In my original reading, I thought it was engaging. Walking through Cora’s life and immersing myself in the beautiful scenery and fashion, and investing more and more into these characters lives. When I finished it, I felt like I lost a friend. Now that I finally own it, I'm re-reading it, and I can't wait to have tea and stroll the gardens with Cora again.

After finishing my re-read for the book, my love for it hasn't changed. I was more than happy to meet Cora and Ivo in their home for tea once more. I did grasp more of what was going on with the characters and the plot with the re-read.

One of the first things I’ve noticed is Goodwin’s actual writing for this novel is different than what I was used to. The biggest example is how she formatted the dialogue, she used apostrophes instead of quotations. Doing this didn't take away from the story, but it did make me have to re-read often when someone was speaking to determine if someone was speaking out loud versus internal thoughts, or something else entirely. Given that, it also brought my focus to the dialogue, which forced me to actually pay attention and understand what was happening and what was being discussed. This was interesting to me, but it was a bit of an adjustment because of the stop and go in pace.

While there were beautiful descriptions, especially for the fashion and the scenery. I found the descriptions to be scattered overall, I felt I had to bounce between sentences to piece the scene together. Not that I can’t appreciate different method to understanding description, but the pace was slowed for me in doing this, as well as it taking awhile to form a picture in my mind.

As for the characters, Cora was a bit too much of a “Mary Sue” for me given her experiences. It was as though it took her an extra step to understand what was happening around her. At the same time, when it came to other situations like the dinner party with Odo, she was on point with her reactions and her poise. Ivo was difficult to bond with, not because he was a bad person, but just because he was always gone (literally, he was gone for most of the book), and when he was around, he rarely expressed his thoughts or feelings. There were a couple of times near the end of the book where he finally expressed himself, and was given some depth and personality other than “struggling Duke of Wareham”. As was mentioned in the summary, the focus was mainly on Cora and the immediate people around her, like her maid Bertha. What bothered me the most was exactly that. Not only was there VERY gradual character development, but everyone was not a throwaway character necessarily, but highly underdeveloped.

I rate The American Heiress 3 out of 5.

What really brought me to love the book was plot. Witnessing the life of an American heiress in England, during an era and scenario that intrigues me.

My favorite character: Charlotte. I found her to have the most depth.

My least favorite character: Odo Beauchamp. I found his character to be very much lacking in actual characterization. He seemed to simply exist to be a convenient obstacle. He was also an abusive douche.

Who I wish I could've seen more of: Teddy Van Der Leyden. He was a convenient obstacle as well. I would've loved to learn more about him, and follow him through his time in the French art scene. He has potential to make the story more interesting, but like all the side characters, his sole purpose was providing conflict so he was highly underdeveloped in my opinion.

Would I re-read: Yes.

Would I recommend The American Heiress: Yes, I would. BUT this book is more of a fun, easy read. This is not the book for someone looking for a literary piece of fantasticness that blows their mind.