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Loading... Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortuneby Bill Dedman, Paul Clark Newell, Jr.
  
No current Talk conversations about this book.  DemFen | Oct 31, 2024 |    ) cspiwak | Mar 6, 2024 |  ) cfulton20 | Nov 13, 2023 | ) secondhandrose | Oct 31, 2023 | She eventually ended up living in a hospital for 20 years. Why? I believe that one would have had to know her to figure that out. This book was fascinating. (  ) JReynolds1959 | Feb 25, 2023 | no reviews | add a review
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"When Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bill Dedman noticed a property listing for a grand estate that had been unoccupied for nearly sixty years, he stumbled into one of the most surprising American stories of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Empty Mansions is a rich tale of wealth and loss, complete with copper barons, Gilded Age opulence, and backdoor politics. At its heart is a reclusive 104-year-old heiress named Huguette Clark. Dedman has collaborated with Huguette's cousin, Paul Clark Newell, Jr., one of the few relatives to have had frequent conversations with her, to tell a fairy tale in reverse: the bright, talented daughter who is born into an almost royal family of amazing wealth and privilege, yet who secrets herself away from the outside world. Empty Mansions reveals a complete picture of the enigmatic Huguette Clark, heiress to one of the greatest fortunes in American history, a woman who had not been photographed in public since the 1920s. Though she owned three palatial homes in California, New York, and Connecticut, they sat vacant while she lived out her final two decades in a New York City hospital room, despite being in excellent health. Her father was self-made copper industrialist W. A. Clark, who at the dawn of the twentieth century was one of the richest men in America. Huguette's inheritance afforded her untold luxury: gorgeous paintings by Degas and Renoir, a world-renowned Stradivarius violin, a vast collection of antique dolls, lavish gifts for her friends, the freedom to pursue her own work as an artist, and, most important, the privacy she valued above all else. The Clark family story takes the reader nearly the entire span of American history in just three generations. The same Huguette who held a ticket for the return trip of the Titanic was touched by the terror attacks of 9/11. In this scrupulously detailed account, we meet Huguette's extravagant father, her publicity-shy mother, her star-crossed sister, her noble French boyfriend, the nurse who received more than $30 million in gifts, and the relatives seeking to inherit Huguette's $300 million fortune. Richly illustrated with more than seventy photographs, some never before seen, Empty Mansions is a touching story of an eccentric of the highest order, a last jewel of the Gilded Age who lived life on her own terms"-- No library descriptions found. |
LibraryThing Early Reviewers AlumBill Dedman's book Empty Mansions was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.  Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)328.73Social sciences Political science The legislative process North America United StatesLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.79)
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Wikipedia in English (6)
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Having recently watched the series on TV "The Men who Build America" ( Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Morgan) I was delighted when I received this book on W.A Clark and his family who were major players in copper mining and other industries during the 1880s to 1930s. I really enjoy books of this nature and Empty Mansions proved to be right up my street.
When the author noticed in 2009 a mansion for sale which was unoccupied for nearly sixty years he became curious and he did some research and found a surprising portal into American History. This book is a fascinating account of mystery, wealth, loss and finally to a twenty first century battle over an estate worth $300 Million. Huguette Clark is the lonely reclusive figure at the heart of this story who lived as a reclusive figure in a hospital room in New York for 30 years until her death in 2011.
I loved everything about this book, the historical account of W. A Clark and the building of his empire was so interesting and very well researched. I loved the photographs in the book and found myself stopping throughout this book to Google places and stories. I was sad and at times aghast at the wealth and opulence of the Clark Family. I was shocked at the vast sums of money Huguette paid out to hospitals, carers and friends in order to live the life of privacy that she chooses.
Huguette's story is a bizarre but fascinating one and I really enjoyed this book from start to finish.
Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read this book in return for an unbiased review.
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