The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Fowler, Therese Ann. A Well-Behaved Woman. St. Martin's Press, 2019.

Alva is a young woman in New York City, originally from a wealthy, though now poorer, Southern family. After the Civil War, she moves to New York and takes care of her three younger sisters while lamenting their lack of marriage prospects and their father’s poor health. She resolves to marry well in order to provide for the rest of them. Alva and her best friend, Consuelo Yznaga, attend many balls together where they search for husbands. Alva meets William Vanderbilt and they talk before he proposes marriage. Alva enjoys spending time with William’s family, and she plans to marry him later in the year.

Alva’s family is close to starvation before she marries William, but she manages to persevere until the wedding. William gives Alva a sizeable amount of money to purchase her wedding dress with and clothe her sisters. After the wedding, William and Alva move into a home together and Alva’s father passes. She is content that her financial status is secure and she can take care of her remaining family.

Consuelo marries an English gentleman and moves to London. Alva is pregnant and William is so excited that they will have children soon. William’s grandfather dies and William inherits a huge sum of money. Alva begins actively doing charity work while William travels away from home for long stretches of time. Alva gives birth to her daughter that she names Consuelo after her friend.

Alva has another child, a son she names after William. She has been spending time with one of William’s friends, Oliver Belmont, and worries that she is developing romantic feelings for him. She assures herself that she is just in need of a distraction, and vows not to act on her feelings. Alva plans to build a large and luxurious Vanderbilt mansion in the city, thoroughly researching her plans. William is slightly upset with Alva’s lack of womanly desires to stay only in the home, but he comes around and pledges to pay for her project. Alva and Oliver continue flirting, but Alva is committed to William.

Alva establishes herself in New York City society by throwing a lavish costume ball. Oliver tells Alva he is in love with her, but she tells him that he cannot share his feelings with her again as they are both married.

Alva and William continue growing their fortune and securing the futures of their children. When Alva receives a letter from Lady C. detailing an affair she had with William during a long stretch of time he spent in England, she is distraught and enraged. She tells him that she knows about his betrayal and asks him for a divorce. William is initially unwilling to grant her request, but she convinces him that he owes her at least that much. After her divorce, Alva is shunned by the other ladies of high society, and she must rebuild her relationship with her children.

Alva throws herself into planning an appropriate marriage for Consuelo, pushing her to abandon her childhood fancy for one of William’s friends much older than her. She eventually marries another man, a Duke, and has children with him. Consuelo marries Oliver when they confess their long-held love for each other. He dies after a surgery complication, and Alva devotes herself to solving social causes.