BOOK REVIEW: What Would Mrs. Astor Do? The Essential Guide to the Manners and Mores of the Gilded Age by Cecelia Tichi

I received this book for free from Netgalley. This did not influence my review.

What Would Mrs. Astor Do? The Essential Guide to the Manners and Mores of the Gilded Age by Cecelia Tichi is an interesting look at the social history of New York City high society during the Gilded Age. The title led me to think it would be more nitty-gritty details of daily life using Caroline Astor, the queen of New York society, as a focal point, but it was a more generalized picture of life and times of the age. The personality of Caroline Astor is used as introduction and conclusion but it’s not really a book that informs the reader about Mrs. Astor in particular.

The text covers things like clothing, food, leisure activities, and the adoption of new inventions such as electric lights and the telephone. It is a fairly short book and easy to read, but by no means encyclopedic. It reinforced names and impressions of the Gilded Age that I’ve been collecting from other sources. However, even though details jumped out from the pages from time to time (like wow, these guys drank a lot), not much stuck with me after the read was done. It may be the type of book that should be read twice to make an impact.