However, we also see a less decorous side of her personality, one that is both spoiled and self-centered. On the one hand, Fowler portrays Alva's enormous inner strength and intelligence, as well as grace and generosity that make her a force to be reckoned with and admired.
Once that happens, the story moves steadily forward, giving us a portrait of a very determined woman, with whom the author appears to have a certain love-hate relationship.
Vanderbilt's eye, and get him to propose to her. Therese Anne Fowler begins her novel with Alva trying to catch William K. Alva was the person who changed all of that (see Beyond the Book).
The marriage was a political one despite Alva's family's relative penury, they had enough social cachet to be considered worthy of the higher echelons of society, whereas the Vanderbilts, despite their enormous wealth, were considered nouveau riche and unworthy of high society. The full title of A Well-Behaved Woman includes the subtitle A Novel of the Vanderbilts which is mostly accurate, but in truth this story is more specifically about Alva Erskine Smith, who married into the Vanderbilt family to save herself and her sisters from their family's failing fortunes. Vanderbilt may have solved Alva Smith's financial problems, but it was her own tenacity that gained her and this wealthy family recognition in society.
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