They could have been allies: two self-made millionaires who invented a global industry, in an era when wife and mother were supposed to be the highest goals for their sex. Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein each founded empires built on grit and determination...and yet they became locked in a feud spanning three continents, two world wars, and the Great Depression. Brought up in poverty, Canadian-born Elizabeth Arden changed popular opinion, persuading...

"Mrs. Post, the President and First Lady are here to see you. . . . So begins another average evening for Marjorie Merriweather Post. Presidents have come and gone, but she has hosted them all. Growing up in the modest farmlands of Battle Creek, Michigan, Marjorie was inspired by a few simple rules--always think for yourself, never take success for granted, and work hard--even when deemed American royalty, even while covered in imperial diamonds....

When Christabel runs across her cousin Charles while vacationing in Damascus, he mentions their ancient Great Aunt Harriet, who lives cloistered in Dar Ibrahim, a palace atop a hill in Lebanon's Adonis Valley. On a whim, she decides to meet this legendary relative of hers, a Grand Dame replete with young male retinue and secret seraglio. Though her family has told of her aunt's many eccentricities, Christabel is unprepared for what lurks behind Dar...

A "novel about love, passion, and ambition that imagines the muse of William Shakespeare and the tumultuous year they spend together"--Amazon.com.