The first American heiresses took Britain by storm in 1816, two generations before the great late Victorian beauties. Marianne, Louisa, Emily and Bess Caton were descended from the first settlers in Maryland, and brought up in Baltimore by their grandfather Charles Carroll, one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence.

First published in Great Britain in 2010 by Chatto & Windus.

Maps -- The sisters' North America -- Maryland -- The Carroll Family Tree -- Prologue -- A Revolutionary heritage -- Miss Carroll's choice -- Plantation girls -- French influences -- Republican girls -- The Patterson connection -- Debutantes -- In Washington City -- The War of 1812 -- Emily's Canadian adventure -- Family troubles -- Mad about Europe -- In London society -- Anglo-American differences -- "We are all for Americans very well" -- Dancing in Paris -- Louisa in love -- Marianne and the Duke -- Emily's return -- Unfulfilled hopes -- "Plunged in sorrow" -- Afflicting circumstances -- Marianne's return -- His delinquency -- The Lady Lieutenant -- Uncertain futures -- Perplexing positions: Marianne -- Louisa -- Petticoat politics -- The Reform Bill -- The last signer -- A longed-for reunion -- Lady speculators -- Plantagenet -- Well housed -- "To be together" -- "The desolate state of age.".