Books › The glitter and the gold
The glitter and the gold
360 pages
A glittering, witty, and surprisingly poignant peek behind the velvet curtains of the Gilded Age and Edwardian aristocracy.
What it feels like
Step into a world of unimaginable wealth and suffocating expectations. Reading this memoir feels like sitting down for tea with a remarkably candid, elegant dowager who has decided it is finally time to tell the truth. The narrative moves at a brisk, engaging clip, sweeping you from the oppressive grandeur of Gilded Age New York to the freezing, cavernous halls of Blenheim Palace, and eventually into the chaotic liberation of wartime France. The prose is polished and aristocratic, yet laced with a wry, knowing wit that frequently prompts a smile. It is a story of a gilded cage, but the emotional journey is one of quiet rebellion and hard-won independence. This will utterly delight fans of historical high society who crave the real, beating heart beneath the diamonds and tiaras.
- Mood
- opulent
- nostalgic
- poignant
- glamorous
- Tone
- wry
- elegant
- reflective
- candid
- aristocratic
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- the gilded cage · transatlantic marriages · duty versus personal freedom · twilight of the aristocracy · finding one's voice
- The writing
- Elegant, polished, and surprisingly witty, with a refined cadence that remains highly accessible.
- The arc
- Moves from the suffocating constraint of a forced, high-society marriage to a hard-won, self-possessed independence.
- Who it's for
- Devotees of Gilded Age history and Edwardian high society who love a sharp, firsthand account of the Dollar Princess phenomenon.
Content notes
- coerced marriage
- emotional manipulation
- war themes
About the book
This book is so much fun. If you're interested in the history of the upper class in the US or England, it is well worth checking this book out. Parts of it are laugh-out-loud funny, such as the description of dinner with the Duke; others are edge-of-your-seat exciting, such has her escape from the oncoming Germans in WWI; and others are just poignant, such as some of the anecdotes from her childhood. She is a classy lady and only kisses and tells about those she thinks really deserve it (mainly her first husband).
Description from Open Library.
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