Madeline McKnight, dubbed the Bitch of Wall Street after her spectacular takedown on the Lou Dobbs Show for predicting the dot-com bubble bust, is dying of cancer. As she is no ordinary woman, she deals with her inevitable demise in her own way. This includes three goals that she sets for herself to best use the time she has left-she resolves to settle outstanding debts (which are not all necessarily monetary); give Bri Davis the means to afford a good life and so begin to make reparations to her mother, Madeline's estranged best friend; and open the Hetty Green Museum in New York to honor her turn of the century mentor who was known as the Witch of Wall Street. A tall order in a short period of time.
Bri Davis has had to cope with a mother suffering from phantom pain all her life. Her mom is completely unreliable, to the point where she stole Bri's college tuition as she is trying to complete her nursing degree, using it on liquor and narcotics. As Bri gets further in debt, she can't see her way out of this downward spiral, until she gets a letter from her mom's worst enemy. Madeline Knight, or Aunt Maddie as Bri used to call her godmother, has a proposition:
If Bri would pause her nursing education and help Madeline as she deteriorates from refusing cancer treatment, the compensation package would be extraordinary, with a two-million-dollar bonus for staying till Madeline's death. If Bri accepts the position, she will live with Madeline as a caregiver and also be expected to work on the Hetty Green Museum-it was an offer too good to pass up. As she and her mother haven't spoken for years, her mother’s hatred of Madeline for ruining her financially won’t be a factor in Bri’s acceptance. She travels to a luxurious mountain cabin in the Poconos to begin her job and soon discovers how quirky her new boss will be.
Both Madeline and Hetty were forerunners of women breaking the glass ceiling and achieving fame and riches in the cutthroat world of Wall Street finance. They also both suffered the consequences of being successful women in a man’s world and having to survive the inevitable envy and abuse that goes with bucking the system. The difference is that while Madeline is the main character of this novel, Hetty Green actually did exist in New York and made her fortune predicting stock market trends. Author Brooke should be commended for resurrecting Hetty Green and bringing her the attention she deserves. The reluctant partnership of Madeline and Bri is a refreshing take on female bonding-prickly and difficult is so much more interesting than the sugary sweet relationship used in most women’s novels. For those who like their heroines quirky and real, this novel will be a sad and triumphant character study of a woman used to living life and leaving it on her own terms.
Written by: Donna Ballard
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