Alexandra Lebenthal is the socially prominent President and CEO of Lebenthal & Co, and its wealth management division, Alexandra & James Inc. Her father is Jim Lebenthal, who made his name in municipal bonds. She also serves as a board member of the School of American Ballet and is involved with several other leading New York cultural institutions including The Business Council of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Capital Campaign for the Museum of the City of New York, the American Museum of Natural History, and the New York Botanical Garden.

In a tale ripped from the headlines, a group of rich and powerful New Yorkers suddenly discover that not even they are recession-proof when their perfect Upper East Side lives get turned upside down by the economic collapse. It's the day after Labor Day, 2008, and the bottom is about the drop out of the economy. Hedge fund owner John Cutter is in the process of an ugly divorce and nearly in financial ruin, except for the assets he is hiding from his wife Mimi in the Cayman Island. When he concocts a scheme to redeem himself, he enlists Lehman Brothers investment banker Blake Somerset as an accomplice. Blake is ripe for recruitment given that he too is on the verge of being in dire financial straits given Lehman's decline and imminent bankruptcy. Blake's socialite wife Grigsby is barely aware of her changing world to begin with, and has no idea of the perilous situation her husband is about to enter into. As autumn unfolds, Grigsby's fairytale life starts to unwind. Meanwhile, John and Blake's scheme comes to light when street-smart Renee Parker begins her new position as John's executive assistant. Convinced something is amiss, she enlists her friend Sasha Silver, CEO of Silver Partners, to help her decipher what is happening. This story of expulsion from a modern-day Garden of Eden captures what happens when economic decline spells ruin for Manhattan's pampered elite.