By The Book Reviews

Anna Godbersen does an incredible job with The Luxe, the first book in a thrilling new series. This book is perfect for anyone ages 16 and up!

Elizabeth Holland just returned from Europe and quickly discovered that she is the star of Manhattan’s social scene. With her breathtaking appearance and flawless manners, she is the image of perfection. After her father’s recent death, Elizabeth finds out that her family is no longer as well off as they appear and her mother makes it clear that Elizabeth must save the family from ruin.

Diana Holland is tired of society’s rules and the responsibilities that come with being part of the elite. She is thrilled to learn that her family is in financial distress and hopes that it will allow her more freedom. But when she starts to fall in love with her sister’s sudden fiance, Henry Schoonmaker, she becomes even more bitter about society. Her sister is about to enter into a loveless marriage with the man that she has fallen for, a man whom she is sure loves her back.

Penelope Hayes is Elizabeth’s best friend and confidante, not because she truly cares, but because she believes she must keep her enemies close. When she finds out that Elizabeth is engaged to Henry, the man she had picked for herself, she is determined to make sure that the wedding never happens. And when Lina, Elizabeth’s former maid, comes to Penelope with information that would shatter Elizabeth’s perfect image and her family’s hopes for survival, Penelope knows just what she must do.

Will Penelope ruin Elizabeth’s reputation or will she find a way to get what she wants without ruining Elizabeth? This book is full of twists with almost every page! With all the drama, jealousy, and backstabbing of a modern day high school this book manages to capture the social scene of late 19th Century New York City. With its beautiful step back into history, this book shows that girls are all the same, no matter what time period it is. This book is a must read!

By the Book was given the opportunity to interview Anna and this is what she had to say!

When did you first realize that you loved writing and wanted to pursue it as a career?

I’ve been an obsessive scribbler and a big reader since I was a child, so I always knew literature would be a part of my life, but I didn’t think of writing as a career until I started ghostwriting YA novels. That was when I was twenty-four, and it made me feel that I might be able to make a job out of it.

What made you want to write about this specific time period and place?

I wanted a glamorous setting, and I thought it would be interesting to research the time period since it is sometimes said that we are now living in a new gilded age. But I also thought that it would be interesting for teens to read about a time period when there was a whole lot more ‘No.’ We live in such a permissive culture now, but I think there’s a lot of drama and excitement to be had from this world with many more rules of behavior.

All of the historical details in your book make it such much more spectacular. In your research, was there anything that you found particularly surprising or interesting?

Thank you! I think the thing I was most surprised by was how few generations separated the nouveau riche from the old money families. There was great drama around whether Caroline Astor ( a.k.a. The Mrs. Astor) would attend the Vanderbilt ball of 1883, even though there was only about a generation separating these families’ social ascendance.

All of your characters seem to have such different personalities. Is there a particular girl that you feel you can best relate to?

They all have bits of me in them—even Penelope, I am ashamed to say; even Henry—but I think the character I most relate to is Lina. She’s this character who is outside of society but also close enough to be fascinated and repulsed by it, which is often how I feel, being a Californian of no particular social distinction living in this incredibly wealthy, cosmopolitan city.

Where did you get most of your inspiration for your characters?

I wanted them to embody different aspects of the time—adherence to etiquette in Elizabeth’s case, social ambition in Penelope’s—but as I said they all have little parts of me in them. For Elizabeth I also thought of young women today who have perfect grades and so many extracurriculars—she’s that kind of perfectionist.

Do you think you would have enjoyed living in 1899?

No, to be honest. I think that the clothes and parties would be really fascinating, and I think it would also be really cool to see what it felt like to be an American at that moment when the country’s role in the world was really changing. But I think the culture would have been really stultifying—that’s what’s giving Elizabeth and Diana so much trouble—and I’ve never been very good at conforming, despite my occasional best efforts.

What was the last book you read?

Edith Wharton’s short novel Summer. It’s known as her “hot” book, but it’s also really a YA book in the sense that it follows a young woman from a small town who is limited by her own experience and upbringing but who longs for something more, and in the sense that it dwells at length on a crush and on a young woman’s first sexual experiences.

What can we expect from the next book in the series? Do you have an estimate of when it will be released?

There will be a wedding or two and some really extravagant backstabbing, of course. And lots more gowns and meaningful stares. It’s called Rumors, and it comes out in May.

How did you feel when you found out The Luxe was named a New York Times Best Seller?

Relieved! It’s really frightening putting a book out there in the world so any sign of approval from readers is really reassuring. And happy, of course—it really adds to the feeling of accomplishment, which is nice.