Start Here · 12 November 2026
Who Is Astoria Bane?
Society wants a name, a house and an income. We can offer what she writes, which is more revealing.
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The Bane of Society
Notes from behind the drawing-room door
Society gossip from New York and Newport in 1911, the real history behind it, and reading guides for dark historical romance, from the world of Astoria Bane’s The Wreckage Between Us.
Start here
Start Here · 13 November 2026
The History Behind The Devil's Asking Price
Every date in it falls on the right day of the week.
Read more →Reading guides
Reading Guides · 13 November 2026
What Is Dark Historical Romance?
The plain answer, the longer answer, and how dark is too dark.
Read more →Reading Guides · 13 November 2026
6 Dark Historical Romances With Villain Heroes
Some readers want a hero who reforms. This list is for the other readers.
Read more →The real rules · history behind the books
The Real Rules · 13 November 2026
Below Stairs on Fifth Avenue
Every great house ran on two staircases. This is the one the family never used.
Read more →The Real Rules · 13 November 2026
Arranged Marriage in the Gilded Age
Somebody always paid for these weddings, and it was not usually the groom.
Read more →From the column · read in order
No. 1 · Saturday, March 11, 1911
A Season Begun in Black
Society buries a shipping man, and every mother in New York begins her arithmetic.
Read the column →No. 2 · Monday, April 10, 1911
The Dashwood Ball
The Ainsley heir comes to a ball in mourning, goes out onto the terrace, and comes back laughing.
Read the column →No. 3 · Friday, April 14, 1911
A Corner Turned on West 54th Street
A gentleman in mourning leaves exactly one card in New York, and Society decides whom it was for.
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