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Hardcover
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co
ISBN13: 9780618893737
Condition: NEW
Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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The fate of Brooke Astor, the endearing philanthropist with the storied name, has generated worldwide headlines since her grandson Philip sued his father, Anthony Marshall, in 2006, alleging mistreatment of Brooke. Shortly after her death in 2007, Anthony was indicted on charges of looting her estate. New York journalist Meryl Gordon has interviewed not only the elite of Mrs. Astor's social circle but also the large staff who cared for her during her declining years. The result is the behind-the-headlines story of the Astor empire’s unraveling, filled with never-before-reported scenes. This powerful, poignant saga takes the reader inside the gilded gates of an American dynasty to tell of three generations’ worth of longing and missed opportunities and is filled with secrets of the sort that have engaged Americans from the era of Edith Wharton to the more recent days of Truman Capote. Even in this territory of privilege, no riches can put things right once they’ve been torn asunder. Mrs. Astor Regrets is an American epic of the bonds of money, morality, and social position.
Product Description
A riveting look behind the gates of the house of Astor as a famous family falls apart in public
The fate of Brooke Astor, the endearing philanthropist with the storied name, has generated worldwide headlines since her grandson Philip sued his father in 2006, alleging mistreatment of Brooke. And shortly after her death in 2007, Anthony Marshall, Mrs. Astor s only child, was indicted on charges of looting her estate. Rarely has there been a story with such an appealing heroine, conjuring up a world so nearly forgotten: a realm of lavish wealth and secrets of the sort that have engaged Americans from the era of Edith Wharton to the more recent days of Truman Capote and Vanity Fair. New York journalist Meryl Gordon has interviewed not only the elite of Brooke Astor s social circle, but also the large staff who cosseted and cared for Mrs. Astor during her declining years. The result is the behind-the-headlines story of the Astor empire s unraveling, filled with never-before-reported scenes. This powerful, poignant saga takes the reader inside the gilded gates of an American dynasty to tell of three generations worth of longing and missed opportunities. Even in this territory of privilege, no riches can put things right once they ve been torn asunder. Here is an American epic of the bonds of money, morality, and social position.
Amazon Exclusive: An Essay by Meryl Gordon
 "Mrs. Astor Regrets--The Trial"
During the summer of 2006, as I began researching Mrs. Astor Regrets, I thought that I was in the midst of a deeply textured family saga about society, money, and betrayal. What I could not have imagined was that just three years later I would have a regular seat on a wooden bench in a shabby New York courtroom as Tony Marshall--Brooke Astor's 85-year-old patrician son--stood trial on charges of looting his mother's $185 million estate while she was still alive. What started in 2006 as a bitter but quaintly old-fashioned family fight over the care and custody of the 104-year-old grande dame of New York society had become an eighteen-count criminal indictment charging Tony Marshall with grand larceny and his trusts-and-estates lawyer, Francis Morrissey, Jr., with conspiracy and forgery. Mrs. Astor Regrets ends with Tony Marshall's indictment. But rather than becoming outdated by events surrounding the trial, the book is more timely than ever. The father-versus-son theme, which was at the heart of the struggle over Brooke Astor's care, was acted out in court when twin sons Philip and Alec Marshall both testified against their father as prosecution witnesses. Afterward, I saw Tony Marshall and his wife, Charlene Marshall, weeping in the corridor in response to this wrenching Oedipal moment. Ever since I heard the prosecution's opening argument in late April, I have been seized by a sense of déjà vu. The entire outline of the case has followed the trajectory of Mrs. Astor Regrets. I began my story with a richly detailed account of Brooke Astor's one hundredth birthday party in 2002--given by David Rockefeller at his country estate--because artistically it set up the contrast between the society icon’s glittering life and the sad isolation that would soon follow. The prosecution used the birthday party as a framework for their own narrative, quizzing witnesses like Barbara Walters, Annette de la Renta, Nancy Kissinger, and Viscount Astor (all quoted in Mrs. Astor Regrets) about the same party and showing the jury a video of the festivities on a huge courtroom screen. The prosecutors and the defense lawyers have told me that Mrs. Astor Regrets was required reading as they prepared for the trial. In the corridor outside the courtroom, newspaper reporters (and even a police detective) have asked me to autograph their copies of the book. About the only group left out of the loop are the twelve jurors and four alternates sitting in judgment of Tony Marshall and Francis Morrissey. They are forbidden from reading it because the judge has not allowed into evidence many of the details from the guardianship lawsuit over Mrs. Astor's care that Philip Marshall (joined by David Rockefeller, Annette de la Renta, and Henry Kissinger) filed against his father in 2006. As a fan of mystery novels, I get an eerie feeling spending four days a week right in the middle of one. I will say that authors must have a better sense of dramatic pacing than courtroom lawyers. The Astor trial is not expected to go to the jury until early August. I have lived with this story for three years, and there remains only one important question for which I have no answer: Will the jury find Tony Marshall and Francis Morrissey, Jr. guilty as charged? What I do know is that Brooke Astor was so devoted to the rituals of society that she still dressed for dinner, with matching evening bag and dress, at the age of 104. Part of the code that governed Mrs. Astor's life was a sense of personal privacy even when she was a renowned philanthropist to New York's leading charities. To have all this being argued in open court--in a way that has torn her family asunder--is something that Mrs. Astor would indeed regret. --Meryl Gordon (Photo © Nina Subin)
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| Too long & too much minutiae |
| Customer Rating: 2 out of 5 |
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I recently saw the story and author on the TV show 20/20, and that's what prompted me to buy the book. However, I got to page 127 and can't make myself go on. There are way too many trivial details about Astor's life, and it just isn't holding my interest. I would have preferred a much shorter background and a tighter focus on events leading up to the trial, then the trial itself.
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| Light Reading, Quite Interesting |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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I'm sure that the author, editor and publisher delayed publication before they released this story without its fitting conclusion. The story, of course, was the criminal trial of Brooke Astor's son for taking money illegally from her estate. This would have been a major black mark against this otherwise interesting book save that from this point on any reader can find the conclusion to the story, the verdict in the trial, in a minute on the internet.
This in not intended to be a complete biography but rather a review of the life leading up to the senility of a leading philanthropist and the subsequent care taking supervised by her only child. In pursuing this objective the author has assiduously gathered and studied relevant documents and interviewed hundreds of people linked to Mrs. Astor's life and the particulars of those last years. Happily, she does an excellent job of binding the information together in clear and interesting fashion. I have no qualms recommending it for any reader who might be interested in Society, Mrs. Astor, or the problems faced by any person or his/her caretakers when a person of any age begins to show signs of mental deterioration. From the extremely difficult problem of diagnosis which involves separating normal failure of memory in the elderly from early signs of dementia to the nearly impossible task of recognizing probable alzheimers (which involves the physical destruction of the brain) from psychic disturbance which might have psychological, social, nutritional, drug (prescription) or other similar causality. Once recognized how does a child handle the radical role reversal of becoming parent to a parent. Above all, perhaps, if there is anything of value in the estate of the person, how can he or she be protected from normal levels of greed not to speak of what tens of millions in an estate can bring out in even well-intentioned people.
One will not find answers here, since there are no good answers, but one will find it possible to sympathize both with the victim of senile disease and those who seek to act humanely.
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| Mrs. Astor Regrets |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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This book was an excellent education in who to love and trust. In the end, what we as a society let happen to such a wonderfully free spirited woman was very sad.
DO NOT PURCHASE FROM THE PERSON I ATTEMPTED TO PURCHASE FROM! MY CREDIT CARD BILL ARRIVED FOR THIS BOOK AND THE SELLER WOULD STILL NOT REPLY TO ANY OF MY E-MAILS. IT TOOK AMAZON'S DISPUTE TEAM TO GET THEM TO REPLY AND AT THAT, THEY GAVE ME BACK A FULL REFUND WITHOUT ANY EXPLANATION AS TO WHERE MY BOOK WAS!!! BEST TO GET THIS TITLE, AND ANY TITLE FROM SOMEONE WHO KNOWS HOW TO SELL.
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| Mrs Astor |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Purchased book to replace stolen library book.
It took over 4 weeks to receive this book, I think this a bit too long to wait for a book that is in print.
T.B.
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| Can't Figure Out Who's At Fault |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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I listened to this book and CD and enjoyed it. I realized fairly soon that the son, who I was expecting to blame, wasn't really an all-bad guy. I ignored the idea of blaming his wife (I think the author guided me), so that left the grandson. He really wasn't such a bad guy, so I went back to the wife, but she didn't seem all THAT terrible. So, by the end, while I don't think anyone can completely blame the happy, generous, artsy, life-loving Mrs. Astor, it's not like she just fell to earth at the age of 95 either. I good listen.
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