First published 1998
Alfonso Stephen O'Kelly brings little to the table as a husband. The former naval gunner and unemployed composer knows New York well, but his pockets stay empty. When Sylvia Triumphington decides she wants him, Stephen finds himself stunned by his luck. Sylvia comes with millions, beauty, and very particular bedroom preferences. She also brings complications. She spends Stephen's money instead of her own, obsesses over finding her birth mother, and drags him into her adoptive family's chaos. Her father bristles at any mention of financial help. Her adoptive mother Drusilla proves dangerously attractive to Stephen. He splits his time between their cramped Bowery walk-up and the family's luxurious Upper East Side apartment. His musical ambitions fade as family drama consumes his days. Stephen discovers that marrying money costs more than he expected. The wealthy live differently, but they cannot escape tragedy or misinformation.
Genres: romance, literary-fiction, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Bowery, New York, Princeton, Upper East Side
Period: 20th-century
240 pages · Hardcover · Little Brown