Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune
By Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr. (2013)
Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist Bill Dedman and Paul Clark
Newell, Jr., a cousin of the book's subject, reconstruct the life of reclusive
copper heiress Huguette Clark (1906-2011) in this riveting biography. The
authors bring Huguette's odd past into clear perspective, including the
hilariously corrupt political schemes of her father, W.A. Clark, who was a
Montana senator. Though less celebrated than his compatriots Rockefeller and
Carnegie, W.A. Clark was at a time wealthier than they, and by extension, so was
his daughter. She was a regular in the society pages during her youth and even
married for a short time, Clark later slipped into her own world and stayed
there, quietly buying multi-million dollar homes for her dolls. Kind and
unspeakably generous to those who worked for her and usually suspicious of
family, she wrote a few big checks to people she hardly knew. Other family
acquisitions, valuable musical instruments and jewelry among them, she simply
gave away. The authors provide a thrilling study of the responsibilities and
privileges that come with great wealth and draw the reader into the deliciously
scandalous story of Clark's choices in later life, the question of Clark's
presence of mind always at issue. Hewn from Huguette's stories, purchases, phone
calls, gifts, and letters, the tale of where and how Huguette Clark found
happiness will entrance anyone. (Publishers Weekly)
