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I've been reading a lot about the Gilded Age this past year. One of the things that drew me to this book is the story of Arabella Huntington is clearly the basis for the character Sylvia Chamberlin in HBO's Gilded Age series. The time lines don't exactly match but the stories are very close. Arabella Yarrington and her family lived a precarious existence in Richmond after the Civil War. To provide for her mother and siblings, Arabella took a job as a champagne girl at a gaming hell and tavern. There she met Collis Huntington, a railroad magnate who fell in love with her and installed her as his mistress in Manhatten. Her entire family benefited and prospered. Collis and Belle had a son. Belle was smart, acquisitive and clever, building a small fortune of her own. When Collis' wife died, he and Belle married although she was never really accepted in society. Arabella Huntington was a real person as were the people in the story. Fascinating story.