Intriguing Insights, But Heavy on Info

An intriguing look into the lives of wealthy women through the ages. Narrated by the author, the performance was decent, though at times it felt a bit monotonous. Thompson's narration is clear, but her delivery can be a bit dry, which made it hard to stay fully engaged.

The story itself is packed with historical facts and fascinating tales, but it can be quite dense with information. While I appreciated the thorough research, I found myself longing for more connection with the heiresses themselves. The book is definitely worth a listen if you're into historical biographies, but be prepared for a lot of detail. Overall, an interesting but somewhat heavy listen.

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A whirlwind ride through the lives of heiresses

Very entertaining canter through some of the richest heiresses in history. Proving that money rarely creates happiness. Quite the opposite.

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1 person found this helpful

Great listen

This is a fascinating listen, shocking in many ways, especially the stories of heiress abduction. The narrator is excellent and adds to the enjoyment of the book....and as a bonus it was free!!

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Perfectly narrated, lots of new information

Tremendously well researched, brilliant writing and narration. Really engaging and lots of people I hadn’t heard of before to find out more about.

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Lightweight but detail heavy

Explores the conundrum that wealth, far from freeing women, either made them prey to unscrupulous fortune hunters or was the catalyst to hitting the self destruct button. Largely miserable lives -apart from the final person- which does appeal somewhat to schadenfreude.
However - this is a prime example of the fact that often, the writer doesn't make the best narrator. Distracting narration and odd speech impediment somewhat marred the experience.

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Fascinating piece of history!

This book is so much more than a tale of “poor little rich girls”! Instead, it delves into a centuries’ old tradition of wealthy girls being overtly traded - or in some cases abducted - because they happened to carry an inheritance. The women had no agency, either against parents bartering them for social elevation and a title, or against the seducers who courted them and whisked them away. Once married their patrimony (including children) became their husbands’ property and they, usually unloved for themselves, lived out miserable and stressful lives.
Thus, for me, this book was at its most interesting in its first part, dealing with historical cases about which one probaby previously knew nothing, and yet are important for what they say about society, class and gender. The author deftly points out how some males of “the gentry” but perhaps impoverished (in their terms) would consider wealthy girls of a lower social rank fair game for a false suit or even kidnapping. These men simply felt “entitled” to the fortunes of industrialists and manufacturers whom they considered unworthy - the landed gentry being the real inheritors of the earth’s worldly goods - and would go to any lengths to seduce or kidnap a young and unsuspecting daughter.
The scenario changes in the late 19thC when married women were legally allowed to control their own assets and income, but this is also the period when American heiresses were traded: a massive dowry in exchange for a Duchy or Earldom. Many unhappy and toxic marriages followed. Some plucky heiresses escaped this fate by forming lesbian communes in Paris. Most of the Americans, however, seem to have craved love and attention without the inner resources to forge or sustain a meaningful relationship, and just splashed their inheritance on husband after husband.
The book ends, mercifully, with the story of Angela Burnett-Coutts who inherited the esteemed Coutts Bank and much else but remained an apparently happy spinster dedicating her money to good works & causes, much of this in conjunction with Charles Dickens. Phew! The one that got away!
I’d have given 5 stars all round for this book but for the fact that its second half (C20th) becomes somewhat confusing with too many characters with similar names popping up all over the place, and the author beginning to sound a bit tired of reading. Minor faults! This is a fascinating tour through a neglected part of history, revealing SO much more, in terms of class entitlements and societal connivance, than just the plight of a few rich women!

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8 people found this helpful

How not to spend your inheritance ( in the main)

Excellent narration and research by the author - fascinating stories of centuries of misspent wealth

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A book about balance.

Of course we come for a descriptive account of a niche time or status, granted to few, but I definitely stayed for the incredibly human perspective. Lauras’ reading was a delight- it deserved being heard in her own tone.

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Absolutely Fascinating

I like the way this book examines the lives of women who, on the surface, had everything that we dream of today. It shows how money does not bring happiness, unless the person who has it is equipped to deal with other people's greed and envy, as well as their own sense of guilt. How hieresses were (and still are) hunted by predatory men. And yet some of the most unlikely men perhaps make the best husbands. It asks the question, of what an ordinary person would do, if they had such vast wealth at their disposal.

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