Alva Smith comes from a family with a good name and great debt after the Civil War. Then she meets William Vanderbilt, a self-made man who finds himself shunned by the old-money doyennes who control access to the city's social and political scene. Together, Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt begin to shake up the establishment and carve out a brand-new world for themselves. But as Alva will discover, a life of wealth, status, and privilege is not itself a recipe...