The Gilded Age was not so gilded. In The Scandalous Case of Edith Van Eyes, a work of historical fiction by Beck Jones, New York City is plagued by graft, greed, and corruption—a city reeling under a landscape shaped by Blackwell’s Island Asylum, where “hysterical” wives and mistresses were routinely committed by the men in their lives; back-alley abortionists; “alienists” (psychiatrists) who held low opinions of women; and pervasive political graft and corruption.

Jones weaves these machinations compellingly and creatively throughout the storyline, using her seemingly docile protagonist, Edith Van Eyes—the wife of a minister aspiring to a social and political “ascendancy” built on duplicity and deceit—as the foil. This is the world of Victoria Woodhull, Anthony Comstock, and William “Boss” Tweed, among others. In this tightly constructed and highly readable portrait of a New York City long past, readers may find themselves struck by an eerie déjà vu—a striking resemblance to political events today—with an added twist at the end. A highly provocative and enjoyable read.