Southampton - On Friday, August 19, 2011 award-winning British television producer, poetry curator and best-selling novelist Daisy Goodwin had a book signing at BookHampton in Southampton for her debut book "The American Heiress," which debuted on the New York Times Bestseller list in July. "The American Heiress" is the story of Cora Cash, an American heiress who marries an English duke at the end of the 19th century.

It took Goodwin about three years to write "The American Heiress" and her research included reading a lot of late 19th century books and letters. The more she read, the more fascinated she became and even went as far as trying on the same sort of corset, which Cash would have worn.

While doing her research Goodwin found it interesting how in England it was all about class and in America it was about race. The British looked down at people who were not born into an aristocratic family and Cash would have been looked down upon even though she was more educated than them, dressed better and acted more aristocratic than them, she was not born into the right family. As women got older they became more powerful. Society was not about youth, it was about matriarchy.

Another fact she was intrigued by was how common affairs were in England during the 19th century. It was common for people who had country homes to spend hours trying to arrange it so men could be next to their mistress and the mistress's husband would be in the other wing of the house. At half past five a bell would ring so those who were having an affair would know when they had to get back to their room, so they were not caught. American women who immigrated to England to find a husband were often horrified by how immoral their husband was.

The British were furious because the Americans would come to England and marry one of their most eligible bachelors. Cash's mother moves them to England for that purpose. Her mother was a social climber who wanted her daughter to marry into aristocracy. When the Cash family moved to England they saw how everything was brand new, no expense was spared. Mrs. Cash was willing to sacrifice almost anything to marry her daughter into aristocracy.

Heiresses like Cora were the celebrities of their time. They were gossiped and written about all the time and the heiresses staffs were normally on the newspapers payroll. At the end of the 19th century when heiresses got married it was a big deal and would have been like a royal wedding.

When Goodwin was asked if she would want to be like Cash, she replied "I kind of like the idea of changing seven times a day and to be able to go wherever I want but would not want to be constantly watched." She stated "American women who came to England to marry aristocracy were incredibly brave. They left their plush lives in America where they had heat and running water to move up in their social standing."

"American Heiress" is available at BookHampton and online at Goodwin's website.