A glittering portrait of the golden age of American department stores and of three visionary women who led them, from the award-winning author of THE PLAZA.

The 20th-century American department store: a palace of consumption where women, shopper and shopgirl alike, could stake out a newfound independence. Whether in New York, Chicago or on Main Street, USA, men owned the buildings, but inside, women ruled.

In this hothouse atmosphere, three women rose to the top. In the 1930s, Hortense Odlum of Bonwit Teller came to her husband's department store as a housewife and wound up running the company. Dorothy Shaver of Lord & Taylor championed American designers during World War II --- before which US fashions were almost exclusively Parisian copies --- becoming the first businesswoman to earn a $1 million salary. And in the 1960s, Geraldine Stutz of Henri Bendel reinvented the look of the modern department store and inspired a devoted following of ultra-chic shoppers, as well as decades of copycats.

Journalist Julie Satow draws back the curtain on three visionaries in this stylish account, rich with personal drama and trade secrets, and showcases the women who made that beautifully curated world go round.

Audiobook available, read by Karen Murray