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Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Janet Maslin, The New York Times St. Louis Post Dispatch When Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Bill Dedman noticed in 2009 a grand home for sale, unoccupied for nearly sixty years, he stumbled through a surprising portal into American history. Empty Mansions is a rich mystery of wealth and loss, connecting the Gilded Age opulence of the nineteenth century with a twenty first
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BYJanet Maslin, The New York Times - St. Louis Post-Dispatch
When Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bill Dedman noticed in 2009 a grand home for sale, unoccupied for nearly sixty years, he stumbled through a surprising portal into American history. Empty Mansions is a rich mystery of wealth and loss, connecting the Gilded Age opulence of the nineteenth century with a twenty-first-century battle over a $300 million inheritance. At its heart is a reclusive heiress named Huguette Clark, a woman so secretive that, at the time of her death at age 104, no new photograph of her had been seen in decades. Though she owned palatial homes in California, New York, and Connecticut, why had she lived for twenty years in a simple hospital room, despite being in excellent health? Why were her valuables being sold off? Was she in control of her fortune, or controlled by those managing her money? Dedman has collaborated with Huguette Clark's cousin, Paul Clark Newell, Jr., one of the few relatives to have frequent conversations with her. Dedman and Newell tell a fairy tale in reverse: the bright, talented daughter, born into a family of extreme wealth and privilege, who secrets herself away from the outside world. Huguette was the daughter of self-made copper industrialist W. A. Clark, nearly as rich as Rockefeller in his day, a controversial senator, railroad builder, and founder of Las Vegas. She grew up in the largest house in New York City, a remarkable dwelling with 121 rooms for a family of four. She owned paintings by Degas and Renoir, a world-renowned Stradivarius violin, a vast collection of antique dolls. But wanting more than treasures, she devoted her wealth to buying gifts for friends and strangers alike, to quietly pursuing her own work as an artist, and to guarding the privacy she valued above all else. The Clark family story spans nearly all of American history in three generations, from a log cabin in Pennsylvania to mining camps in the Montana gold rush, from backdoor politics in Washington to a distress call from an elegant Fifth Avenue apartment. The same Huguette who was touched by the terror attacks of 9/11 held a ticket nine decades earlier for a first-class stateroom on the second voyage of the Titanic.
Empty Mansions reveals a complex portrait of the mysterious Huguette and her intimate circle. We meet her extravagant father, her publicity-shy mother, her star-crossed sister, her French boyfriend, her nurse who received more than $30 million in gifts, and the relatives fighting to inherit Huguette's copper fortune. Richly illustrated with more than seventy photographs, Empty Mansions is an enthralling story of an eccentric of the highest order, a last jewel of the Gilded Age who lived life on her own terms. Praise for Empty Mansions "An amazing story of profligate wealth . . . an outsized tale of rags-to-riches prosperity."--The New York Times "An evocative and rollicking read, part social history, part hothouse mystery, part grand guignol."--The Daily Beast
"Fascinating . . . a] haunting true-life tale."--People
"One of those incredible stories that you didn't even know existed. It filled a void."--Jon Stewart, The Daily Show "Thrilling . . . deliciously scandalous."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: 09/10/2013
ISBN: 9780345534521
Pages: 456
Weight: 1.80lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.60w x 1.30d
Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 08/01/2013
Booklist 09/01/2013 pg. 20
Library Journal 09/15/2013 pg. 79
Publishers Weekly 09/16/2013
People Weekly 11/04/2013 pg. 53
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4.4 ★★★★★
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Product Reviews
★★★★★ 4
Perfect for what I needed - getting a 2nd one.
Color: Black, Size: 22" - 4 Panel
Putting it together was a BEE-OTCH!! Yes, one of the tubes had the top cap installed at the wrong end (& getting it off required tools), and yes, stretching the fabric to get the screws in was incredibly hard...but am I buying another one? YES! After all is said and done, this is a great room divider. I opted out of installing the paddle feet & it still works perfect. It won't filter light all that great and even though it stands on its own, it can be blown over easily - but for the price? Excellent. If I wanted a heavy duty, thicker, more expensive one, I would've bought one.
The 2nd one is on the way.
Perfect height, no weird smell, nice and light and easy to move around.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2025
★★★★★ 5
WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN 😊
Color: Grey, Size: 34" - 3 Panel
I purchased RANTILA 3 Panel Room Divider, 6 Ft Tall Folding Privacy Screen Freestanding Room Partition Wall Dividers, 102''W x 20''D x 71''H, Grey. For outdoor use on my patio is perfect . PRIVACY!!! YAY!
It was packaged very carefully. There were no missing parts. Instructions were there but I still had to use the video visually. A few screws would not screw in. So I used a hammer with a few good taps that helped using the screw driver. 😊 It was easy putting it together following the directions. Everything is well made. Love the height, functionality and it’s definitely light it works.
Thank you
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Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2025
★★★★★ 5
I am happy with the room divider. It does what I intended.
Color: Beige, Size: 34" - 3 Panel
Use a power screwdriver.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2026
★★★★★ 3
It’s really pretty decent except for one thing.
Color: Grey, Size: 34" - 4 Panel, Color: Grey, Size: 34" - 4 Panel
I bought two of these for my basement and they do look great. They were easy to assemble and I’m happy with them. The problem is that the stitching on the fabric panels are almost the size of a machine basting stitch (which for non sewers means large temporary stitches). Because the panels are tight by design, the stitches had already started to come undone before I could finish assembling everything. Fortunately I can sew and I reinforced all the panels. I had to take the first ones back off the poles to do them but I did the second set before assembling. It’s really not a bad product for the money. It’s quality fabric and the design itself looks great. The stitching looks fine but it’s just not substantial enough for the purpose it is supposed to serve. I can’t imagine why it be sewn so insufficiently. I was able to resolve my issue because I can sew. I wasn’t planning on sewing nor did I really have the time. I could have made it myself but I didn’t want to and that is why I purchased this. I ended up using valuable time. The really unfortunate thing is, I have no other complaints. This is a manufacturing problem.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2023
★★★★★ 5
Inexpensive walls.
Color: Grey, Size: 34" - 3 Panel, Color: Grey, Size: 34" - 3 Panel
We had a hot request for a workstation in the warehouse with some privacy.
These have worked great. Easy to assemble. They are lightweight and stable.
This was an inexpensive solution that looks professional. Our client loved it.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2025