Ellen here, and I’m so happy to welcome my friend Alyssa Maxwell, author of the enormously popular Gilded Newport Mysteries. As someone who grew up fascinated with the “cottages” of Newport, Rhode Island and even toured them on family vacays, I loved learning more about the inspiration behind Murder at Rosecliff, the latest edition to Alyssa’s series. And what a cool giveaway! Read on…

The Streets were Paved with Gold

How many of us are the descendants of immigrants who came here in the late 1800s and early twentieth century because they believed, if not that the streets were really paved with gold, that they would find a better life. My grandparents all came from Italy after WWI, when so much of Europe and especially Italy was gripped in a crippling depression. Italian authorities literally went from village to village telling people there was nothing for them there, and they should seek their fortunes in America.  They came expecting to find stable employment and descent places to live and make their homes, not just for themselves, but for their children and their descendants. Tragically many would find the opposite: backbreaking labor for pennies, and cramped rooms in crumbling tenements. But little by little, life did improve, if not for the first generation of immigrants, for the generations that came after them.

So how did these myths about streets pave in gold come to be? Part of the answer is that for some—those who were bold enough, shrewd enough, and yes, in many cases devious enough—the American Dream became a reality. In all of my reading, no member of Society’s Four Hundred—supposedly the number of people who could fit comfortably in Mrs. Astor’s New York ballroom—personified the American Dream more than the father of Theresa Fair Oelrichs, who became one of the richest women in America.

Alyssa at Rosecliff in Newport, Rhode Island

Her father, James Fair, was an Irish immigrant who came to this country with his parents when he was twelve. To make a long story short, he went from being the son of poor farmers in the mid west to one of the richest men in the country by way of the silver mines of Virginia City, Nevada. Boldness, shrewdness, and probably no shortage of deviousness paved the way for his success. He and his partners became known as the Bonanza Kings, and their main source of income, the Comstock Lode, was one of the richest veins of silver ever discovered. Theresa, or Tessie as she was called, was born and spent the first few years of her life in the mining camps of Nevada—rough, gritty places that were as far away from the grandeur of Newport, RI, as one can imagine. But she didn’t stay there long. The family joined wealthy society in San Francisco, but when it came time for Tessie and her sister to marry, they came east to make their debuts in New York and Newport.

When James died, his massive fortune was split between Tessie and her sister Birdie, and a brother. The streets of America might not have been paved with gold, but their lives were certainly lined in silver. It’s stories like this that I believe fueled rumors of the great wealth and convinced countless immigrants to try their luck across the ocean. So, are you the descendant of immigrants who came here looking for the American Dream? I think most of us are. My own grandparents were never wealthy, but they did well enough to ensure their children had stable, happy homes.

Where were your ancestors from? Comment below for a chance to win a copy of Murder at Rosecliff and a set of four coasters featuring four of my book covers.

ABOUT THE BOOK: When a troublemaking party crasher is found dead in a fountain during an elegant soiree in Newport, Rhode Island, newspaper editor Emma Cross Andrews must clear her own society reporter from suspicion of murder…

August 1903. Emma and her husband Derrick are among the men in white tie and tails and the women wearing white gowns from the House of Worth at Tessie Oelrichs’s Bal Blanc, or White Ball, at Rosecliff, her grand cottage on Bellevue Avenue. There to cover the event of the season is young Ethan Merriman, society reporter for the Newport Messenger, the newspaper owned by Emma and Derrick.

It’s an utterly charming affair until a stranger intrudes flaunting a green-striped necktie and matching vest in defiance of their hostess’s theme. But his fashion crime is a mere misdemeanor compared to his intention to blackmail Mrs. Oelrichs by producing a compromising document supposedly signed by Tessie over a decade ago.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Alyssa Maxwell is the author of The Gilded Newport Mysteries and A Lady and Lady’s Maid Mysteries. Growing up in New England and traveling to Great Britain and Ireland fueled a passion for history, while a love of puzzles of all kinds drew her to the mystery genre. She and her husband have make their home in Central California, where she is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and The California Wriers Club. You can learn more about Alyssa and her books, and find her social media links, at www.alyssamaxwell.com.

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