The Gilded Cage by Judy Alter - Spotlight - Cover Reveal

The Gilded Cage by Judy Alter

Publication: April 2016 eBook & Paperback Genre: Historical Fiction Born to a society and a life of privilege, Bertha Honoré married Potter Palmer, a wealthy entrepreneur who called her Cissy. Neither dreamed the direction the other’s life would take. He built the Palmer House Hotel, still famed today, and become one of the major robber barons of the city, giving generously to causes of which he approved. She put philanthropy into deeds, going into shanty neighborhoods, inviting factory girls to her home, working at Jane Addams’ settlement Hull House, supporting women’s causes. It was a time of tremendous change and conflict in Chicago as the city struggled to put its swamp-water beginnings behind it and become a leading urban center. A time of the Great Fire of 1871, the Haymarket Riots, and the triumph of the Columbian Exposition. Potter and Cissy handled these events in diverse ways. Fascinating characters people these pages along with Potter and Cissy—Carter Harrison, frequent mayor of the city; Harry Collins, determined to be a loser; Henry Honoré, torn between loyalties to the South and North; Daniel Burnham, architect of the new Chicago—and many others. The Gilded Cage is a fictional exploration of the lives of these people and of the Gilded Age in Chicago history.

"The Gilded Cage is a wonderful recreation of early Chicago and the people who made it what it is. Central character Cissy Palmer is a three-dimensional, real, vibrant person. The Gilded Cage is fiction, but firmly based on fact—the Chicago Fire, the prisoners from the War Between the States interred in Chicago, the newcomer Potter Palmer, the explosive growth of wealth in a prairie town, deep poverty adjacent to great riches—the American experience laid bare. You don’t have to be a Chicagoan to love this book." -Barbara D’Amato, author of Other Eyes

About the Author

Judy Alter is the award winning author of fiction for adults and young adults. Other historical fiction includes Libbie, the story of Elizabeth Bacon (Mrs. George Armstrong) Custer; Jessie, the story of Jessie Benton Frémont and her explorer / miner / entrepreneur / soldier / politician husband; Cherokee Rose, a novel loosely based on the life of the first cowgirl roper to ride in Wild West shows; and Sundance, Butch and Me, the adventures of Etta Place and the Hole in the Wall Gang. For more information visit Judy Alter's website. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Goodreads.

Cover Reveal Schedule

Monday, February 15 Passages to the Past
Tuesday, February 16 The Never-Ending Book
Wednesday, February 17 The Reading Queen
Thursday, February 18 Book Nerd
Friday, February 19 A Book Geek
Saturday, February 20 With Her Nose Stuck In A Book
Monday, February 22 The Maiden's Court To Read, Or Not to Read
Tuesday, February 23 Eclectic Ramblings of Author Heather Osborne
Wednesday, February 24 100 Pages a Day
Thursday, February 25 Reading Is My SuperPower
Monday, February 29 A Holland Reads
Wednesday, March 2 CelticLady's Reviews A Literary Vacation
Thursday, March 3 She is Too Fond of Books
Friday, March 4 I Heart Reading