In late-nineteenth-century Chicago, visionary retail tycoon Marshall Field made his fortune wooing women customers with his famous motto: “Give the lady what she wants.” His legendary charm also won the heart of socialite Delia Spencer and led to an infamous love affair.

The night of the Great Fire, as seventeen-year-old Delia watches the flames rise and consume what was the pioneer town of Chicago, she can’t imagine how much her life, her city, and her whole world are about to change. Nor can she guess that the agent of that change will not simply be the fire, but more so the man she meets that night…

Leading the way in rebuilding after the fire, Marshall Field reopens his well-known dry goods store and transforms it into something the world has never seen before: a glamorous palace of a department store. He and his powerhouse coterie—including Potter Palmer and George Pullman—usher in the age of robber barons, the American royalty of their generation.

But behind the opulence, their private lives are riddled with scandal and heartbreak. Delia and Marshall first turn to each other out of loneliness, but as their love deepens, they will stand together despite disgrace and ostracism, through an age of devastation and opportunity, when an adolescent Chicago is transformed into the gleaming White City of the Chicago’s World’s Fair of 1893.

“Set on an epic historical stage, What the Lady Wants contains all of the hedonism, decadence, success, and tragedy of the great American novel.”

Erika Robuck National bestselling author of Hemingway’s Girl
Erika Robuck

What the Lady Wants is a story that opens with the Great Chicago Fire and keeps on smoldering to the end…”

Suzanne Rindell Author of The Other Typist
Suzanne Rindell

What the Lady Wants is an absolutely brilliant novel. The love story of Marshall and Delia is completely engrossing. … Rosen has clearly done her research…”

 The Examiner

“Set against the backdrop of the great Chicago fire… this historical novel has all the requisite features of an irresistible page-turner.”

 Booklist

“What the Lady Wants is superb historical fiction… Exquisitely written!”

 The Best Reviews

Subscribe to Renée Rosen’s Newsletter.

 Join Renee’s Mailing list to receive the latest news and updates.

You have Successfully Subscribed!