Heiress

Heiress, by Susan May Warren

            In the early 1900’s, citizens of New York City scraped a living as servants or in factories, working their fingers to the bone for meager wages. However, the elite set of Fifth Avenue enjoyed all the finest money could buy—new motor coaches, sprawling homes, servants to tend them, and the latest imported fashions from Paris and London. Dinner parties could cost as much as $250,000.

            Jinx and Esme were born to August Price, powerful and rich newspaper publisher, during the Gilded Age. He could afford to buy them everything their hearts desired, except love. Marriages were forged by family fortune and social standing, and as debutantes, they were expected to fetch someone who would deliver both.

            Warren’s characters practically walk off the page and into the reader’s heart in this first book of the Daughters of Fortune series. Jinx and Esme both demonstrate that no matter how much money one has, happiness can’t be purchased. At the beginning of the book, none of the main characters are Christians, nor do they act like Christians. Their choices demonstrate lives lived solely for themselves, and therefore reap the consequences. Alcohol, infidelity, and betrayal all wreak havoc in their lives.

            This story is about redemption and the value of love; it shows the difference Christ can make in one’s life. I’d especially recommend it to historical fiction fans. For those who already love Susan May Warren’s books, this one will not disappoint. She is gifted with the ability to write well in multiple genres.   

This review also appears in Winds of Praise October 2011 POST