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3.3 AVERAGE
3.3 AVERAGE
It was an enjoyable enough book to listen to while driving but not very exciting. I found most of the characters rather unlikeable but I started to feel sorry for Cora as her strong character weakened overtime. The ending fell flat and didn’t resolve all the issues I wanted to see resolved.
emotional
medium-paced
Cora Cash is a beautiful, headstrong American heiress who is dispatched to Europe by her ambitious mother to use her money to obtain a titled marriage. The book follows her quest and subsequent marriage, along with all the intrigue found in the lives of the wealthy and their servants.
If you're a fan of Downton Abbey, you will like this book as it's basically the early story of Lady Grantham, who is also named Cora (a rich American who was married by Lord Grantham primarily to get her money to use in the keeping up of Downton).
While not great literature, it is a very engaging read. The portrayals of The Gilded Age make 21st century excess feel downright reasonable. Reading this makes me appreciate my own lowbrow existence where I don't need to dress for dinner each night in an outfit where I need to turn sideways to get through the door, make nicey-nice with repulsive gentlemen, or eat lark tongues in aspic.
If you're a fan of Downton Abbey, you will like this book as it's basically the early story of Lady Grantham, who is also named Cora (a rich American who was married by Lord Grantham primarily to get her money to use in the keeping up of Downton).
While not great literature, it is a very engaging read. The portrayals of The Gilded Age make 21st century excess feel downright reasonable. Reading this makes me appreciate my own lowbrow existence where I don't need to dress for dinner each night in an outfit where I need to turn sideways to get through the door, make nicey-nice with repulsive gentlemen, or eat lark tongues in aspic.
The American Gilded Age takes on Late Victorian England. A fun read.
Review originally posted on my blog : http://utahmomslife.blogspot.com/2011/06/american-heiress-book-review.html
Reading Daisy Goodwin's novel American Heiress was a bit like reading a tabloid magazine. Cora Cash is one of the wealthiest American young women in the 1890's--the gilded age. Cora is already worth a fortune but her status-seeking mother schemes to marry her off to a titled but money-troubled English gentleman. Cora is OK with that plan if it means that she can escape her mother's control. The press and the admiring young fans crowd the streets for a glimpse of Cora at her elaborate wedding to Duke Wareham. Cora thrives on the attention but her wedding day is even more perfect because she has married for love.
However, is this highly educated and groomed young woman really ready for the stuffy and proper English gentility? And did her duke marry for love or money?
Goodwin's novel is a very entertaining read. I had a hard time putting it down to go to sleep each night this week. Reminding me of Edith Wharton's Age of Innocence with it's decadence and moral themes, this novel is full of fresh plot twists and elegant but ultimately self-serving characters. Cora, while narcissistic and conceited, is so young and naive that I couldn't help but hope the best for her as she stumbles her way through the English protocol and the intrigue that awaits in her new life.
By turns romantic and tragic, American Heiress lured me in with details of the extravagant lifestyles of the extremely wealthy but captured and held my attention with a well-paced plot and fabulously delicious and devious characters. It's a "guilty pleasure" but not too guilty, because Goodwin is pretty good at keeping the details of the "bedroom" scenes brief and discreet.
This is one enthralling summer read.
Reading Daisy Goodwin's novel American Heiress was a bit like reading a tabloid magazine. Cora Cash is one of the wealthiest American young women in the 1890's--the gilded age. Cora is already worth a fortune but her status-seeking mother schemes to marry her off to a titled but money-troubled English gentleman. Cora is OK with that plan if it means that she can escape her mother's control. The press and the admiring young fans crowd the streets for a glimpse of Cora at her elaborate wedding to Duke Wareham. Cora thrives on the attention but her wedding day is even more perfect because she has married for love.
However, is this highly educated and groomed young woman really ready for the stuffy and proper English gentility? And did her duke marry for love or money?
Goodwin's novel is a very entertaining read. I had a hard time putting it down to go to sleep each night this week. Reminding me of Edith Wharton's Age of Innocence with it's decadence and moral themes, this novel is full of fresh plot twists and elegant but ultimately self-serving characters. Cora, while narcissistic and conceited, is so young and naive that I couldn't help but hope the best for her as she stumbles her way through the English protocol and the intrigue that awaits in her new life.
By turns romantic and tragic, American Heiress lured me in with details of the extravagant lifestyles of the extremely wealthy but captured and held my attention with a well-paced plot and fabulously delicious and devious characters. It's a "guilty pleasure" but not too guilty, because Goodwin is pretty good at keeping the details of the "bedroom" scenes brief and discreet.
This is one enthralling summer read.
emotional
medium-paced
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I guess I'm a sucker for visions of big dresses and British royalty. This book had all these things and some decent writing. Then it fell flat on it's corseted ass.
