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Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: The Story of a Daughter and a Mother in the Gilded Age
“A dual life story that reads as pleasurably as the best fiction but with all the intelligence of a first-rate biography. . . . completely absorbing.”—Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire The granddaughter of the richest man in America, Consuelo Vanderbilt was the prize catch of New York Society. But her socially ambitious mother, Alva, was adamant that her daughter should make a grand marriage, and the underfunded Duke of Marlborough was just the thing—even though Consuelo loved someone else. The story of these two women is not simply one of empty wealth, Gilded Age glamour, and of enterprising social ambition. Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt is also a fascinating account of how two women struggled to break free from the deeply materialistic, stifling world into which they were born, taking up the fight for female equality. In this brilliant and engrossing book, Amanda Mackenzie Stuart suggests that behind the most famous transatlantic marriage lies an extraordinary tale of the quest for female power.
656 pages, Paperback
First published August 15, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 162 reviews
December 29, 2012
Outstanding biography. The genre itself is difficult to approach - it's not enough for the reader to be mildly curious about someone's life, you have to be interested for 500 pages. If you have only a passing interest in the lives of the rich in the Gilded Age period - which in many ways Alva and Consuelo embody - don't pick this up. If, however, your idea of bliss is a good few days spent reading about first-wave feminism, architecture and the class system, this book is a must-read. Highly readable, detailed enough to be rich and generous in its attempt to give a sense of not only two extraordinary women but also of a whole era, it's a superb account of Consuelo and Alva's lives following both of their paths with equal energy. It's also a story of finding your own path despite family ties - Consuelo suffered from Alva's dominating personality throughout her childhood and teenage years and yet blossomed into a loving and lovely woman with varied, current interests. I was pleasantly surprised to see the author didn't try and demonize Alva who definitely had her flaws (eccentricity and total lack of empathy being two) but was an astonishing character in her own right and I sided with many of her positions (she seemed way ahead of her times and once said that the secret to happiness is not to look back or forward but to live in your time, demonstrating a clarity of thought that's strange for her). I loved best the chapter dealing with both women's involvement with the struggle for female suffrage. Books that open new doors and leave you eager to read about different things (in my case, Winston Churchill and the suffragettes) are the best because they manage to convey marvellous scope. It's a fine balance to keep evoking a way of life that's almost completely extinct now save for the very few (and the author does take pains to explain striking differences) and focus intimately on just two figures who experienced those times but in an incomplete fashion and Stuart manages beautifully. Excellent account and beautiful photographs. Highly recommended.
January 31, 2015
I picked this up because I saw it mentioned on Million Dollar American Princesses (you're welcome, Britain) and it's really fascinating. And also sad, because--can you imagine what these women would've done if they'd been given the opportunity to really do the things they were passionate about?
October 23, 2015
So on a trip to England this summer my family stopped by at Blenheim Palace. I really knew nothing about that place, excpet that it was where Winston Churchill had been born. As we walked through, one of the docents pointed to a rather large picture and said that is the 9th Duke of Marlborough (the family that lives there) and Consuelo Vanderbilt. I was surprised to hear the Vanderbilt name in conjunction with the British aristocrats. Especially when the docent explained that it was an arranged and unhappy marriage. I am familiar with the Vanderbilt family because of a trip to the Biltmore Estate in NC as a girl. In the giftshop I found this book and decided to learn more about Counselo and how she ended up at Blenheim.
This book is quite a doozy and I don't recommend it for the faint of heart as it is over 500 pages of actual text and then about 100 of footnotes, etc. Which is one of my biggest complaints about the book, it was so nuanced and detailed that to me it definitely began to drag on. I think I could have enjoyed learning about Consuelo and her mother Alva with a lot less detail. It seems that Stuart became very wrapped up in these women as she wrote it. This book did help me achieve my objective in coming to understand how the wealthy Vanderbilt family ended up connected with the British aristocrats, and it also helped me better understand New York and society in the US in the late 1800s. It made me eager to go back and re-read Edith Wharton again.
The book is really divided into 3 distinct parts
1. Background on the Vanderbilts and how Counselo ended up marrying a Duke, and their eventual unhappiness in marriage
2. How both Alva and Counselo's unhappiness in marriage led them to great involvement in the International Women's Suffrage movement
3. What life was like for Counselo after her mother Alva's death, World War II, and her return to America
For me, while there were interesting details in all 3 parts, I honestly would have enjoyed hearing the 1st story without the 2nd of the 3rd. You would have to REALLY want to know a lot about the Vanderbilt women to need to read this whole book.
This book is quite a doozy and I don't recommend it for the faint of heart as it is over 500 pages of actual text and then about 100 of footnotes, etc. Which is one of my biggest complaints about the book, it was so nuanced and detailed that to me it definitely began to drag on. I think I could have enjoyed learning about Consuelo and her mother Alva with a lot less detail. It seems that Stuart became very wrapped up in these women as she wrote it. This book did help me achieve my objective in coming to understand how the wealthy Vanderbilt family ended up connected with the British aristocrats, and it also helped me better understand New York and society in the US in the late 1800s. It made me eager to go back and re-read Edith Wharton again.
The book is really divided into 3 distinct parts
1. Background on the Vanderbilts and how Counselo ended up marrying a Duke, and their eventual unhappiness in marriage
2. How both Alva and Counselo's unhappiness in marriage led them to great involvement in the International Women's Suffrage movement
3. What life was like for Counselo after her mother Alva's death, World War II, and her return to America
For me, while there were interesting details in all 3 parts, I honestly would have enjoyed hearing the 1st story without the 2nd of the 3rd. You would have to REALLY want to know a lot about the Vanderbilt women to need to read this whole book.
October 15, 2009
Awful. Really, really. It took me over three weeks to make it even to page 207, and that's not even halfway through. Much of the backing information an quotes is totally irrelevant, and I'm actually really quite interested in the lives of these women.
A gross disappointment that left me feeling more than unsympathetic to two women about whom I was quite interested in finding out more. I'll have to turn to other volumes.
A gross disappointment that left me feeling more than unsympathetic to two women about whom I was quite interested in finding out more. I'll have to turn to other volumes.
February 23, 2010
Even I, with my love of all things regarding this time period, couldn't really get through this dry book. It skipped around from different years and then doubled back, making you feel like you already knew what she was saying. I also felt that important physical details regarding the main charaters were left out, which left me perplexed.
November 17, 2011
This well written and interesting dual biography of perhaps the Gilded Age's best remembered mother and daughter duo is a first time effort; the author has a background in independent film making but it would seem this must be her true calling. She handles the complex historical backgrounds of New York Society, the English Aristocracy, the Women's Suffrage Movement, British politics and two World Wars with deftness and aplomb.
Alva Erskine Smith, after her brilliant marriage to William Kissam Vanderbilt, first really came to the public's attention when she challenged Mrs. Astor's supremacy as the leader of New York's society elite. In a clever and tactical series of assaults she managed to outwit the leader of "the 400" and earn a position at the forefront of the upper crust. Her daughter, Consuelo, a beautiful but sheltered young woman, was famously married off in a carefully stage-managed wedding and at the insistence of her mother, to the young, difficult, fortune seeking, "Sunny", 9th Duke of Marlborough. The marriage was considered quite a social coup for the Vanderbilts and Alva leveraged it for all it was worth but it brought the new duchess little joy.
Alva was renowned for her courting of the press and the role of publicity in the cultivation of social power is a recurring theme in the story. We watch repeatedly as different players do battle through gingerly placed items or secretly leaked tips to the press. Belying the notion that celebrities and publicity seeking are in any way a modern phenomenon.
However, the author shows us not only the glittering world of wealth and privilege on both sides of the Atlantic and a cast of famous supporting players - everyone from the Duke's cousin Winston Churchill, to society hostess Elsa Maxwell, and author Edith Wharton. Both of the subjects: Alva the forceful, determined mother and Consuelo the lovely, dutiful daughter evolve in some surprising ways as their story unfolds and are revealed to have greater dimension than might first be suspected. Over the course of the narrative each of the women adopt new values, pursue roles in politics and philanthropy, find new relationships and attempt to manage their private lives in public. Quite a lot transpires to arrive at the Mrs. Belmont and Madame Balsan we find in the final chapters.
Naturally, anyone with an interest in the Gilded Age, the Churchill family, or the writings of Edith Wharton and Henry James will enjoy this book tremendously. But even for someone with no special affinity for these topics, this is a well paced, event filled portrait of two very different but equally compelling figures against a rich panorama of Victorian, Edwardian and modern history.
Alva Erskine Smith, after her brilliant marriage to William Kissam Vanderbilt, first really came to the public's attention when she challenged Mrs. Astor's supremacy as the leader of New York's society elite. In a clever and tactical series of assaults she managed to outwit the leader of "the 400" and earn a position at the forefront of the upper crust. Her daughter, Consuelo, a beautiful but sheltered young woman, was famously married off in a carefully stage-managed wedding and at the insistence of her mother, to the young, difficult, fortune seeking, "Sunny", 9th Duke of Marlborough. The marriage was considered quite a social coup for the Vanderbilts and Alva leveraged it for all it was worth but it brought the new duchess little joy.
Alva was renowned for her courting of the press and the role of publicity in the cultivation of social power is a recurring theme in the story. We watch repeatedly as different players do battle through gingerly placed items or secretly leaked tips to the press. Belying the notion that celebrities and publicity seeking are in any way a modern phenomenon.
However, the author shows us not only the glittering world of wealth and privilege on both sides of the Atlantic and a cast of famous supporting players - everyone from the Duke's cousin Winston Churchill, to society hostess Elsa Maxwell, and author Edith Wharton. Both of the subjects: Alva the forceful, determined mother and Consuelo the lovely, dutiful daughter evolve in some surprising ways as their story unfolds and are revealed to have greater dimension than might first be suspected. Over the course of the narrative each of the women adopt new values, pursue roles in politics and philanthropy, find new relationships and attempt to manage their private lives in public. Quite a lot transpires to arrive at the Mrs. Belmont and Madame Balsan we find in the final chapters.
Naturally, anyone with an interest in the Gilded Age, the Churchill family, or the writings of Edith Wharton and Henry James will enjoy this book tremendously. But even for someone with no special affinity for these topics, this is a well paced, event filled portrait of two very different but equally compelling figures against a rich panorama of Victorian, Edwardian and modern history.
May 21, 2021
This is a very, very long book. It combines Consuelo's autobiography and two drafts of Alva's autobiography that was never published. Fleshing it out are letters, articles and other assorted books.
If you are curious about these self-absorbed, self-entitled, sexually confused plutocrats (Alva is a serious Narcissist with a full-blown disorder), then just work your way through this, rather than all the other assorted books about them.
It is one very long proof that plutocrats should not be allowed to exist.
If you are curious about these self-absorbed, self-entitled, sexually confused plutocrats (Alva is a serious Narcissist with a full-blown disorder), then just work your way through this, rather than all the other assorted books about them.
It is one very long proof that plutocrats should not be allowed to exist.
January 6, 2023
I love biographies of women who lived in historic times. And long biographies don't scare me off. As long as they are filled with interesting information that is. This was an extremely interesting biography of (1) Consuelo, an American heiress who married a British Duke and (2) Alva, her mother. Both also did much for women's rights in their respective countries - especially where votes for women were concerned. It started off very well and even ended ok but the middle, in my opinion, was filled with too much political details - especially in the case of Alva. Too detailed that it got a bit boring. But both these were remarkable characters that had interesting lives and affected much change, so overall I did enjoy this book. For those interested in America's Gilded Age and Britain's Edwardian age this would be an interesting read. If you are also interested in women's suffrage movement in US and Britain as well, this is a must-read.
September 18, 2008
Good Lord, what a mother - pure id, and the Versailles pastiche would break them all. Reading Consuelo and Alva is less a mother-daughter story than a story about a storm system, one that materially affected the lives of women everywhere in more ways than I realized. Alva Vanderbilt had the first great divorce settlement in American history (at 39) and then forced her daughter into marriage with a feckless Duke to maintain her social position. She then goes on to present herself as one of the leading lights in women's suffrage. I read most of this history before in a biography of Consuelo that my own mother picked out for me when I was about 12, and the thing I still want more of is more of a social analysis threaded with psychological insight and less on the # of clothing changes (although one is speculative biography and the other is not). It's worth noting that Winston Churchill came out of this world, and Edith Wharton was considered "on the fringes" of Alva's social set. So I'm now looking to rereading The Buccaneers as nonfiction.
July 14, 2011
The story of a millionaire heiress pushed into a love-less marriage has to be interesting, and it is. The first three parts of the book were great but the story and narrative slowed down in the latter part of the book. I lost interest when Alva and her daughter Consuelo joined the suffrage movement, Alva in America and Consuelo in England. I skipped entire pages of this part.
April 25, 2018
A lot of information to take in. Sometimes felt like a textbook.
July 10, 2021
Very interesting book about two fascinating women, but it sometimes read like a boring textbook. I’m very proud of myself for finishing ;)
December 9, 2018
This was a 3.5 Star book for me. There were parts I found fascinating, but other parts lost me a bit.
There is no doubt that the Vanderbilt family was an interesting part of American society in that period. Alva certainly sounds like a woman you wouldn’t want to mess with. I am glad Consuela found her feet and became a powerful force of her own.
There is no doubt that the Vanderbilt family was an interesting part of American society in that period. Alva certainly sounds like a woman you wouldn’t want to mess with. I am glad Consuela found her feet and became a powerful force of her own.
October 8, 2016
This is a meticulously researched and detailed duel biography of Gilded Age millionaires Alva Vanderbilt and her daughter, Conseulo. I had read Alva Vanderbilt Belmont: An Unlikely Champion for Women's Rights by Sylvia D. Hoffert. In that book, Hoffert focuses almost exclusively on Alva's later years,when she worked with Alice Paul of the National Woman's Party (NWP) on behalf of woman suffrage.
Mackenzie Stuart's book provides a more thorough portrait of Alva's upbringing, marriage, and family life. In both books, Alva is depicted as a difficult personality at best, or a bully at worst. Mackenzie Stuart also provides a sympathetic portrait of her bullied daughter, Conseulo, who is forced to marry an English duke whom she did not love and eventually divorces. Both women, ensconced in the Vanderbilt millions, had interesting lives, and both tried to live lives of service despite (on in spite of) their wealth. Alva's service (to the suffrage cause) seems much more self-serving, as she was a self-absorbed, publicity hound. Consuelo worked to help the less fortunate in England, specifically women and children.
This biography is based on diaries, letters, and other primary source documentation, providing a peak into the Gilded Age society through the 1960s when Consuelo died. Born in the 1870s and dying right before the Women's Rights Movement of the late 1960s, Consuelo lived in interesting times, filled with technological and social changes of mammoth proportions. Reading this book is much like touring a Vanderbilt mansion--the reader gets a glimpse into a long ago period of excessive wealth and social injustices.
Mackenzie Stuart's book provides a more thorough portrait of Alva's upbringing, marriage, and family life. In both books, Alva is depicted as a difficult personality at best, or a bully at worst. Mackenzie Stuart also provides a sympathetic portrait of her bullied daughter, Conseulo, who is forced to marry an English duke whom she did not love and eventually divorces. Both women, ensconced in the Vanderbilt millions, had interesting lives, and both tried to live lives of service despite (on in spite of) their wealth. Alva's service (to the suffrage cause) seems much more self-serving, as she was a self-absorbed, publicity hound. Consuelo worked to help the less fortunate in England, specifically women and children.
This biography is based on diaries, letters, and other primary source documentation, providing a peak into the Gilded Age society through the 1960s when Consuelo died. Born in the 1870s and dying right before the Women's Rights Movement of the late 1960s, Consuelo lived in interesting times, filled with technological and social changes of mammoth proportions. Reading this book is much like touring a Vanderbilt mansion--the reader gets a glimpse into a long ago period of excessive wealth and social injustices.
March 31, 2011
The first half (or so) of the book was interesting - but I'm definiely a reader in the "drag" camp. Some of the book, particularly the latter half, dragged and dawdled on. It seems that for Consuelo, her life settled into this easy complacency that's not all that interesting to read about. Even fleeing France in advance of the Nazis was strangely humdrum. Alva was definitely had a life full of passion and events, and the sections on her mostly made for good reading. All in all, though, I was ready to be done and on to the next book.
August 30, 2018
A very well researched book about Consuelo Vanderbilt and her mother Alva. Consuelo was forced/pushed by her mother to marry the 9th Duke of Marlborough of Blenheim Palace. Both the Duke and Consuelo were in love with other people. Needless to say, the marriage was not a success. Later Consuelo did marry a Frenchman and they had a happy marriage. Both Alva and Consuelo were involved in the suffragette movement in America and England. This was a fascinating look at the two lives and the era in which they lived.
December 15, 2008
It's tough to critique this book, because at times, it is so interesting, but at other times, it drags along. I think that it has to do with the writing style of the author. She's at her best when she simply tells the story, instead of attempting to string 100 facts together. Nevertheless, her research is astounding and there are so many cool facts in the book, especially those concerning Edith Wharton and Winston Churchill, that I had to give the book 4 stars.
March 6, 2012
I knew I wanted to read this the minute I read the NYT Review, and it completely met my expectations. From hardscrap NY to the Newport and Fifth Avenue mansions to English estates, titles, and a way of life that is almost beyond our imagination, this book covers what Downton Abbey now glosses over. Definitely recommend this, if you want a personal family perspective on an incredible era in history.
September 23, 2013
I read this after visiting Marble House in Newport, Rhode Island, and standing in Consuelo's bedroom there and hearing the audio tour give a summary of her youth and forced marriage to the Duke of Marlborough. It all sounded so fascinating, And this book certainly fleshes out the portrait of her life. I enjoyed the book a lot. I may read Consuelo's own account of her life in "The Glitter and the Gold" one day; that sounds interesting too.
October 15, 2023
A well written and researched book. However it would have benefited from some editing. It dragged in the later half to the point that I couldn’t wait for it to be done. Alva and Consuelo had interesting lives, just not 500+ pages interesting.
April 29, 2018
Read this after a visit to the Newport mansions, including the Vanderbilt mansion. The life of Consuelo, and her domineering mother Alva, at the height of the Gilded Age is an incredible read.
June 8, 2015
This is the fascinating dual biography of a daughter and mother, Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt, wealthy socialite and heiress, the epitome of the wealth and burden, the emptiness and dazzling glitter, the gold of the Gilded Age. Two people could not be more dissimilar and more alike, more connected and opposing, more fascinating, more representative and more of an anomaly of the time. This is a story of feminism in a time of oppression, feminism out of desperation—for two people that should have been the least desperate of their time; this is an unlikely feminist story.
Alva was a strong, controlling, determined, intelligent, and forceful character who married the incredibly wealthy, yet milk soppy, William K. Vanderbilt. Knowing that wealth and society were the only way for a woman to have any sort of power, to play any sort of role in the world, Alva married him. Upon her marriage, though, she learned that there was very little power to be had for American women of wealth: their husbands cheated on them and wasted their money, which they had no power over. Men did not get divorced, for there was no need; “they simply set their wives aside, leaving them ‘to maintain the dignity of their position in the world, such as it was, and to care for their children, while they amused themselves elsewhere.” Thus, in their world of extreme wealth, men indulged themselves with no consequences, while their wives, in their prime, were sentenced to a half-life of “domestic responsibility”, no love or affection, no power or freedom, living in a separate sphere, but one of emptiness, where power only came from frivolous society wrangling. Although Alva was an incredibly dedicated mother, she was controlling and regretted sacrificing her own identity for her children. Alva threw herself into controlling her children, particularly Consuelo, as her dolls, and she built great dollhouses in her Gilded Age palaces. Marble House, in particular was her “fourth child”, a temple dedicated to the glories of an older world, and to the female power of intellect and strength. For her daughter, Consuelo, though, it was a Gilded Cage.
Against custom, Alva decided to divorce William K. She did this, in part, to blaze a course for others, and to not allow the situation to continue. Furthermore, she had taken her own lover and wished to marry him. Alva was threatened with social suicide, but she survived this by strong-arming her daughter into marrying a Duke of England. Consuelo was married and secretly engaged to another man, but he was, like her father, according to Alva, “a fine example of the new breed of useless male now emerging… from three generations of plutocratic wealth.” By emotionally blackmailing and forcing her daughter into marrying a Duke, Alva became famous as the mother of a Duchess, but, even more so, she hoped to save Consuelo from the half-life of marrying a wealthy American, a life where she would have no power, no say in society or the world, and only a miserable marriage. Love in marriage was an impractical impossibility to Alva. Love faded, she felt. She felt that leaving marriage and happiness in it to chance, to young folly, to love, was a sin. “I was careful that my daughter should not meet men for whom she might have a youthful passing fancy that would lead her into a marriage where there was no opportunity for self-growth through public ministry,” Alva said. Therefore, it wasn’t just (if it was at all) the desire for social climbing, but the desire for her daughter to have the power, the ability, to actually engage in the world, to be able to do something, improve the world, and have power, thereby escaping misery. Although Alva was controlling and cruel, she was incredible smart and perceptive, and, ultimately, right.
Consuelo’s marriage was miserable, but in Europe and as a Duchess, Consuelo had power, influence, and the ability to do selfless good for others in the role and obligations of the aristocratic class, something that did not exist in America. “In America, social responsibility was optional for the rich. In England, it was expected.” In other words, this was the only way for Consuelo to have a career and find any true autonomy, power, and happiness. England, in turn, was also vastly different from the rest of Europe and Russia and India—in particular where extreme wealth was so very sharply contrasted with extreme poverty. In fact, Consuelo and Alva witnessed not only the peak of the Gilded Age, but its tumble, its social upheaval in suffrage, feminism, socialism, racism, Civil Rights, and war. Although they had extreme wealth, they did not sit in ivory towers away from it all.
Consuelo felt that it was the duty of the wealthy to alleviate the suffering caused by poverty, though she was always a plutocrat. Her husband, on the other hand, found her lack of snobbishness a personality failing. Although she was given a role, much of it seemed shallow and empty. And her unhappy marriage only resulted in separation, eventual divorce, and annulment. Yet, her time spent as a Duchess, doing good for others, was the happiest and most defining time of her life.
After Consuelo’s wedding, Alva found happiness in marriage and settled down, until he passed away. Then, she found the fight she had been waiting for: suffrage. Consuelo found deep enjoyment and fulfillment in her role in the public sphere, in philanthropy, and she spoke to American women, telling them that giving money was not enough, that they had to do something. Consuelo’s philanthropic work gave her fulfillment and power, allowed her take a role in the world and impact it for the better. Consuelo argued that women had sold themselves into slavery and marriage, into male oppression, for the sake of financial security. She said it was the “moral code unfit for anyone other than a slave”. Although Consuelo did not approve of the more militant suffragettes (as her mother did and supported), she was a true and influential and powerful feminist, arguing for women to take a strong role in the public sphere and in society, and for the right causes. Incredibly, Alva feminism extended beyond social, class, and race lines. She fought for Russian female workers on strike and invited “coloured” suffragettes into her groups. Thus, despite their extreme wealth, the only true happiness that both women found were in finding roles in improving the world and finding voices and power in it, mainly through philanthropy—and, by extension of that, feminism and women’s rights.
An amazing, fascinating book about unlikely, and yet, totally created by their society of ridiculous wealth and male dominance, feminists, and their very unique takes on women in the political sphere. Fascinating, tragic, inspiring, beautiful, horrific, and ridiculous story (fantastically, engagingly written) of two captivating and very different women, women that made the very best with what life had thrown at them: a load of money and a locked gilded cage. Grade: A
Alva was a strong, controlling, determined, intelligent, and forceful character who married the incredibly wealthy, yet milk soppy, William K. Vanderbilt. Knowing that wealth and society were the only way for a woman to have any sort of power, to play any sort of role in the world, Alva married him. Upon her marriage, though, she learned that there was very little power to be had for American women of wealth: their husbands cheated on them and wasted their money, which they had no power over. Men did not get divorced, for there was no need; “they simply set their wives aside, leaving them ‘to maintain the dignity of their position in the world, such as it was, and to care for their children, while they amused themselves elsewhere.” Thus, in their world of extreme wealth, men indulged themselves with no consequences, while their wives, in their prime, were sentenced to a half-life of “domestic responsibility”, no love or affection, no power or freedom, living in a separate sphere, but one of emptiness, where power only came from frivolous society wrangling. Although Alva was an incredibly dedicated mother, she was controlling and regretted sacrificing her own identity for her children. Alva threw herself into controlling her children, particularly Consuelo, as her dolls, and she built great dollhouses in her Gilded Age palaces. Marble House, in particular was her “fourth child”, a temple dedicated to the glories of an older world, and to the female power of intellect and strength. For her daughter, Consuelo, though, it was a Gilded Cage.
Against custom, Alva decided to divorce William K. She did this, in part, to blaze a course for others, and to not allow the situation to continue. Furthermore, she had taken her own lover and wished to marry him. Alva was threatened with social suicide, but she survived this by strong-arming her daughter into marrying a Duke of England. Consuelo was married and secretly engaged to another man, but he was, like her father, according to Alva, “a fine example of the new breed of useless male now emerging… from three generations of plutocratic wealth.” By emotionally blackmailing and forcing her daughter into marrying a Duke, Alva became famous as the mother of a Duchess, but, even more so, she hoped to save Consuelo from the half-life of marrying a wealthy American, a life where she would have no power, no say in society or the world, and only a miserable marriage. Love in marriage was an impractical impossibility to Alva. Love faded, she felt. She felt that leaving marriage and happiness in it to chance, to young folly, to love, was a sin. “I was careful that my daughter should not meet men for whom she might have a youthful passing fancy that would lead her into a marriage where there was no opportunity for self-growth through public ministry,” Alva said. Therefore, it wasn’t just (if it was at all) the desire for social climbing, but the desire for her daughter to have the power, the ability, to actually engage in the world, to be able to do something, improve the world, and have power, thereby escaping misery. Although Alva was controlling and cruel, she was incredible smart and perceptive, and, ultimately, right.
Consuelo’s marriage was miserable, but in Europe and as a Duchess, Consuelo had power, influence, and the ability to do selfless good for others in the role and obligations of the aristocratic class, something that did not exist in America. “In America, social responsibility was optional for the rich. In England, it was expected.” In other words, this was the only way for Consuelo to have a career and find any true autonomy, power, and happiness. England, in turn, was also vastly different from the rest of Europe and Russia and India—in particular where extreme wealth was so very sharply contrasted with extreme poverty. In fact, Consuelo and Alva witnessed not only the peak of the Gilded Age, but its tumble, its social upheaval in suffrage, feminism, socialism, racism, Civil Rights, and war. Although they had extreme wealth, they did not sit in ivory towers away from it all.
Consuelo felt that it was the duty of the wealthy to alleviate the suffering caused by poverty, though she was always a plutocrat. Her husband, on the other hand, found her lack of snobbishness a personality failing. Although she was given a role, much of it seemed shallow and empty. And her unhappy marriage only resulted in separation, eventual divorce, and annulment. Yet, her time spent as a Duchess, doing good for others, was the happiest and most defining time of her life.
After Consuelo’s wedding, Alva found happiness in marriage and settled down, until he passed away. Then, she found the fight she had been waiting for: suffrage. Consuelo found deep enjoyment and fulfillment in her role in the public sphere, in philanthropy, and she spoke to American women, telling them that giving money was not enough, that they had to do something. Consuelo’s philanthropic work gave her fulfillment and power, allowed her take a role in the world and impact it for the better. Consuelo argued that women had sold themselves into slavery and marriage, into male oppression, for the sake of financial security. She said it was the “moral code unfit for anyone other than a slave”. Although Consuelo did not approve of the more militant suffragettes (as her mother did and supported), she was a true and influential and powerful feminist, arguing for women to take a strong role in the public sphere and in society, and for the right causes. Incredibly, Alva feminism extended beyond social, class, and race lines. She fought for Russian female workers on strike and invited “coloured” suffragettes into her groups. Thus, despite their extreme wealth, the only true happiness that both women found were in finding roles in improving the world and finding voices and power in it, mainly through philanthropy—and, by extension of that, feminism and women’s rights.
An amazing, fascinating book about unlikely, and yet, totally created by their society of ridiculous wealth and male dominance, feminists, and their very unique takes on women in the political sphere. Fascinating, tragic, inspiring, beautiful, horrific, and ridiculous story (fantastically, engagingly written) of two captivating and very different women, women that made the very best with what life had thrown at them: a load of money and a locked gilded cage. Grade: A
May 12, 2018
Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt, the pinnacles of American Society and wealth and prime examples of the ends people go to in order to achieve "status," led interesting lives outside of their famous Marlborough endeavour. Both became involved in the suffrage movement, though Alva's involvement was much more than Consuelo's. and both hobnobbed with the biggest names of their day in the UK. Stuart's well-researched biography provides A LOT of information about these two women's lives. It draws on many contemporary sources in order to show the scope of their life outside of Society. However, the parts outside of Society, which were so intricately described by the author, were so boring because of the extreme amount of detail and Consuelo's bland charity work, indistinct from that of any other Society woman. The most interesting times of Consuelo were those up until her separation from the Duke, when she developed as a person, and those after her marriage to Balsan, when her bland charity work changed into more political life due to her husband's profile. Alva's life was similarly more interesting until Belmont's death, after which the author tries to sell her a a premier suffragist, though her discussion of denaturalization upon marriage of a woman drew attention to a very under-discussed part of feminism. Strangely enough, neither women's children were mentioned frequently, making them seem isolated from their families in ways that seem unlikely given the photos. The author also seems to throw in mentions of Churchill whenever possible, though Consuelo probably did have other interesting friends with more interesting anecdotes. The author also seems to be a little enamoured with her subjects, which is generally kept out of the book until Stuart discusses Consuelo's memoir in glowing, saccarhine terms. The book is interesting overall, but requires perseverance at times.
March 6, 2023
A very interesting portrait of two women who were probably born in the wrong era, Alva especially. I think this book is better if you're already familiar with the Vanderbilt family because if you're looking for an in-depth telling of their story, you won't find it here. Yes, Consuelo was the great-granddaughter of The Commodore, but her mother primarily shaped her childhood and she spent the majority of her adult years living in England and France. There are several books about the family dynasty that can be read instead.
Alva is a bundle of contradictions. Her behavior is frequently repulsive and her parenting style leaves much to be desired. Her commitment to women's suffrage is commendable, and the author does show how her support and stances did contribute to success. But she also threw tantrums, was wildly dramatic, and used her money as a way to get people to do what she wanted. Even in print, Alva dominates. The best I can call her is a pill. If you want to read a fictionalized portrait of Alva, you can read the highly flattering A Well-Behaved Woman: A Novel of the Vanderbilts by Therese Anne Fowler.
What was less known to me was Consuelo's own involvement with women's suffrage and her forays into politics. This book is clearly well-researched and gives a pretty complete picture of Consuelo's life and just how much the world had changed by the time she died in the 1960s.
Alva is a bundle of contradictions. Her behavior is frequently repulsive and her parenting style leaves much to be desired. Her commitment to women's suffrage is commendable, and the author does show how her support and stances did contribute to success. But she also threw tantrums, was wildly dramatic, and used her money as a way to get people to do what she wanted. Even in print, Alva dominates. The best I can call her is a pill. If you want to read a fictionalized portrait of Alva, you can read the highly flattering A Well-Behaved Woman: A Novel of the Vanderbilts by Therese Anne Fowler.
What was less known to me was Consuelo's own involvement with women's suffrage and her forays into politics. This book is clearly well-researched and gives a pretty complete picture of Consuelo's life and just how much the world had changed by the time she died in the 1960s.
June 19, 2020
At first I wasn't sure I'd want to read 500 pages about these two, but found the book engrossing all the way through. Consuelo, in love with another man, was pressured by her status-seeking mother to give him up and instead marry England's Duke of Marlborough, who needed a wealthy wife to save his estate. Alva had earlier caused a sensation by divorcing her unfaithful Vanderbilt husband, divorce being unthinkable among the socially prominent at that time.
The book continues through the two women's lives, providing details on their philanthropy and activism as well as describing what life was like among the very wealthy at that time. Unhappy in her marriage to the duke, Consuelo undertakes considerable charity work. Alva, after her second husband dies unexpectedly, throws her energy and financial support into the women's suffrage movement, becoming an important resource to further the work of the National Woman's Party. Later on, Consuelo and her second husband, living in France, manage a suspenseful escape just ahead of the Nazi invasion in June 1940.
The author's decision to make this a dual biography was brilliant, providing much more interest than either of their lives would have individually. Money may not buy you love (or happiness), but it can sure provide a heck of a story!
The book continues through the two women's lives, providing details on their philanthropy and activism as well as describing what life was like among the very wealthy at that time. Unhappy in her marriage to the duke, Consuelo undertakes considerable charity work. Alva, after her second husband dies unexpectedly, throws her energy and financial support into the women's suffrage movement, becoming an important resource to further the work of the National Woman's Party. Later on, Consuelo and her second husband, living in France, manage a suspenseful escape just ahead of the Nazi invasion in June 1940.
The author's decision to make this a dual biography was brilliant, providing much more interest than either of their lives would have individually. Money may not buy you love (or happiness), but it can sure provide a heck of a story!
April 20, 2021
Everybody knows something of this story: unimaginable wealth in the Gilded Age, very young very rich girl marries British aristocrat who needs money, The Buccaneers. Much of what we think we know is colored by the bizarre annullment proceedings long after both Consuelo and the Duke of Marlborough had children, been divorced and married other people. Both women also wrote not entirely candid autbiographies as well. This clear-eyed (is it because the author is British?), well-researched treatment begins when Alva was Alva Smith and follows both women through the rest of their lives. Actually, I found them most interesting after their first marriages when both became involved in working for women's rights and suffrage on both sides of the Atlantic. Stuart posits that Alva's insistence on marrying her daughter into British aristocracy was based in her frustration with the function of wealthy wives in late nineteenth century America: to be seen (in as many different changes of clothing as possible) and not heard. She was a strong-minded, ambitious, often abrasive woman who did not have enough she was allowed to do; and she thought her daughter could have a better life among the British aristocracy where the tradition of public service was stronger. Consuelo rose to the challenge.
December 29, 2019
Two outstanding women. Alva and Consuelo used their great fortunes to help change the status of women, serve the poor and refugees during WWII (Consuelo). They could have spent their lives in their gilded cages surrounded by opulence and ostentation and never venture of of the cage. However, they chose to use their great wealth in the service of others. And yes, they lived in an amazing array of mansions and had great wealth until the day they died. This book delved into the minutia about their houses, architecture, paintings, dress and life style. If you are an architecture buff you will love the detail. If Alva had been alive in the 21st century, she could have been an outstanding architect, in her own right, instead of the person who gave the architects the ideas for the mansions.
I am not knowledgeable of or have an interest in the fine points of architecture, so I skimmed those parts. I was more intrigued with their work for the suffragette movements in America and Britain, creating schools for women and hospitals for poor adults and children, and caring for refugees. Prior to reading this book, I only knew that the Vanderbilts were high society in America. The breath of Alva and Consuelo's lives just captivated me.
I am not knowledgeable of or have an interest in the fine points of architecture, so I skimmed those parts. I was more intrigued with their work for the suffragette movements in America and Britain, creating schools for women and hospitals for poor adults and children, and caring for refugees. Prior to reading this book, I only knew that the Vanderbilts were high society in America. The breath of Alva and Consuelo's lives just captivated me.
August 10, 2021
Alva famously took to her bed and said she would have a heart attack if Consuelo, age 18, refused to marry the 9th Duke of Marlborough. Everyone thought Alva was simply a social climber, but she had another motive. Alva fiercely believed in a woman’s right to have a purposeful life beyond building and furnishing houses and entertaining, and she was convinced that Consuelo would have more opportunity to do good in the world, and have a more worthwhile life, if she were part of the English tradition of aristocratic service. And Consuelo did make a difference in the world, throwing herself into good works in England, France and America. The marriage to the hypercritical and dour duke was unhappy from the beginning, but Consuelo won over her Marlborough relatives with her kindness, intelligence, beauty and grace. She went on to a happy second marriage with Jacques Balsan, an aristocratic French aviator, with whom she created several grand houses in Le Style Rothschild. Alva, meanwhile, became a mover and shaker in the women’s suffrage movement. Her money and her passion for the cause were instrumental--and she drove fellow activists crazy with her domineering ways. This biography is well-told, thoroughly researched and completely fascinating.
February 4, 2023
The research for this book is extensive - of the 600+ pages, almost 100 of them are devoted to references - and the resulting narrative is equally impressive.
Moving from the exorbitant wealth of mansions in Gilded Age New York, to the stately homes of England and the residences of the French countryside, this is a double biography of two women: Consuelo Vanderbilt and her mother Alva.
Consuelo was one of the wealthiest American heiresses in the late 19th century, who at the age of 18 was bullied into marriage with the impoverished English Duke of Marlborough. Their marriage was not a happy one, but after delivering “an heir and a spare”, they had a long separation and finally an annulment so Consuelo could marry her true love and live in France. She was always heavily involved with philanthropic activities and became a (non militant) suffragist.
Alva is a fascinating mix of contradictions - forcing her daughter into an unwanted marriage when she herself had scandalised high society when she divorced Consuelo’s father and later remarried. She came from a wealthy slave owning family, married into the wealthier Vanderbilt family and proceeded to buy her way into the top levels of New York society. She had a passion for architecture and design, working closely with Richard Morris Hunt on projects such as Marble House in Newport. As the years went on and she became a widow, Alva threw herself (and her money) into the militant suffragette movement.
Overall a really interesting book that reveals a lot about not only the protagonists, but also provides rich details about the worlds in which they lived.
Moving from the exorbitant wealth of mansions in Gilded Age New York, to the stately homes of England and the residences of the French countryside, this is a double biography of two women: Consuelo Vanderbilt and her mother Alva.
Consuelo was one of the wealthiest American heiresses in the late 19th century, who at the age of 18 was bullied into marriage with the impoverished English Duke of Marlborough. Their marriage was not a happy one, but after delivering “an heir and a spare”, they had a long separation and finally an annulment so Consuelo could marry her true love and live in France. She was always heavily involved with philanthropic activities and became a (non militant) suffragist.
Alva is a fascinating mix of contradictions - forcing her daughter into an unwanted marriage when she herself had scandalised high society when she divorced Consuelo’s father and later remarried. She came from a wealthy slave owning family, married into the wealthier Vanderbilt family and proceeded to buy her way into the top levels of New York society. She had a passion for architecture and design, working closely with Richard Morris Hunt on projects such as Marble House in Newport. As the years went on and she became a widow, Alva threw herself (and her money) into the militant suffragette movement.
Overall a really interesting book that reveals a lot about not only the protagonists, but also provides rich details about the worlds in which they lived.
May 10, 2022
I have had this book on my shelf for ages. I picked it up to read after I finished the Audible book about the Vanderbilt family, because I was really interested to learn more about Alva. Her relationship and treatment of her daughter, Consuelo, was really tragic. Alva was extremely controlling over Consuelo, and the pressure she must have felt to be the perfect little pawn her mother wanted. I believe that Alva had her best interest at heart, as far as money and furthering her station was concerned...but I do not believe that happiness and mental health were a priority or even a thought for her. Despite the things that happened between mother and daughter, Consuelo seemed to grow into a very nice and compassionate woman. She endured her marriage for twenty seven years before she was finally able to marry someone for love. This book was really well written and the research seemed quite well done. I really learned a lot from this book, and it was a nice additional supplement to the Vanderbilt book I read not long ago. It was also a dollar at the used bookstore, so I can't be upset about that.
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