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  • Women of Means

  • The Fascinating Biographies of Royals, Heiresses, Eccentrics and Other Poor Little Rich Girls
  • By: Marlene Wagman-Geller
  • Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
  • Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (61 ratings)
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Women of Means

By: Marlene Wagman-Geller
Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
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Summary

Glimpse behind the facade of rich and famous women....

The grass isn't greener on the other side....

Heiresses have always been viewed with eyes of envy. They were the ones for whom the cornucopia had been upended, showering them with unimaginable wealth and opportunity. However, through intimate historical biographies, Women of Means shows us that oftentimes the weaving sisters saved their most heart-wrenching tapestries for the destinies of wealthy women.

Happily never after...

From the author of Behind Every Great Man, we now have Women of Means, vignettes of the women who were slated from birth - or marriage - to great privilege, only to endure lives which were the stuff Russian tragic heroines are made of. They are the nonfictional Richard Corys - those not slated for happily ever after.

Women of Means is bound to be a non-fiction best seller, full of the best biographies of all time. Some of the women whose silver spoons rusted include:

  • Almina Carnarvon, the real-life counterpart to Lady Cora of Downton Abbey.
  • Liliane Bettencourt, whose chemist father created L'Oreal...and was a Nazi collaborator.
  • Peggy Guggenheim, who had an insatiable appetite for modern art and men.
  • Nica Rothschild, who traded her gilded life to become the Baroness of Bebop.
  • Jocelyn Wildenstein, who became a cosmetology-enhanced cat-woman.
  • Ruth Madoff, the dethroned queen of Manhattan.
  • Patty Hearst, who trod the path from heiress...to terrorist.
©2019 Marlene Wagman-Geller (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about Women of Means

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story, clumsy reader

If you are going to read an audiobook peppered with foreign names you need to get them right. This lady does not. She tries, I think, but the result is ugly. I found this very difficult to listen to. Betancourt is almost the worst, but there are many. A real shame as it made me laugh and spoilt the tale. She should have learnt and practised, she really should.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

The stories were fascinating

The stories were fascinating, but needed to be more in depth. At times I wanted to know more. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it on my daily commute.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting stories but awful narration

The concept of the book is interesting and the subjects were fascinating. It was a bit disjointed as there was no common narrative other than poor little rich girl but did not delve any deeper. The narration was not great and some of the mispronunciations were so jarring. However, it is part of the plus catalogue so worth a listen.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The Trials of the rich

Fascinating book of how money really isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. I think I would rather stay poor than live the messed up lives of some of these so called rich people. Very well written and narrated.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Women of means

This book shows money can’t buy you happiness. I really enjoyed it. Would recommend. Really good.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent

Extremely interesting ….fascinating….well read… I will definitely listen to it again. This book is obviously about woman if I ever would write a book (which I won’t) about anything it would be the story of the sons of rich men, so many of them end their lives in a sad way. Thank you for making this a plus book. I throughly enjoy it.

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