The Great Mrs. Elias: A Novel

Written by Barbara Chase-Riboud

Narrated by Robin Miles

The author of the award-winning Sally Hemings now brings to life Hannah Elias, one of the richest black women in America in the early 1900s, in this mesmerizing novel swirling with atmosphere and steeped in history.

A murder and a case of mistaken identity brings the police to Hannah Elias’ glitzy, five-story, twenty-room mansion on Central Park West. This is the  beginning of an odyssey that moves back and forth in time and reveals the dangerous secrets of a mysterious woman, the fortune she built, and her precipitous fall.

Born in Philadelphia in the late 1800s, Hannah Elias has done things she’s not proud of to survive. Shedding her past, Hannah slips on a new identity before relocating to New York City to become as rich as a robber baron.  Hannah quietly invests in the stock market, growing her fortune with the help of businessmen. As the money pours in, Hannah hides her millions across 29 banks. Finally attaining the life she’s always dreamed, she buys a mansion on the Upper West Side and decorates it in gold and first-rate décor, inspired by her idol Cleopatra.

The unsolved murder turns Hannah’s world upside-down and threatens to destroy everything she’s built. When the truth of her identity is uncovered, thousands of protestors gather in front of her stately home. Hounded by the salacious press, the very private Mrs. Elias finds herself alone, ensnared in a scandalous trial, and accused of stealing her fortune from whites.

Packed with glamour, suspense, and drama, populated with real-life luminaries from the period, The Great Mrs. Elias brings a fascinating woman and the age she embodied to glorious, tragic life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Feb 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9780063020030

Barbara Chase-Riboud

Barbara Chase-Riboud is the bestselling author one biography and six historical novels, including the internationally celebrated Sally Hemings. A distinguished poet who has published three collections, she won the Carl Sandburg Poetry Prize for Best American Poet for her second collection, Portrait of a Nude Women as Cleopatra, and her first collection, Memphis & Peking was edited by Toni Morrison and released to critical acclaim. She is also a celebrated artist, and the recipient of many fellowships and prizes. She was the first African American graduate of the School of Design and Architecture at Yale University in 1960, and received a knighthood in Arts and Letters from the French government in 1996. She lives in Paris, Rome, and New York.

Reviews for The Great Mrs. Elias

[Linda Ivey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow, what an intriguing woman. She was brutalized several times and when life fed her lemons instead of falling apart Bessie’s/Hannah made lemonade. I realize there is a message about women’s suffrage given the time period and obvious racism against all people of color, who am I kidding any folks but white but the arrogance of some her suitors, judgement from her common law husband, disgust from her twin brother, her mother etc., the list just goes on and on made me sneer all the way through the book. I have to remember the times. Excellent tale. I really am going to read the other books written by this author

[wagner5sarah35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An intriguing novel that challenged my preconceptions from the first page (which includes a very unexpected murder). At times, I wondered if I was reading a novel or a history of a time that is vividly recreated on the page. For mystery fans, I would highly recommend this book.