Helen Wilcox has one desire: to successfully launch her daughters into society. From the upper crust herself, Helen's unconventional - if happy - marriage has made the girls' social position precarious. Then her husband gambles the family fortunes on an elevated railroad that he claims will transform the face of the city and the way the people of New York live, but will it ruin the Wilcoxes first? As daughters Jemima and Alice navigate the rise and fall of their family - each is forced to re-examine who she is, and even who she is meant to love.