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Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune is a non-fiction book by American authors Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr. The novel is about the life of heiress Huguette Clark (1906-2011), daughter of copper baron and United States Senator William A. Clark (1839 – 1925), one of the wealthiest men in the world at the time. The novel chronicles both William and Huguette's life, ultimately leading up to Huguettes decision to live the last 20 or so years of her life in hospitals in New York City, despite owning multiple homes valued worth in excess of $200 million dollars.

Overview

Huguette was the daughter of self-made copper industrialist William A. Clark, almost as rich as Rockefeller in his day, a controversial senator, builder of railroads, namesake for Clark County, Nevada, and founder of Las Vegas. Huguette grew up in the largest house in New York City, at 952 Fifth Avenue, 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. During her life, she devoted her wealth to buying gifts for friends and strangers alike while quietly pursuing her own calling as an artist and guarding the privacy she valued above all else.

The Clark family story encompasses nearly all of American history in three long generations, from a log cabin in Pennsylvania to mining camps in the Montana gold rush, from corrupt politics in Washington, DC to a 911 call from an elegant Fifth Avenue apartment. The novel draws together Huguette's long life from her possession of a ticket nine decades earlier for a first-class stateroom on the second voyage of the Titanic through her proximity to the terror attacks of 9/11.

Empty Mansions uncovers an elusive portrait of the mysterious Huguette, her intimate circle including her infamous 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. The novel contains more than seventy photographs, many never before seen outside of the family. Empty Mansions is the story of an eccentric woman who has been described as the "last jewel of the Gilded Age" who lived life on her own terms.

Research

In 2009, when Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Bill Dedman was looking at real estate in New Canaan, Connecticut, he noticed a listing for an extravagant home that had been unoccupied for nearly sixty years. From there he stumbled through a surprising portal into American history that was still being lived out. Dedman collaborated with Huguette Clark’s cousin, Paul Clark Newell, Jr., one of the few relatives had any contact with her. Together, Dedman and Newell, with years of family research compiled by Newell's father, tell the tale of a bright, talented woman born into a family of extreme wealth and privilege who removes herself from the outside world after a series of tremendous losses.

Reviews

Release

Empty Mansions debuted at number 1 on The New York Times bestseller list for e-books, and number 4 for hardcover books, for the week ending September 14, 2013. It was been on the New York Times bestseller list for 13 weeks, and on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list for 37 weeks. Empty Mansions also appeared on bestseller lists from Publishers Weekly, Indie Bound independent booksellers, National Public Radio, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Maclean’s magazine in Canada.

Praise for the book

• “An amazing story of profligate wealth . . . an outsized tale of rags-to-riches prosperity.” — The New York Times
• “A fascinating investigation into the haunting true-life tale of reclusive heiress Huguette Clark.” — People Magazine
• “An exhaustively researched, well-written account . . . a blood-boiling expose will make you angry and will make you sad.” — The Seattle Times
• “An evocative and rollicking read, part social history, part hothouse mystery, part grand guignol.” — The Daily Beast
• “A childlike, self-exiled eccentric, is the sort of of subject susceptible to a biography of broad strokes, which makes Empty Mansions, the first full-length account of her life, impressive for its delicacy and depth.” — Town & Country Magazine
• “One of those incredible stories that you didn’t even know existed. It filled a void.” — Jon Stewart, The Daily Show
• “A compelling account of what happened to the Clark family and its fortune . . . a tremendous feat.” — St. Louis Post-Dispatch
• “Brilliantly researched, tough-minded, and fair . . . a fascinating read.” — Santa Barbara Independent
• “Riveting . . . deliciously scandalous . . . a thrilling study of the responsibilities and privileges that come with great wealth.” — Publishers Weekly
• “Empty Mansions is a dazzlement and a wonder. Bill Dedman and Paul Newell unravel a great character, Huguette Clark, a shy soul akin to Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird—if Boo’s father had been as rich as Rockefeller. This is an enchanting journey into the mysteries of the mind, a true-to-life exploration of strangeness and delight.” — Pat Conroy, author of The Death of Santini: The Story of a Father and His Son
• “Empty Mansions is at once an engrossing portrait of a forgotten American heiress and a fascinating meditation on the crosswinds of extreme wealth. Hugely entertaining and well researched, Empty Mansions is a fabulous read.” — Amanda Foreman, author of A World on Fire
• “In Empty Mansions, a unique American character emerges from the shadows. Through deep research and evocative writing, Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr., have expertly captured the arc of history covered by the remarkable Clark family, while solving a deeply personal mystery of wealth and eccentricity.” — Jon Meacham, author of Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
• “Who knew? Though virtually unknown today, W. A. Clark was one of the fifty richest Americans ever—copper baron, railroad builder, art collector, U.S. senator, and world-class scoundrel. Yet his daughter and heiress Huguette became a bizarre recluse. Empty Mansions reveals this mysterious family in sumptuous detail.” — John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
• “Empty Mansions is a mesmerizing tale that delivers all the ingredients of a top-notch mystery novel. But there is nothing fictional about this true, fully researched story of a fascinating and reclusive woman from an era of fabulous American wealth. Empty Mansions is a delicious read—once you start it, you will find it hard to put down.” — Kate Alcott, bestselling author of The Dressmaker
• “More than a biography, more than a mystery, Empty Mansions is a real-life American Bleak House, an arresting tale about misplaced souls sketched on a canvas that stretches from coast to coast, from riotous mining camps to the gilded dwellings of the very, very rich.” — John A. Farrell, author of Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned

Adaptations

Film and television director Ryan Murphy has optioned the rights to Empty Mansions Murphy has experience with book-to-film projects. He previously wrote, produced and directed two feature films based on bestselling memoirs: Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love (co-scripted with Jennifer Salt) which starred Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem in 2010, and Augusten Burroughs’ Running With Scissors with Annette Bening and Brian Cox in 2006.

Further reading

• Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune''. New York: Ballantine Books, 2014.

References

1. ^ "Empty Mansions". penguinrandonhouse.com. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
2. ^ Dedman, Bill. "The story of Empty Mansions". emptymansionsbook.com. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
3. ^ Busch, Anita (March 14, 2014). "Ryan Murphy Options Rights To NY Times' Bestseller 'Empty Mansions'". Deadline. Retrieved 28 January 2016.

See also

• Huguette Clark