Caleb Conover, Railroader

Caleb Conover built an empire with his bare hands. Railroads, politics, power. Now he's hosting the most elaborate reception of the season in his sprawling mansion, and every important name in society has come to see him, or more accurately, to see the man he's trying to become. His daughter has just married a prince, and for one glittering night, Caleb Conover will stand among the elite as their equal. But as the guests arrive and the champagne flows, the old tensions of class and wealth begin to surface. Clive Standish, a polished political adversary, moves through the crowds with calculated intent. Caleb finds himself caught between the man he was and the man he pretends to be, between the rough honesty that made him and the refined pretense that might finally accept him. The novel crackles with the anxieties of new money confronting old prestige, of self-made men measuring themselves against inherited dynasties.