Empty Mansions

The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune

By: Bill Dedman, Paul Clark Newell Jr.

Narrated by: Kimberly Farr

When Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bill Dedman noticed in 2009 a grand home for sale, unoccupied for nearly 60 years, he stumbled through a surprising portal into American history. Empty Mansions is a rich mystery of wealth and loss, connecting the Gilded Age opulence of the 19th century with a 21st-century battle over a $300 million inheritance. At its heart is a reclusive heiress named Huguette Clark, a woman so secretive that, at the time of her death at age 104, no new photograph of her had been seen in decades. Though she owned palatial homes in California, New York, and Connecticut, why had she lived for 20 years in a simple hospital room, despite being in excellent health? Why were her valuables being sold off? Was she in control of her fortune, or controlled by those managing her money?

Dedman has collaborated with Huguette Clark’s cousin, Paul Clark Newell, Jr., one of the few relatives to have frequent conversations with her. Dedman and Newell tell a fairy tale in reverse: the bright, talented daughter, born into a family of extreme wealth and privilege, who secrets herself away from the outside world.

Empty Mansions reveals a complex portrait of the mysterious Huguette and her intimate circle. We meet her extravagant father, her publicity-shy mother, her star-crossed sister, her French boyfriend, her nurse who received more than $30 million in gifts, and the relatives fighting to inherit Huguette’s copper fortune. Empty Mansions is an enthralling story of an eccentric of the highest order, a last jewel of the Gilded Age who lived life on her own terms.

©2013 Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr. (P)2013 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

" Empty Mansions is a dazzlement and a wonder. Bill Dedman and Paul Newell unravel a great character, Huguette Clark, a shy soul akin to Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird - if Boo’s father had been as rich as Rockefeller. This is an enchanting journey into the mysteries of the mind, a true-to-life exploration of strangeness and delight." (Pat Conroy, author of The Death of Santini: The Story of a Father and His Son)

Loved it

I really liked this book! I also love non fiction..I definitely recommend it and I liked the narrator a lot.

What a story! Fascinating

What a story! Fascinating tale about a hidden gem of a woman and her family. the villains are unbelievable in their machinations and I am looking forward to doing more research on them in hopes of their getting their just deserts... and hopefully a lot of jail time and many audits from the IRS!

So interesting!

What an interesting woman she was. She was born in the early 1900s, born into the lap of luxury and wealth. Her family was so rich that, I don't think she even thought about money, but she didn't seem to be arrogant about her wealth either. I was used to getting $100.00 from my parents at Christmas. Miss Clark would give checks of $40,000 or 50,000!
Well worth the read or listen on Audible!

The paradox of great wealth

I found W.A. Clark fascinating, and his accomplishments quite remarkable. Huguette Clark was less interesting, but somehow I was compelled to keep listening. The primitive and corrupting influence of great wealth was exhibited by Madame Clark’s physicians, and reflective of a greater insight into our most basic relationship to money. I think my fascination with the book was fueled by the fantasies that unlimited wealth inspires.

Wonderful story, didn't want it to end.

Such a great book, and so interesting to hear the story of Huguette and her family through the years. I will definitely listen again! A magical story, what she lived through in history!

Ver interesting

Overall this was a good listen and very interesting about how Clark stared with nothing and built an empire. It was too long with too many unnecessary details. I enjoyed most of it. The narrator was very good.

Unbelievable ~ Yet The Details Are Factual

From beginning to end...it's an interesting look into the lives of a wealthy family...particularly a Father and his daughter left on her own to carry on. It's also insightful as to how those around her unprofessionaly profited by chance of interacting in her later years.

Enjoyed every minute of it!

After listening to this book I couldn't wait to learn more of Huguette Clark. What a fascinating woman! I so enjoyed the conversations with her and Paul. Just loved loved loved it. Thank you for sharing your family story. I do have to say without spoiling it...Shame on a couple of Huguette's care givers the last years of her life. Shame on some of her relatives too. So judgmental and greedy to such a kind woman; it's unfortunate for the relatives they never knew Mrs. Clark. God Bless Chris, whom was sent from Heaven; and was to be a true trusted confidant and friend. I just loved, loved, loved this book. Thank you again.

A most peculiar story of one of America's wealthiest families.

While the story of the empty mansions brought me to Ms Clark's story, the narrative of her life was a mixture of wonder, sadness, happiness and mystery.

GREAT FOR HISTORIANS

Good story, best for history buffs (I'm not). If you like stories of recluse, this might be for you.