Queen of the Golden Age

by Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr.

Book Overview

""Queen of Golden Age: The Fabulous Story of Grace Wilson Vanderbilt"" is a biography written by Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr. that chronicles the life of Grace Wilson Vanderbilt, a prominent figure in New... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0704102765
• ISBN13: 9780704102767
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: G Mann
• Length: 300 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.

Customer Reviews

From a son's perspective

This is an interesting book for those who desire an inside look at what life was like for America's robber barons and their immediate families during the Gilded Age. Cornelius Vanderbilt writes a valentine here to his mother, Grace Wilson Vanderbilt.Cornelius's father was all but disowned by his parents for marrying the purportedly notorious Grace, herself from a rich and prominent family. Nonetheless, he made as much money as any other member of his estranged family, despite being cast out on his own, and he raised his children as the closest thing to royalty that this country ever will know.Accordingly, Cornelius and his siblings were given childhoods filled with yachts and mansions in Newport and on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, along with a lavishly bejeweled mother who entertained magnificently. The author himself was largely disowned by his father when he chose a career as a newspaper reporter. Still, his own professional experience probably makes him a more objective diarist than a conventional loving son might be. The details that he provides are fascinating, and these certainly would be unknown to an unrelated researcher.This is an interesting and worthwhile book for those intrigued by this unique period in American history.