Library Journal - Audio
06/01/2022
Sculptor, poet, and novelist Chase-Riboud (Hottentot Venus) creates a fictional biography of Hannah Elias, a sex worker who passed as a white Cuban and became one of the richest Black women in America during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A murder unravels Hannah's hard-built and lavish life and becomes the center of a scandalous, high-profile case. The novel's landscape includes references to J. P. Morgan and Belle de Costa Greene. Award-winning narrator Robin Miles employs deft accents, has a smooth narrative style for descriptions, and even sings in a haunting yet lyrical manner. She brings Hannah alive with an expressive quality that makes listeners care about Hannah and her tumultuous past, including a childhood rape and a false imprisonment. VERDICT Recommended for those who enjoy New York history and strong narrator skills. Racist language is employed against the main character in the novel.—David Faucheux
MARCH 2022 - AudioFile
Maybe Hannah Elias is not the ideal subject for a school Black history report, but she was a remarkable Black woman who became a millionaire during America's Gilded Age. Hannah's story is told by Golden Voice narrator Robin Miles. After a horrific childhood, Hannah worked in brothels in Philadelphia and New York and then re-created herself as a grand courtesan who used not only her body but also her business acumen to become as wealthy as many of the high-society men around her. A lot happens in this work of historical fiction, including Hannah's notorious extortion trial. This audiobook is crammed with details, some extraneous, and there are countless characters, all expertly depicted by Miles. Her skill at creating accents and speech patterns is outstanding. Listeners will be intrigued. D.L.G. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
From the Publisher
There's a temptation to think that a life like Hannah Bessie Elias's writes itself. She was born poor, pretty and so light skinned she could (and eventually would sometimes) pass for White, in an era when Black people were figuring out how to live free in a post-Civil War America. And she rose to become one of the wealthiest Black women of her day, leveraging her earnings as a sex worker to make wise real estate investments. Sex (!), race, gender, and class are all separate lenses, the author could have chosen to filter Elias's story through, and any of them would have been powerful. But in her riveting novelization of this fascinating historic figure, Chase-Riboud chooses to widen the aperture and let all the darkness and light in. The result is a stunning portrait, developed with artistry, compassion and depth, of a woman and a society you don't want to stop staring at—one that offers a new revelation every time you look.” — Nana Brew-Hammond, author of Powder Necklace
“Peppered with such historical figures as Lillian Russell, Granville Woods, and J.P. Morgan, and enlivened with a showstopping courtroom debacle, Chase-Riboud's biographical novel is a randy, rollicking tour of Gilded Age excess, racism, and misogyny.” — Booklist (starred review)
“In all her writing, Barbara Chase-Riboud displays an extraordinary talent for reclaiming history, passionately bringing to life characters in scenarios that readers will never forget.” — Margaret Busby, editor of New Daughters of Africa
“Hannah Elias—one of Barbara Chase-Riboud’s five historical but invisible women of color—emerges from this page-turning novel with a burning ambition propelling her from oblivion to capitalist-level wealth. Chase-Riboud dresses every single character meticulously, practically endowing clothing its own rewarding role in this intriguing novel.” — Nell Painter, author of Old in Art School: A Memoir of Starting Over
"The Great Mrs. Elias is an entertaining, thoughtful and craftful novel that captures the reader from the first page. Barbara Chase-Riboud once again has penned a masterpiece that will enlighten and embrace the imagination of readers throughout the ages and throughout the world." — Zane, author of New York Times bestseller Addicted
“Chase-Riboud shines a literary floodlight on Hannah Elias, one of the richest Black women we never heard of, until now. Whispered secrets, historic intrigue, dashing characters, intimate details and opulent language all converge masterfully. This book’s pages demand to be breathlessly turned until the end.” — Tricia Elam Walker, author of Nana Akua Goes to School
“Barbara Chase-Riboud, the preeminent practitioner of African-American historical fiction, closes a sextet of novels based on invisible black women stronger than she began, and she began with Sally Hemmings. Love, murder, race, class, and memory collide in a mesmerizing swirl of licit and illicit desire that was old New York in the age of the robber barons across the pages of The Great Mrs. Elias. This is a delicious read that lives in profound conversation with Wharton's House of Mirth, Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, and the earlier titles in this provocative series.” — Alice Randall, author of Black Bottom Saints
“A 'pièce de résistance' of Gilded Age storytelling.” — History Novel Society
History Novel Society
A 'pièce de résistance' of Gilded Age storytelling.
Alice Randall
Barbara Chase-Riboud, the preeminent practitioner of African-American historical fiction, closes a sextet of novels based on invisible black women stronger than she began, and she began with Sally Hemmings. Love, murder, race, class, and memory collide in a mesmerizing swirl of licit and illicit desire that was old New York in the age of the robber barons across the pages of The Great Mrs. Elias. This is a delicious read that lives in profound conversation with Wharton's House of Mirth, Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, and the earlier titles in this provocative series.”
Nell Painter
Hannah Elias—one of Barbara Chase-Riboud’s five historical but invisible women of color—emerges from this page-turning novel with a burning ambition propelling her from oblivion to capitalist-level wealth. Chase-Riboud dresses every single character meticulously, practically endowing clothing its own rewarding role in this intriguing novel.”
Tricia Elam Walker
Chase-Riboud shines a literary floodlight on Hannah Elias, one of the richest Black women we never heard of, until now. Whispered secrets, historic intrigue, dashing characters, intimate details and opulent language all converge masterfully. This book’s pages demand to be breathlessly turned until the end.
Booklist (starred review)
Peppered with such historical figures as Lillian Russell, Granville Woods, and J.P. Morgan, and enlivened with a showstopping courtroom debacle, Chase-Riboud's biographical novel is a randy, rollicking tour of Gilded Age excess, racism, and misogyny.
Margaret Busby
In all her writing, Barbara Chase-Riboud displays an extraordinary talent for reclaiming history, passionately bringing to life characters in scenarios that readers will never forget.”
Nana Brew-Hammond
There's a temptation to think that a life like Hannah Bessie Elias's writes itself. She was born poor, pretty and so light skinned she could (and eventually would sometimes) pass for White, in an era when Black people were figuring out how to live free in a post-Civil War America. And she rose to become one of the wealthiest Black women of her day, leveraging her earnings as a sex worker to make wise real estate investments. Sex (!), race, gender, and class are all separate lenses, the author could have chosen to filter Elias's story through, and any of them would have been powerful. But in her riveting novelization of this fascinating historic figure, Chase-Riboud chooses to widen the aperture and let all the darkness and light in. The result is a stunning portrait, developed with artistry, compassion and depth, of a woman and a society you don't want to stop staring at—one that offers a new revelation every time you look.”
author of New York Times bestseller Addicted Zane
"The Great Mrs. Elias is an entertaining, thoughtful and craftful novel that captures the reader from the first page. Barbara Chase-Riboud once again has penned a masterpiece that will enlighten and embrace the imagination of readers throughout the ages and throughout the world."
Library Journal
12/01/2020
In early 1900s New York, light-skinned Hannah Elias passes for southern European, brilliantly invests the alimony she receives after divorcing her white husband, and ends up with a fortune and an Upper West Side mansion. Then the police barge in with questions after one of Hannah's old lovers is murdered. Celebrated sculptor/novelist/poet Chase-Riboud reimagines the life of one of America's richest Black women; with a 60,000-copy first printing.
MARCH 2022 - AudioFile
Maybe Hannah Elias is not the ideal subject for a school Black history report, but she was a remarkable Black woman who became a millionaire during America's Gilded Age. Hannah's story is told by Golden Voice narrator Robin Miles. After a horrific childhood, Hannah worked in brothels in Philadelphia and New York and then re-created herself as a grand courtesan who used not only her body but also her business acumen to become as wealthy as many of the high-society men around her. A lot happens in this work of historical fiction, including Hannah's notorious extortion trial. This audiobook is crammed with details, some extraneous, and there are countless characters, all expertly depicted by Miles. Her skill at creating accents and speech patterns is outstanding. Listeners will be intrigued. D.L.G. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
