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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
What I love about donations to my Little Free Library Shed is when they are offered by other Little Free Library Stewards. Typically, what I like to do, is when books are not circulating in my library, I will take them to other LFL’s in my neighboring communities so that other readers can enjoy them. When other LFL Stewards do the same for me, it is always a sweet pleasure!
This book was one of those experiences. So, I was hopeful I would enjoy reading the book.
This is a fictionalized version of Marjorie Post, the daughter of C.W. Post who is probably most known for creating the tasty, grain-based breakfast cereal. Even though he died when she was young, she learned a lot from him, and used those lessons to enrich her life and the lives of others.
She not only enjoyed her money as a socialite, she also built legacy estates like the infamous Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida and Hillwood Home in Washington D.C.. She was also well-known for using her money to help soldiers during the war. She created canteens during the Great Depression that established free food and clothing for people who needed it.
Pataki allows readers an inside view of a complicated woman. She also shows a love life that seemed more heart-breaking than romantic or fulfilling for a woman of her position.
The story could be considered compelling and it is hard not to admire all her generosity. But there is something about her in the way she is portrayed between these pages that did not feel particularly comfortable for me as a reader.
The way Marjorie’s character was written just made this book an okay read. She didn’t feel real. It’s like when you get inside a character and you can feel their feelings so much, you almost feel like you are there with them. That didn’t happen for me. It’s like she was on the surface of the page, and I never could feel the depth of her. Almost like reading a biography background resume and then that was it. The end. And, that to me is what was missing. The emotional connection.
I know I am probably an outlier. I do appreciate the donation, and I hope others will enjoy this book more than I did. Maybe you will feel differently.
This book was one of those experiences. So, I was hopeful I would enjoy reading the book.
This is a fictionalized version of Marjorie Post, the daughter of C.W. Post who is probably most known for creating the tasty, grain-based breakfast cereal. Even though he died when she was young, she learned a lot from him, and used those lessons to enrich her life and the lives of others.
She not only enjoyed her money as a socialite, she also built legacy estates like the infamous Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida and Hillwood Home in Washington D.C.. She was also well-known for using her money to help soldiers during the war. She created canteens during the Great Depression that established free food and clothing for people who needed it.
Pataki allows readers an inside view of a complicated woman. She also shows a love life that seemed more heart-breaking than romantic or fulfilling for a woman of her position.
The story could be considered compelling and it is hard not to admire all her generosity. But there is something about her in the way she is portrayed between these pages that did not feel particularly comfortable for me as a reader.
The way Marjorie’s character was written just made this book an okay read. She didn’t feel real. It’s like when you get inside a character and you can feel their feelings so much, you almost feel like you are there with them. That didn’t happen for me. It’s like she was on the surface of the page, and I never could feel the depth of her. Almost like reading a biography background resume and then that was it. The end. And, that to me is what was missing. The emotional connection.
I know I am probably an outlier. I do appreciate the donation, and I hope others will enjoy this book more than I did. Maybe you will feel differently.
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Based on the glowing reviews, I guess mine is an unpopular take, but here goes...
Ok, I get it. It's a novel, not a biography, so the author can take some liberties. But why so many historical inaccuracies for things so easy to research? Like the inaccurate description ofHalcourt Hutton 's death? Why change that? Or writing about Flo Ziegfeld having an affair in Spring 1934, when in real life the man died in 1932? Ugh! I really struggle with historical fiction that changes the basic facts. It makes me wonder if any of the book is accurate at all.
I enjoyed the first part of the book, about the family's time in the boarding house and at Kellogg's sanitorium. Beyond that, it was a boring slog through repetitive failed marriages to men that were all basically written as carbon copies of one another, plus endless descriptions of how the ridiculously wealthy spend money on disgusting excesses and whine about how sad their lives are. Maybe an interesting glimpse into another life, but it became boring after awhile and I nearly DNF'd it several times.
Ok, I get it. It's a novel, not a biography, so the author can take some liberties. But why so many historical inaccuracies for things so easy to research? Like the inaccurate description of
I enjoyed the first part of the book, about the family's time in the boarding house and at Kellogg's sanitorium. Beyond that, it was a boring slog through repetitive failed marriages to men that were all basically written as carbon copies of one another, plus endless descriptions of how the ridiculously wealthy spend money on disgusting excesses and whine about how sad their lives are. Maybe an interesting glimpse into another life, but it became boring after awhile and I nearly DNF'd it several times.
This book… was fine. Marjorie Merriweather Post is undoubtably an incredibly interesting woman, having lived through and been a part of so much history. But to me, this book didn’t convey the enormity of her person and I instead often felt frustrated or apathetic.
For me, the biggest issue is that Marjorie’s personality felt annoying to me from the start. It might make sense in the earlier chapters as she’s only a young girl, but I reached my first tipping point when she cannot understand her father’s “betrayal” of her and her mother, despite her father having had a long-secretary/mistress for many years - instead, the betrayal is just finally marrying her. And obviously the mature thing to do is also marry to show how much you don’t care. But I get it, she was young and she obviously marries again. What I don’t get, however, is the sense of that childish personality changing and maturing throughout the course of the book. To be honest, without the changing of husbands and the historical events, it’s frankly hard to assess the passing of time. I found myself more and more referencing the noted years to see how much time had passed, because I didn’t get that sense from Marjorie herself.
The second issue I had is that I can’t really tell what the messaging behind money is supposed to be. There’s obviously a love of the lavish, and the luxurious and rarified details of Marjorie’s residences and experiences were some of the things that I did enjoy. But so often she says she needs purpose and to give, but it really felt like her most personal satisfaction came from making her grand residences, which is to say: money can probably buy part of her happiness. Her life can feel magical sometimes, but as she says later describing Hillwood, “not so much magic as time. And money.”
If we are to focus on her charitable work, I wanted more about her relationships with people who weren’t of her rarified class. If we are to focus on her cultural exploits, I would have loved more about her Russophile interests beyond collecting rare pieces from Soviet’s willing to sell at a bargain. If we are to focus on what her events meant to various social scenes, I want to know more about how power and relationships were involved (and maybe this also means a criticism of power aligning with wealth). Instead, I feel like we get so much luscious detail about her items, houses, and events, and it annoys me that the book’s four parts are defined largely by her husbands, when her phases in life feel much beyond that.
This is my last complaint: I didn’t love how the relationships felt instant-love to me, and the length of the relationships never really came through to me either (it’s really hard to gauge the passing of time in this book!) But my bigger complaint is that I didn’t love how the downfall of each relationship felt a little like the unreliable narrator part in a thriller book, or when your friend finally tells you how a relationship was after the breakup. There weren’t little instances of a relationship slowly coming to an end - it’s implied to have slowly ended over time, sure, but I’m not getting it in the book!! - and instead it comes all at once. It makes each relationship seem abrupt, which makes it even more abrupt when the next part of the book starts and there’s already a new love interest.
Overall, likely only fine because Marjorie Merriweather Post really is a fascinating person and it’s really interesting to see her mark on American history (did not realize that my hometown music venue of choice was named after her!), and more people should know about her. But the book never felt wholly enjoyable to me - there were parts that I liked, but overall I kept describing this book as “the annoying one” to my husband. Maybe will give the recommended biography a chance to see if that gives Marjorie the depth that I wanted from this book.
For me, the biggest issue is that Marjorie’s personality felt annoying to me from the start. It might make sense in the earlier chapters as she’s only a young girl, but I reached my first tipping point when she cannot understand her father’s “betrayal” of her and her mother, despite her father having had a long-secretary/mistress for many years - instead, the betrayal is just finally marrying her. And obviously the mature thing to do is also marry to show how much you don’t care. But I get it, she was young and she obviously marries again. What I don’t get, however, is the sense of that childish personality changing and maturing throughout the course of the book. To be honest, without the changing of husbands and the historical events, it’s frankly hard to assess the passing of time. I found myself more and more referencing the noted years to see how much time had passed, because I didn’t get that sense from Marjorie herself.
The second issue I had is that I can’t really tell what the messaging behind money is supposed to be. There’s obviously a love of the lavish, and the luxurious and rarified details of Marjorie’s residences and experiences were some of the things that I did enjoy. But so often she says she needs purpose and to give, but it really felt like her most personal satisfaction came from making her grand residences, which is to say: money can probably buy part of her happiness. Her life can feel magical sometimes, but as she says later describing Hillwood, “not so much magic as time. And money.”
If we are to focus on her charitable work, I wanted more about her relationships with people who weren’t of her rarified class. If we are to focus on her cultural exploits, I would have loved more about her Russophile interests beyond collecting rare pieces from Soviet’s willing to sell at a bargain. If we are to focus on what her events meant to various social scenes, I want to know more about how power and relationships were involved (and maybe this also means a criticism of power aligning with wealth). Instead, I feel like we get so much luscious detail about her items, houses, and events, and it annoys me that the book’s four parts are defined largely by her husbands, when her phases in life feel much beyond that.
This is my last complaint: I didn’t love how the relationships felt instant-love to me, and the length of the relationships never really came through to me either (it’s really hard to gauge the passing of time in this book!) But my bigger complaint is that I didn’t love how the downfall of each relationship felt a little like the unreliable narrator part in a thriller book, or when your friend finally tells you how a relationship was after the breakup. There weren’t little instances of a relationship slowly coming to an end - it’s implied to have slowly ended over time, sure, but I’m not getting it in the book!! - and instead it comes all at once. It makes each relationship seem abrupt, which makes it even more abrupt when the next part of the book starts and there’s already a new love interest.
Overall, likely only fine because Marjorie Merriweather Post really is a fascinating person and it’s really interesting to see her mark on American history (did not realize that my hometown music venue of choice was named after her!), and more people should know about her. But the book never felt wholly enjoyable to me - there were parts that I liked, but overall I kept describing this book as “the annoying one” to my husband. Maybe will give the recommended biography a chance to see if that gives Marjorie the depth that I wanted from this book.
informative
adventurous
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This one has definitely stayed with me as a great pick from 2024
I normally love historical fiction, and this could have been so much but it just fell flat.
Marjorie Merriweather Post could have been a fascinating character- an heiress that was one of the richest women in the country without a man, four divorces, society daughters, the OG of Mar-A-Lago and a ton of charity work. This all could have made for great fiction! Instead I felt that this was more of autobiography. The text in general was plain and unexciting. She moved from one event to another with no real emotion of it. Things just happen and that's the end. Suddenly she's in love; suddenly she's not and let's just move on to the next topic.
I most of all felt this was a giant fluff piece for woman who passed away almost 40 years ago. The author has no relation to her but from what I read just admired her very much. And that's fine! But I felt this was constantly just putting Post on a holier than thou pedestal and touting all the great things she did without ever thinking about who she really was. Why did she get divorced four times- was it always the man's fault? Did she ever do anything wrong? And though Post did do amazing things I also felt this really just idolized the way she spent her money. There was constant mention of the jewels she bought, the houses she spent millions on buying and redecorating. There were times this led me to believe Post cared more about money and her possessions than anything else.
In short this could have been so, so, so much more.
Marjorie Merriweather Post could have been a fascinating character- an heiress that was one of the richest women in the country without a man, four divorces, society daughters, the OG of Mar-A-Lago and a ton of charity work. This all could have made for great fiction! Instead I felt that this was more of autobiography. The text in general was plain and unexciting. She moved from one event to another with no real emotion of it. Things just happen and that's the end. Suddenly she's in love; suddenly she's not and let's just move on to the next topic.
I most of all felt this was a giant fluff piece for woman who passed away almost 40 years ago. The author has no relation to her but from what I read just admired her very much. And that's fine! But I felt this was constantly just putting Post on a holier than thou pedestal and touting all the great things she did without ever thinking about who she really was. Why did she get divorced four times- was it always the man's fault? Did she ever do anything wrong? And though Post did do amazing things I also felt this really just idolized the way she spent her money. There was constant mention of the jewels she bought, the houses she spent millions on buying and redecorating. There were times this led me to believe Post cared more about money and her possessions than anything else.
In short this could have been so, so, so much more.
I had high expectations for this book, but ultimately think it fell short.
Marjorie post is a VERY interesting woman, which kept this book interesting. However, the writing and pacing were subpar and I found myself wanting to just be done with it.
Worth a read if you are interested in her story but don’t let the hype set your expectations too high.
Marjorie post is a VERY interesting woman, which kept this book interesting. However, the writing and pacing were subpar and I found myself wanting to just be done with it.
Worth a read if you are interested in her story but don’t let the hype set your expectations too high.
This book was my annual pick for my neighborhood book club. I started my selection process by looking at 4-star books I had on my to-read list. With tales of parties, jewels, and travels, this looked like a fun book for everyone to read during the holidays. At first, when I saw the Post name I thought it was about the family of Emily Post, the manners lady, but after some additional research I discovered that it was the Post cereal family and that she was the first woman to own a major corporation. I have read many biographies of male tycoons - Steve Jobs, Andrew Carnegie, Elon Musk, Henry Ford, Frank Lloyd Wright, to name a few, and these men all turned out to be jerks (keeping the wording family friendly!). I wanted to know if a woman could do better.
I was since Mar-a-Largo has been in the news so much lately, I was intrigued by the fact that she built it and donated it to the US government to be a Winter White House, but that fell through and then it wound up being a presidential home after all.
Since Marjorie lived to be almost 90, the story spans many decades of American history. She also lived a very full life of travel, building estates, business, and art collecting, not to mention 4 marriages. So, there is plenty of material for many books. I, as well as many of the people in my book club, took many breaks from reading the book to Google things for more information.
This book is a good read for those interested in woman's history and American history, it introduces many topics that aren't covered in history class and sparks curiosity to learn more about them.
I was since Mar-a-Largo has been in the news so much lately, I was intrigued by the fact that she built it and donated it to the US government to be a Winter White House, but that fell through and then it wound up being a presidential home after all.
Since Marjorie lived to be almost 90, the story spans many decades of American history. She also lived a very full life of travel, building estates, business, and art collecting, not to mention 4 marriages. So, there is plenty of material for many books. I, as well as many of the people in my book club, took many breaks from reading the book to Google things for more information.
This book is a good read for those interested in woman's history and American history, it introduces many topics that aren't covered in history class and sparks curiosity to learn more about them.
