The social politics that built New York during the Gilded Age had become legendary.

History is full of dramatic stories of who was in and who was out, and it didn't always matter how much money you had.

Fortunes could be made and lost in a quickening heartbeat or with a swish of satin at a grand ball.

Historical accounts of the deals and dramas can be fascinating,

of course, but it's important to remember that they were real people and real emotions

riding high behind them. In today's show, we have a truly unique opportunity to look into

some fictional lives based on real people in a conversation with New York Times bestselling author

Carol Wallace and the author of the just published new novel of the Gilded Age, Our Kind of People.

Music I'm Carl Raymond, the host of the Gilda Gentleman History podcast, where every two weeks we sit down for a nice cup of tea and take a look at the glitter and the gold and all that

lay underneath this world in the Gilded Age of New York, Paris's Grand Bel-Epac, and England's

late Victorian and Edwardian England. Today's show brings us directly into the very heart of the

Gilded Age.

In addition to the society balls and financial battles, the Gilded Age at the end of the day was about people,

and people who, as my guest today shows us, were, well, our kind of people.

I am deeply honored and completely excited to welcome Carol Wallace to the

gilded gentleman. Carol will be known to many listeners not only from her more than 20 books,

including the extraordinary novel Leaving Van Gogh, but her documentary television appearances

as well. Carol is the co-author with Gail McCall of the New York Times bestseller

to marry an English Lord, which served as an inspiration for Julian Fellow's beloved series,

Downton Abbey. Carol is truly the go-to source for all things gilded age, and now she takes us

intimately into this world of politics, emotional, social, and economic.

With her brand new novel, Carol, I am so honored to have you join me. You know, I'm your number one fan.

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