Hugette Clark, the youngest daughter of
W.A. Clark, the Copper King, lived a reclusive life. The fabulous
amount of money inherited from her father allowed her to live exactly
the way she wanted which included having two homes and three
apartments that she didn't visit for over 20 years or more. One,
Bellosguardo, was kept ready for an immanent visit for nearly forty
years.
She collected dolls, paintings and
musical instruments. She paid for doll houses built to her
specifications and gave away large sums of money to people she liked,
sometimes to people she didn't know.
Empty Mansions is a sensitive portrait
of a very private woman. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about her
childhood in the immense mansion in New York City, about her time
with her adored mother, Anna, at Bellosguardo near Los Angeles, and
her interest in art and music.
The story becomes bizarre when in her
80s with several cancerous tumors on her face she is taken to Doctors
Hospital. She's cured, but refuses to leave the hospital preferring
to remain there with a private duty nurse rather than resume life in
her beautiful homes.
Predictably her death set off a
scramble for her fortune. The family is convinced that the nurse,
attorney and accountant exercised undue influence in having her sign
a will cutting them out and setting up a foundation for the arts at
Bellosguardo. It will be interesting to see it how it plays out.
I highly recommend this book for
several reasons. It gives a well researched picture of one of the
great American fortunes, it provides a glimpse of the remarkable
Gilded Age, and it paints a portrait of a strange, reclusive woman.
I reviewed this book for Net Galley.
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