Laura Thompson

""Heiresses: surely they are among the luckiest women on earth. Are they not to be envied, with their private jets and Chanel wardrobes and endless funds? Yet all too often those gilded lives have been beset with trauma and despair ... [This book] tells the stories of these women: Mary Davies, who inherited London's most valuable real estate, and was bartered from the age of twelve; Consuelo Vanderbilt, the original American 'Dollar Heiress, ' forced...

Six glamorous women: Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica, and Deborah. Born into country-house privilege, the Mitford sisters were the "bright young things" of high society London in the 1920s and 1930s. But as the shadow of Fascism crept over Europe, the stark--and very public--differences in their outlooks would reflect the political extremes of a dangerous era. The eldest was a razor-sharp novelist of upper-class manners; the second was loved...

"New York Times bestselling author Laura Thompson returns with Heiresses, a fascinating look at the lives of heiresses throughout history and the often tragic truth beneath the gilded surface . Heiresses: surely they are among the luckiest women on earth. Are they not to be envied, with their private jets and Chanel wardrobes and endless funds? Yet all too often those gilded lives have been beset with trauma and despair. Before the 20th century a...