Love, Fiercely: A Gilded Age Romance

Love, Fiercely tells the true story of Edith Minturn and Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes, a New York society couple depicted in John Singer Sargent's painting Mr. and Mrs. I.N. Phelps Stokes. Growing up together on Staten Island among the Astors and Vanderbilts, they inhabited a world of mansions, balls, and European travel. Edith's grandparents built the world's fastest clipper ship, while Newton's family owned much of Murray Hill. Beyond their privileged lives, both became dedicated reformers. Newton preserved New York history and published a six-volume series of Manhattan maps and views. Edith was sculpted by Daniel Chester French for Chicago's Columbian Exposition. Together, they advocated for New York's poor and powerless while maintaining a strong marriage. The biography follows their story from the Berkshires to 1890s Paris, exploring how their love for each other matched their commitment to social reform during the Gilded Age.