American Duchess: A Novel of Consuelo Vanderbilt Kindle Edition

Enjoyed reading of England, from 1900 to Beginning of World War Two & the life of a Vanderbilt, enjoyed to end

This Duchess lived quite a life, and now I feel I got to live a tiny piece of it too. I enjoyed it.

I have always been fascinated with Consuelo’s story and the trade of American aristocratic daughters to, often broke, English Lords. The practice, though sometimes tragic, was certainly interesting and in a bizarre way good in many ways, I believe, reconnecting Americans to the mother land and exchanging the blood, back and forth across the pond.

It read like a fluff fairy tale. No depth. Left me feeling annoyed. Another poor little rich girl story.

I've read and heard so much about Consuelo Vanderbilt in her youth and up until her marriage and her running away to Paris. This was interesting in reading about her as a grown woman our of her mother's control. I thought it was extremely kind to her memory and grabbed her as an extremely generous and forgiving person.

Who would have thought that there were so many ups and downs in the relationships between the wealthiest members of the gilded age? I could not put it down!

I could not put this book down. Consuelo Vanderbilt began as a young girl and progressed to a bride, mother, socialite, and eventually grandmother, and friend to world leaders. She came through a fascinating period of history. I loved this book so much that I investigated many more of the Vanderbilts and their homes and stories.

And what a life she had, this American woman who was basically sold into marriage to an English duke at the age of eighteen. But Consuelo Vanderbilt was a strong- minded and ultimately a strong-willed young woman, the daughter of an equally strong-willed woman, and she would make her own way in the world despite the circumstances in which she found herself. Her husband proved to be a rather cold, indifferent sort, so Consuelo involved herself in trying to better the lives of the tenants n but estate. After she had produced the requisite “heir and a spare”, she went to live by herself in London, where she continued her charity work which mainly focused on improving the lives of poor women. Eventually her marriage dissolved, more or less by mutual agreement, and they had to go through the ridiculous charade that was divorce in those days, leaving her free to marry the man who had loved her for years. From then on her life was happier but no less adventurous….

Great story of royalty and the struggles of the 1900s

The book arrived earlier than expected ,well wrapped and exactly as described by the seller .A very satisfied customer

Eu gosto de livros de ficção histórica. Gostei muito.

This book purports to tell the life story of one Consuelo Vanderbilt, an American heiress who married the Duke of Marlborough in 1895 and went to live in Blenheim Palace in England.This novel gives a perfunctory account of Consuelo’s life in a bland, ‘I did this, I did that’ sort of way. Considering this novel has been written in the first person, I feel the author should have been able to develop her character’s personality more fully, to get inside her head and convey some real depth and emotion. Instead Consuelo comes across as unbelievably perfect, soppy and naive. Yet considering her circumstances and upbringing, I suspect she was a rather tough bitch. She certainly made some strong choices, leaving an unhappy marriage and seeking a divorce, and yet still surviving socially. So I don’t think the author portrayed her character very realistically. Also some of the language used in the book seems improbable. I cannot imagine the real teenage Consuelo back in the 1890’s talking about her ‘swelling breasts’, and I also don’t think people back then used words like, ‘Yahoo’, ‘Smashing’ (as an adjective) and ‘spouting off’ Just to name a bit of the jargon used in this book.If you are interested in the excessively wealthy, who inherited and married money, then spent it frivolously and indecently, then you may find Consuelo’s story interesting, but you would be better off just reading the account of her life in Wikipedia, than slogging through this uninspiring tale.Edith Wharton apparently based her book ‘The Buccaneers’ on Consuelo Vanderbilt. Read that instead. Mrs Wharton is a much better writer!

A story of a woman who ,ahead of her time , had the intuitive sens of business, but totally lack commun sens in her judgment of men ,always looking to replace her father figure.She is the one who built Mar-o- Largo ,left it to the Florida State who sold or rather gave it to Trump !