Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: The Story of a Daughter and a Mother in the Gilded Age
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.26 (553 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0060938250 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 640 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-11-30 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Her father soon started to spend the family fortune, enthusiastically supported by Consuelo's mother, Alva, who was determined to take the family to the top of New York society—forcing a heartbroken Consuelo into a marriage she did not want with the underfunded Duke of Marlborough. But the story of Consuelo and Alva is more than a tale of enterprising social ambition, Gilded Age glamour, and the emptiness of wealth. When Consuelo Vanderbilt's grandfather died, he was the richest man in America. It is a fascinating account of two extraordinary women who struggled to break free from the world into which they were born—a world of materialistic concerns and shallow elitism in which females were voiceless and powerless—and of their lifelong dedication to noble and dangerous causes and the battle for women's rights.
"A Good Tale" according to S. Herlihy. This is one narrative that captures the reader's attention from start to finish. While the reader might wish for a bit more exploration of the period, both women emerge from the book as fully realized people. I thoroughly enjoyed this one from start to finish and highly recommend it for all those who like a great mother-daughter story.. you will love this book If you are a Downton Abby fan, you will love this book! It is well written, and explains a lot of the culture of that day that Edith Wharton writes about. In fact, Edith Wharton was an acquaintance of Alva VanderBilitand some say her book 'The Buccaneers' was based on Consuelo's life.. "Sometimes tedious going" according to NYCVillager. Much of the writing sounds "padded" to flesh out the story. Awkward writing style somewhere between journalism and novel.
All rights reserved. Mother's and daughter's remarkably similar trajectories through life—difficult first marriages, happy second ones, social leadership, arts patronage, a shift into activism—were shaped by the opportunities wealth offered and the calculated use of marriage as a business transaction in their class and era. From Publishers Weekly In 1875, the strong-willed Alva Smith married an heir to the Vanderbilt fortune in order to save her own family from further descent into genteel poverty. In her first book, Stuart uses a remarkable breadth of sources to follow her subjects to Newport, R.I.; India; late Victorian and Edwardian England; the heart of the women's movement; and the south of France at the outbreak of WWII She tells a riveting story but keeps her distance from her subjects, not offering final judgment on Alva's c