Imaginary Brightness — Sheila Myers

This first novel in a trilogy is set in the 1870s, the dawn of the Gilded Age, while the American economy is reeling from over-speculation in railroads. Imaginary Brightness is about the Durant family and tells the story of William West Durant and his sister Ella, the children of the powerful American industrialist and railroad tycoon Dr. Thomas C. Durant. William and Ella find their fortunes and reputations threatened by their father's questionable business dealings as head of the Union Pacific Railroad. As the family's finances teeter on the brink of bankruptcy, both brother and sister are whisked from their privileged lifestyle in high society London to the untamed Adirondack forests. It is in this wilderness landscape that the tension between passion and propriety, their future and their family, turn their worlds upside down. Imaginary Brightness explores the early conquest of the great north woods, eavesdrops on America's robber barons from the supper clubs of Manhattan, and unravels the mystery of William West Durant's secret passions and conflicting loyalties.