The Gilded Lily

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Summary: A Great American Novel From The Gilded Era
Review: This novel is a gripping and fascinating view of the life of a woman rebel who refuses to be kept in the gilded cage crowded with the other privilged women of her time. Nina De Bonnard is the heroine who although at first goes along with the patterns decreed by her set--going to party after party, finally realizes there should be more in her life than clothes, jewels and social dictums. She turns down marriage proposal after marriage proposal until she is near to being named 'a jilt.' The young American men seek the aid of a slightly older rake who has a few years of living in Europe and returned with a sophisticated veneer they admire. He agrees to revenge them by teaching the beautiful Nina a lesson. But she is more of a challenge than he expected, because she is not playing games. She is seeking a way of life that has meaning. There is fun and romance in the duel of wits between the hero and heroine, but there is more to this novel than just romance. For the writing raises the novel to the level of Jane Austen and Edith Wharton. Helen Argers has been compared to both those authors by reviewers and academia. The writing is rich with epigrams, nuance and sentences that suddenly reveal the inner soul of the characters. And then there is the author's use of humor. She captures her characters' inner selves in comic scenes such as depicting the reactions of different characters attending the grand opening of the Centennial Exhibition of Americana in Philadephia of 1876. The upper class women are shocked by the new inventions, critizing them for the noise and preferring the much more silent servants who already do those tasks without making such a fuss. When one of the young ladies, determined to outdo Nina De Bonnard in smashing appearance, appears wearing her corset laced to such a punishing degree that she faints--the women are shocked by her lack of protocol. One of them, known as the arbiter of taste, exclaims, "We're causing comment on the promenade!" and the young woman is quickly removed to the Ladies' Comfort Station, where the torturous corset is unlaced so she can breathe again. But Argers captures not only the mores of the time but the politics when she has Nina De Bonnard joining Susan B. Anthony in a protest at the conclusion of the Centennial Ceremonies. As well as opening the portholes to the past, Argers also reveals characters that believed in romance--a love that will not be denied despite the difference between the hero and heroine and Nina's determination to live a life free of the restrictions of marriage. Here is a novel that gives us a heroine for all time, for Nina De Bonnard is the first of today's women who want love, but also want respect for themselves and in addition for the rest of the people.
Reading this novel is like stepping back into the past and yet discovering that the past is a mirror to our own times--as we are slowly sinking into a new Gilded Era today. Just as the people then, even those in conditions of extreme poverty, spent of their little to buy newspapers to read about the extravagant parties of the upper class and bought pictures of the heiresses, we today are also celebrity followers. Nina De Bonnard's escapades, changing gowns as often as she did beaus, would make her an object of attack today as she was then. THE GILDED LILY is a must read on several levels. For those who love great romances and the extravagant lives of the super rich, this is for them. For those who want to understand how this country has veered dangerously close to becoming a second Gilded Era, this novel will show them the seeds. For those who value beautiful writing, impressive descriptions, humorous dialogue and comic events, plus overall intelligence and talent, this novel is for them. It is a rare novel that is both fun to read and worth rereading.