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An American Beauty is inspired by the true story of Arabella Huntington, who became the wealthiest self-made woman in America.

1867, Richmond, Virginia. Arabella Duvall Yarrington (Belle in short), at seventeen, works at gambling parlor. With her personality and charm, she catches an eye of Collins Huntington, railroad baron. After they get acquainted, arrangements are made for her to live in NYC. And those are quite peculiar arrangements. She is a savvy woman and knows that she can’t rely just on those arrangements. Thus, she makes her own measures. She sees an opportunity in location and pieces of land.

Belle’s story in small pieces is intertwined with the story of her mother and young Clara, daughter of Collins Huntington. With marvelous prose, their backstories are smoothly woven in.

This story lightly weaves Belle’s own story of investing. It’s more about her mysterious backstory and how she navigated in high society, where it strongly paints a picture of a woman who forged her own path. A woman who stood her own and didn’t care about fitting with the Four Hundred. She was who she was and cared about her extraordinary life journey, rather than fitting with the high society of New York.

The whole storytelling is breathtaking. It has well-developed characters, a silky smooth flow, and is engaging from the start to the end.

Source: ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.