Empty Mansions by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr. is the biography of Huguette Clark, the daughter of multi millionaire W. A. Clark. W.A. Clark was an ingenious man, who made his fortune by mining for copper at the start of the telephone boom. He attended school to learn to mine after he purchased the mines. He was always ensure that he was educated enough to continue growing his fortune and changing with the times.
Huguette became a recluse after the passing of her mother. She was never photographed after 1920. She had multiple homes worth millions each. The majority of the home, she never lived in. later in life, she was taken to Beth Israel, for cancer treatment. She never checked herself out of the hospital. Instead, she insisted on living at the hospital until she passed away. While she was there she had few visitors.
The Clarks were very generous people, always helping out those in need. Sometimes, Huguette, was too generous and he lawyers would often times remind her of this. People, would have the audacity to attempt to take advantage of her kind heart. At one point of her life, Beth Israel Medical Center, attempted to swindle over 100 million dollars out of her to keep the hospital open.
I generally am not mesmerized by a biography, especially that of an extremely wealthy individual. I found Empty Mansions to be a quick read that held my attention. The introduction was decent. I found myself struggling to get passed the first two or three chapters. Once, I did pass the chapters, I was sucked in for the remaining of the book.
I enjoyed the fact that part of the book was written by her cousin, Paul Clark Newell, Jr. I also, enjoyed the personal items that were included in the book such as letter and telegraphs she wrote and pictures of dolls she collected. These touches, allowed the reader to connect with Huguette Clark on a personal level. It may be just the archaeologist in me, but this was my favorite part of the book.
I feel this is a book to add to everyone’s bookshelf. The book not only teaches you about Huguette Clark as a person but also provides life lessons.
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