The Glitter and the Gold: The American Duchess—In Her Own Words

It is a most interesting story from her own words. I'm glad she did finally find happiness. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in a gilded age woman.

What I found interesting about this book was first the insight into so many "worlds" Consuelo was allowed viewing from talks with Winston Churchill to meeting the Czar of Russia to the endless requirements of being an "English" Duchess. She gives fairly detailed information on various aspects of her life. However, there are many illusions to moments that were considered vulgar, or distressing or disconcerting to her that she expects her readers to understand without any explanation as to why we should. Little anecdotes dot sceneries here and there and they have some meaning to her personally but no meaning to the reader.I also found that at the beginning of her book, she granted great liberalness of mind and generosity of heart to people she didn't find quite so agreeable. In her pages following her divorce and subsequent marriage to Jacques Balson, she's not quite so kind and spends a good two pages expressing her dislike of Edith Wharton as an example.Though she lived an incredible life and contributed much to her world and to those around her, it seems that she could never quite reconcile herself for being what she was and always would be, American and a bohemian at heart. Though a lady in many sense of the word as witness in her attempts to reign in some of her true feelings, she let them slip through at times and her husband was quite wrong in assessing her as lacking in any snobbishness. She had plenty particularly amongst her discriminations between various nationalities.All said, she was still an amazing person but it would've been far more entertaining to let her reader see more clearly the woman than the lady.

This autobiography of the granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt chronicles the life of a daughter of fortune born in 1877 to William K. Vanderbilt of the New York Central Railroad empire.Consuelo describes her father as having a happy nature and disliking strife. Speaking of her mother, she tells of a woman with towering ambition, one who is combative and domineering. She once told Consuelo, "I don't ask you to think, I do the thinking, you do as you are told."One of the things Consuelo's mother told her was who she would marry. The Duke of Marlborough, whose family estate was Blenheim Palace, became the groom of this arranged marriage. With him Consuelo produced two sons, and after eleven years of strained relations she sought a legal separation. For several more years, Consuelo remained in England, and then following her divorce, remarried and moved to her second husband's native country, France. There, Consuelo and her husband, Jacques Balsan, enjoyed many happy years in Paris, on the Riviera, and in Saint Georges Motel. When France fell to Hitler in 1940, Consuelo and Jacques escaped to the United States where she regained her citizenship.This self-portrait of a privileged life reveals a woman deeply concerned about those less fortunate. Throughout her years in Britain and France, Consuelo championed many causes to benefit the poor, the working women, and children of the underprivileged.In 1913 she helped organize a conference to draw attention to the plight of poorly paid female workers. When World War I broke out, she helped the Women's Emergency Corps, a group of women who took over jobs of men sent off to fight. In 1916 she spoke on infant mortality, metioning the prevalence of venereal disease and its disastrous effects. As Honorary Treasurer of the Medical School for Women, she secured donations to establish and equip an extension of the Physics Department at the Royal Free Hospital.In France, her philanthropic efforts continued. She helped secure funding for a hospital for the middle class. After moving to Saint Georges-Motel, she established a children's sanatorium where children could recover from tuberculosis.Along with her philanthropic efforts, Consuelo maintained an active social life. While married to the Duke of Marlborough she hosted a shooting party which included the Prince of Wales on the guest list. Over a hundred guests were accommodated in the house.In France her social circle included ambassadors, archbishops, counts and countesses, renowned writers, artists, and prime ministers.The book contains many black and white photos of family members, homes in Britain and France, and artistic portraits of Consuelo and her family when she was a duchess.While the text is engaging and the eras and opulence described in terms that will never fail to impress, Consuelo's frequent inclusion of French phrases sans translation leave those illiterate in French in the dark as to the meaning.The autobiography ends with Consuelo's return to the United States at the start of World War II, but no information on how she spent the years between 1940 and 1952, the date of publication of her autobiography. She lived until 1964, dying when she was 87 years old. Evidently, she wrote no other books but this one.Further information on Consuelo and her mother can be found in Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: The Story of a Daughter and Mother in the Gilded Age, by Amanda Mackenzie Stuart, Harper Perennial, 2005The Glitter and the Gold: The American Duchess---in Her Own Words

I love history and this book is right up there with the important people of our time. Ms Vanderbilt has a very interesting way of writing.

Viel Neues, sehr spannend geschrieben, man lernt viel dazu und ist beeindruckt von all der Geldverschwendung und dem Lebensstil der upper class Amerikas zur letzten Jahrhundertwende.Habs mit großer Freude gelesen, kann ich nur empfehlen

It was a fascinating insight into the lives of the super rich in America in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Even more interesting was the insight in the very highest echelons of English Society in the early 1900s. She had the courage to divorce her husband in a time when divorce was frowned upon , especially in his society. I thought her style was a bit stilted and she thought the world of herself but it was nevertheless very engaging

On suit avec beaucoup d'intérêt la vie de la jeune Consuelo Vanderbilt, devenue ensuite Duchesse de Malborough, puis Mme Jacques Balsan. Née au 19ème siècle, cette jeune américaine, richissime mais extrêmement bien instruite, parlant plusieurs langues, habitant dans trois pays différents, nous livre ses mémoires, détaillant les personnes qu'elle a rencontrées, s'attardant sur les événements auxquels elle a participés, racontant finalement le (grand) monde dans lequel elle vivait. Elle nous embarque dans le voyage de ses souvenirs et on la suit avec grand plaisir, d'autant plus qu'elle a une bonne dose d'humour et qu'elle nous le montre.

Disappointing. Almost like reading a report in the first half - no passion, full of the pointless social lives of Consuelo and other upper class people with too much money, influence and connections to royalty. She is an American teenager, the great grand-daughter of the fabulously wealthy Vanderbuilt. Her mother marries her off to an English Duke to whom she dutifully provides an heir and a spare, whilst organising, hosting and attending a constant round of social engagements. The second half of the book is an improvement in that Consuelo was able to direct her own life, follow her social conscience and interests and support important social change whilst improving her own private life and finding happiness. Very patchy, no depth, at best a surface look at the fairy-floss lives of the times.