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Heiresses

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Heiresses

Yazan: Laura Thompson
Seslendiren: Laura Thompson
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A razor-sharp, beautifully written survey of the world of the wealthy heiress – glittering and gleaming, flawed and fascinating – from the seventeenth to the twenty-first centuries.
We fantasize about what we would do if we inherited a fortune: the house on Cheyne Walk? The Manolo Blahniks? The racehorses? But what would it be like, never to have to dream in that way?

Laura Thompson explores the historical phenomenon of the heiress in four inviting categories. First, the Estate Builders, women like Elizabeth Sloan, whose father Sir Hans owned the land that is now Chelsea. The Patrons – those heiresses who tried to do something with their money – feature Winnaretta Singer, inheritor of the sewing-machine fortune, whose salon in Paris showcased work by Debussy, Fauré and Ravel. Party Girls enjoy their money without shame or conscience. After the death of hostess Ronnie Greville, high-living illegitimate daughter of a Scottish brewer death, 286 bottles of Bollinger 1928 were discovered in her Mayfair home. The Rebels include Alice Silverthorne, who walked her black panther along the Promenade des Anglais and shot her lover in the stomach at the Gare du Nord.

A famous heiress once said: 'Life is less sad with money'. It should be true. But is it? Laura Thompson's Heiresses takes the listener on a sparklingly enlightening search for the answer.

'Heiresses is a glorious book, endlessly entertaining and about much more than its stated subject. Thompson is a fabulous writer' Caroline O'Donoghue

'Witty, insightful, deliciously gossip-laden and slightly scandalous ... entertaining, occasionally sad and never less than gripping' Anne Sebba

'Excellent ... [A] wonderfully entertaining book' Sunday Times

'Exquisite and gossipy ... Thompson, a gifted storyteller, obviously delighted in the writing of this book' TLS

'[A] deeply empathetic study of heiresses through the ages' The Times©2021 Laura Thompson (P)2021 Head of Zeus Americas Europe Historical United States Women
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This book is so much more than a tale of “poor little rich girls”! Instead, it delves into a centuries’ old tradition of wealthy girls being overtly traded - or in some cases abducted - because they happened to carry an inheritance. The women had no agency, either against parents bartering them for social elevation and a title, or against the seducers who courted them and whisked them away. Once married their patrimony (including children) became their husbands’ property and they, usually unloved for themselves, lived out miserable and stressful lives.
Thus, for me, this book was at its most interesting in its first part, dealing with historical cases about which one probaby previously knew nothing, and yet are important for what they say about society, class and gender. The author deftly points out how some males of “the gentry” but perhaps impoverished (in their terms) would consider wealthy girls of a lower social rank fair game for a false suit or even kidnapping. These men simply felt “entitled” to the fortunes of industrialists and manufacturers whom they considered unworthy - the landed gentry being the real inheritors of the earth’s worldly goods - and would go to any lengths to seduce or kidnap a young and unsuspecting daughter.
The scenario changes in the late 19thC when married women were legally allowed to control their own assets and income, but this is also the period when American heiresses were traded: a massive dowry in exchange for a Duchy or Earldom. Many unhappy and toxic marriages followed. Some plucky heiresses escaped this fate by forming lesbian communes in Paris. Most of the Americans, however, seem to have craved love and attention without the inner resources to forge or sustain a meaningful relationship, and just splashed their inheritance on husband after husband.
The book ends, mercifully, with the story of Angela Burnett-Coutts who inherited the esteemed Coutts Bank and much else but remained an apparently happy spinster dedicating her money to good works & causes, much of this in conjunction with Charles Dickens. Phew! The one that got away!
I’d have given 5 stars all round for this book but for the fact that its second half (C20th) becomes somewhat confusing with too many characters with similar names popping up all over the place, and the author beginning to sound a bit tired of reading. Minor faults! This is a fascinating tour through a neglected part of history, revealing SO much more, in terms of class entitlements and societal connivance, than just the plight of a few rich women!

Fascinating piece of history!

Bir sorun oluştu. Lütfen birkaç dakika sonra tekrar deneyin.
Explores the conundrum that wealth, far from freeing women, either made them prey to unscrupulous fortune hunters or was the catalyst to hitting the self destruct button. Largely miserable lives -apart from the final person- which does appeal somewhat to schadenfreude.
However - this is a prime example of the fact that often, the writer doesn't make the best narrator. Distracting narration and odd speech impediment somewhat marred the experience.

Lightweight but detail heavy

Bir sorun oluştu. Lütfen birkaç dakika sonra tekrar deneyin.
Could’ve,should’ve,would’ve been a good book had she stuck to one heiress at a time. But was chopping and changing in the middle of a chapter then going back to them in another chapter. Plus out of all the heiresss she chose was ones I’ve never heard of.

Heiresses

Bir sorun oluştu. Lütfen birkaç dakika sonra tekrar deneyin.
This is a fascinating listen, shocking in many ways, especially the stories of heiress abduction. The narrator is excellent and adds to the enjoyment of the book....and as a bonus it was free!!

Great listen

Bir sorun oluştu. Lütfen birkaç dakika sonra tekrar deneyin.
I like the way this book examines the lives of women who, on the surface, had everything that we dream of today. It shows how money does not bring happiness, unless the person who has it is equipped to deal with other people's greed and envy, as well as their own sense of guilt. How hieresses were (and still are) hunted by predatory men. And yet some of the most unlikely men perhaps make the best husbands. It asks the question, of what an ordinary person would do, if they had such vast wealth at their disposal.

Absolutely Fascinating

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