All her life, Grace Alcott has followed the proper path, a legacy of her impeccable New England upbringing. As an elite member of Beacon Hill society, she attended all the right schools, socialized with all the right people, and married the right man.

Putting aside her own needs, she became the perfect wife of Bainbridge Alcott, the scion of a prominent North Shore family who dreams of writing the great American novel. In their beautiful Cape Cod home Grace has led a life of quiet domesticity, and for forty years has been a paragon of wifely virtue in the blue-blooded circles in which the Alcotts effortlessly travel. Yet beneath her gracious façade run deep, unrequited sorrows: the tragic death of her firstborn daughter, Sarah; the emotional distance of her two sons; the loss of her own identity in deference to her strong-willed husband. And now, the most shattering blow of all...

This time becomes even more difficult when her husband decides to make momentous changes in their family's life. Soon Grace must sift through the personal detritus of nearly half a century and make choices that, for the first time, will take her beyond being Mrs. Alcott to being a woman who can both hold her family together and assert her own independence.

Once again, Nancy Geary offers an eye-opening glimpse into the rarefied world inhabited by America's aristocracy. The story of a longtime wife and mother embarking on a journey to discover who she is, where she's been, and where she's going, Being Mrs. Alcott captures the pain and ineffable longing lying just beneath the glossy veneer of privilege-and reveals the enduring strength of a woman's love for her family.