The Smart Set: Correspondence & Conversations

In Short

This collection of imaginary letters and dialogue vignettes captures the private motives, petty hypocrisies, and anxieties of Gilded Age high society. Through multi-perspective exchanges, the book tracks wealthy matriarchs arranging marriages, bitter couples negotiating divorces through lawyers, mothers traveling abroad with spoiled children, and bored operagoers gossiping through Wagner performances. Rather than offering a single narrative, it delivers an incisive, satirical portrait of a privileged class. It has lasted as a sharp, atmospheric snapshot of late-nineteenth-century social customs, rendered entirely through the unvarnished voices of its own self-absorbed participants.

The Story

The narrative arc moves through the cycle of fashionable life, beginning with the grand social maneuvers of New York’s elite. Mr. Wm. H. Makeway writes to his brother in Denver, detailing the crushing financial and social burden of his wife’s grand ball, an event thrown to launch their daughter, Helen, into society. While Mr. Makeway laments the loss of simple manners and his wife’s obsession with securing a titled English husband for Helen, Mrs. Makeway writes to her sister, plotting a trip to Europe to secure an engagement with a young Lord and fussing over Paris fashions. Outside perspectives confirm the night’s spectacle: jewels are flaunted, ruined marriages are gossiped about, and legal battles loom in the background.

From the ballroom, the focus shifts to the fracturing of high-society marriages. John Stuart Kennington writes a bitter letter to his wife from Newport, confronting her over her growing detachment during his business trips to New York. In response, Mrs. Kennington coldly instructs her lawyer to demand additional financial compensation, extra properties in New York or Newport, and the retention of her ruby necklace before signing their separation agreement. Meanwhile, in fashionable dancing schools and quiet sitting rooms, the children of these fragmented homes process the wreckage. Young Tom and Claire navigate the awkward mechanics of dancing class while casually discussing their parents’ sequential divorces, while another pair of siblings, Teddy and Elsie, try to comfort each other with stolen cakes as their parents' household collapses.

The narrative broadens to show these wealthy Americans abroad and at play. Mrs. Stanton writes anxious, overbearing letters from Venice upon learning her only son is getting married, desperately trying to mask her panic at being left alone before sending a brief, performative cable of congratulations. Other families trek to European spa towns like Aix-les-Bains, where mothers endure heat and tedious sightseeing strictly to maintain social status. In Bayreuth, operagoers sit through Wagner’s Ring cycle, paying far more attention to the nobility seated in neighboring boxes and the gossip from Homburg than to the stage. At home, hostesses throw "Bohemian dinners" where artists and socialites mix awkwardly, while tourists and regulars clash over minor bets in continental gambling halls.

The arc culminates in a series of sharp disillusionments. Women who built their lives around social alliances find themselves facing legal threats, abandoned courtships, or sudden deaths in foreign rooms. In the end, the glittering surface of the "smart set" collapses into legal notices, newspaper headlines detailing social snubs, and the quiet realization that their frantic pursuit of status yields little genuine comfort.

How It Unfolds

Launching the debutante Parents and guests write contrasting letters about a lavish New York ball, exposing the father's weariness, the mother's frantic push for an English peer, and the attendees' sharp-eyed gossip regarding the family's sudden rise.

Demanding a settlement Following a summer of distance, a husband writes an aggrieved letter from Newport, which his wife immediately answers by directing her lawyer to extract more money, real estate, and jewels before agreeing to a separation.

Schooled in domestic failure Children of wealthy, divorced parents meet at a fashionable New York dancing class, casually comparing their step-parents and the mechanics of buying social entry while waiting for the quadrangle to begin.

A mother’s panic Receiving news of her son’s upcoming marriage while traveling in Venice, a widow writes a lengthy, manic letter detailing her terror of loneliness before immediately sending a hollow, five-word congratulatory telegram.

Distracted at the opera Wealthy patrons occupy expensive boxes at the opera, ignoring the performance to critique each other's dresses, track royal attendees, and exchange rumors regarding illicit affairs at European resorts.

Calculating a Bohemian night A woman writes to a friend after attending a fashionable "Bohemian dinner," dissecting the hostess's forced conversational errors, the uncomfortable mix of guests, and the exact cost of their cab ride home.

The People

• Wm. H. Makeway: A courtly, old-fashioned husband and father who funds his family's grand social ambitions while secretly longing for a quieter life away from high-society maneuvering.
• Mrs. Mary Makeway: Wm.’s ambitious wife, determined to secure a place for her family in the highest circles of New York and Europe by matching her daughter with an English title.
• John Stuart Kennington: A suspicious husband who realizes too late that his wife has used his business trips to distance herself from their marriage.
• Gertrude Corte Kennington: John’s calculating wife, who responds to his emotional confrontation by systematically directing her lawyers to claim more properties, funds, and jewels.
• Tom Barnes & Claire Worthing: Young children enrolled in a fashionable dancing class, forced to navigate the social webs created by their parents' crisscrossed divorces and remarriages.
• Mrs. Stanton: A smothering, widowed mother traveling in Italy, who reacts to her son's engagement with deep possessiveness and hidden tears before putting on a public face of joy.
• Mrs. Westington: A New York hostess who attempts to appear culturally sophisticated by hosting mixed "Bohemian" dinners, ultimately boring her guests and servants alike.

In Its Own Voice

"Young men's manners nowadays are becoming atrocious, and I'm sorry to say I think they get them from England. The first thing one knows the only gentlemen left in America will be the women."

Mr. Makeway dryly observes the shifting social standards among the young men attending his wife's extravagant ball.

"I won't tell a falsehood and say I am glad you are going to be married now. Forgive me, dear, forgive me; but in my heart there is still the same cry--'Not yet! not yet!'"

Mrs. Stanton writes to her only son from Venice, failing to hide her possessive panic over his impending wedding.

"The Rheingold is the least sociable of the operas, as there is no entre-act. But it is fortunately a great deal the shortest."

A fashionable opera-goer evaluates Wagner's masterpiece purely based on how much time it allows for inter-box socializing.

What It's Really About

The book examines the shallow transactionality of high-society relationships, where marriage, entertainment, and even grief are managed like business deals. It critiques an American upper class obsessed with imported European titles, performative culture, and display, showing how these pursuits degrade natural human affection. Beneath the witty letters and sharp dialogues lies a persistent question: what remains of personal integrity when every private intimacy—from a proposal to a divorce—is tailored for public consumption?

Why Read It Today

This book appeals to readers who enjoy sharp social satire, period comedyA high-society secret is revealed through leaked letters and overheard conversations in this sharp, satiric exposure of turn-of-the-century elites.

In Short

Clyde Fitch’s 1897 volume presents a series of fictional epistolary exchanges and theatrical dialogues dissecting the high-society circles of New York, Newport, and Europe. Through private letters, overheard box-seat chatter, and candid bedroom confessions, the book exposes the domestic friction, financial posturing, social climbing, and romantic deceit hidden beneath Gilded Age glamour. Witty, cynical, and surprisingly intimate, it captures an era's obsession with prestige and money through the unvarnished words of its privileged participants. The work endures as a vivid, biting time capsule of late nineteenth-century social satire written by one of America's premier dramatists.

The Story

The book opens with a multi-perspective look at "The Makeway Ball," a lavish New York social debut engineered to launch young Helen Makeway into high society. Her father, William, laments the staggering cost and the absurd social climbing that forces him to host crowds he despises, while her mother, Mary, scheme behind his back to arrange a titled marriage with a visiting English lord. Amidst the grandeur, guests trade barbs, mock the host’s humble origins, and gossip about imminent divorces, setting the thematic tone for the entire collection.

As the narrative progresses through alternating letters and dynamic scenes, the polished facade of the upper class rapidly fractures. In "The Plaintiff," a suspicious husband abandons his wife in Newport after discovering her emotional infidelity and duplicity, only for her to respond with cold, mercenary demands through her lawyer for additional estates and jewel retainers. Domestic disillusionment extends even to the younger generation in "The Children," where upper-class youth at a dancing school casually trade stories of their parents' divorces, remarriages, and emotional neglect, viewing familial breakdown as a routine matter of course.

The scene shifts across the Atlantic as American elites travel to Europe, pursuing cultural validation that quickly turns to farce. In letters from Aix-les-Bains and Lucerne, mothers complain endlessly about their families ruined vacations, tedious historical sights, and unsatisfactory shopping trips. Meanwhile, letters detailing trips to the Wagner festival in Bayreuth expose shallow concertgoers who treat opera as a backdrop for seating vanity, gossiping about peer scandals, and showing off pearls.

Romantic and financial calculation reach a peak in a sequence of legal notices and letters between former lovers. After a man threatens his ex-fiancée with a lawsuit based on rumors, she sharply rebukes his cowardice and cuts ties, leaving high-society newspapers to broadcast the public humiliation of the elite. The collection concludes in the high-stakes environments of private dining rooms and European casinos, where wealthy women squabble over gambling chips and hypocritically compromise their morals for small payouts. From opening ball to closing bet, the book traces a complete arc of social ambition devolving into moral emptiness.

How It Unfolds

A grand debut William Makeway finances an extravagant New York ball to launch his daughter Helen, while his wife secretly plots to pair the girl with an English lord despite William's strong objections.

Cracks in the foundation Guests at the ball trade malicious gossip about the hosts' lack of lineage, while a woman named Edith learns her high-stakes divorce suit has collapsed due to indisputable counter-proof.

Marital estrangement John Stuart Kennington leaves his wife in Newport after discovering her calculated deception, prompting her to immediately draft cold, mercenary legal demands for houses and valuable jewels.

Playground cynics Privileged children at a New York dancing school casually compare their parents' successive divorces and remarriages, revealing the deep emotional neglect hiding behind their wealthy upbringing.

A summer of discontent A mother takes her family across European resort towns, complaining incessantly about the heat, dull sights, and poor shopping while forcing her children through historical landmarks for appearance's sake.

Cultural pretension Socialites attend the Wagner opera festival in Bayreuth, using the performances merely to check on who holds better box seats and exchange Homburg hotel gossip.

A bitter dismissal After her fiancé sends a lawyer to investigate malicious rumors, Beatrice North fiercely turns the tables, exposing his weak character and breaking the engagement on her own terms.

Dinner and dice A "Bohemian" dinner party hosted by the Westingtons fails to amuse its uncomfortable guests, leading into scenes of wealthy tourists bickering over gold coins around European roulette tables.

The People

William H. Makeway A weary, self-made New York patriarch who wants nothing to do with high-society posturing. He reluctantly pays the astronomical bills for his daughter’s debut ball while preferring his wife's quiet company over elite guests.

Mary Makeway William’s ambitious, social-climbing wife. She orchestrates her daughter's introduction to society, secretly schemes to marry her off to an English title, and relies on phenacetine powders to cope with the exhaustion of maintaining appearances.

Helen Makeway The Makeway debutante. Possessing a perfect figure and her father's calm manners updated by her mother's ambition, she navigates her suitors with quiet independence, determined to do exactly as she pleases.

John Stuart Kennington A heartbroken, naive husband who realizes too late that his business trips were facilitated by his wife to secure her own freedom. He eventually cuts ties and offers a formal settlement.

Gertrude Corte Kennington John's cold, calculating wife. Upon receiving her husband's separation offer, she immediately writes to her lawyer to demand larger payouts, multiple homes in New York and Newport, and her ruby necklace.

Beatrice North A sharp, proud woman accused of misconduct by her fiancé’s legal team. She refuses a private financial settlement, exposes her lover's cowardly nature, and decisively ends the relationship.

In Its Own Voice

"The first thing one knows the only gentlemen left in America will be the women."

William Makeway writes to his brother, expressing his disappointment with the atrocious manners of modern young men in high society.

"To watch this little life, dearer to you than your own, slip, slip away from you in spite of your hands clutching to hold it back, or clasped in prayer to keep it!"

A grieving mother reflects on the tragic loss of her young daughter, contrasting her profound sorrow with the superficial, hollow condolences offered by her social peers.

"I don't know a single thing about the game; do you?"

Mrs. Lane whispers to Mrs. Gording at a casino table, capturing the casual, reckless hypocrisy of wealthy tourists trying their luck at roulette.

What It's Really About

Beneath the quick banter and elegant stationery, the book investigates the corrupting influence of wealth on human intimacy. Fitch exposes a society where relationships are strictly transactional: marriages function as financial mergers, motherly affection is bound up in social status, and grief is managed like a minor inconvenience. The text repeatedly questions the true cost of social mobility, showing how the pursuit of European titles and New York prestige hollows out the domestic sphere. By contrasting the public charm of the "smart set" with their private malice, the book argues that high-society etiquette is merely a thin, artificial polish used to disguise greed, loneliness, and emotional cruelty.

Why Read It Today

This collection offers an exceptionally entertaining treat for lovers of Gilded Age fiction, period satire, and classic drama. Written with a playwright's sharp ear for realistic speech, the book reads like an eavesdropped series of private telephone calls or intercepted text messages, giving it a remarkably modern pace.

While readers should be prepared for late-Victorian social attitudes, casual snobbery, and occasional period-specific references, the core human behaviors—vanity, envy, social climbing, and romantic manipulation—remain instantly recognizable. It feels remarkably immediate, offering the guilty pleasure of looking through someone else's mail combined with brilliant literary craft.

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