Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune

“Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune” was a book recommended to me by my book club. Apparently, they read it in the past and really liked it. I could see why...on the surface, this is a fascinating concept for a book. Unfortunately, it didn’t hold my attention past the first half. Huguette Clark is the only remaining member of the prestigious Clark family, a dynasty that rivaled Carnegie, Vanderbilt, and Astor back in the 1920s. From the start, Huguette was described as a shy child who seldom liked to be seen in public. Her mother, the young second wife of aging Senator and industrialist William A. Clark, was also shy, and she and Huguette formed a close bond, especially after the untimely death of Huguette’s 16-year-old sister. After Huguette’s short marriage in 1930, she went to live in a large New York apartment in the same exclusive Fifth Avenue building as her mother. And then she slowly started disappearing from the public eye. In 1991, she was admitted to Doctor’s Hospital in Manhattan for skin cancer, and then she just never left, despite being physically healthy. By the time she died at age 104 in 2011, she left behind $300 million, beautiful homes in New York and Connecticut, and a large estate in Santa Barbara, which she had paid to keep meticulously maintained even though she never stepped foot there after the 1950s. Of course, all this leads to one big question: WHY? Pulitzer-Prize -winner Bill Dedman collaborated on the book with Huguette Clark’s cousin, Paul Clark Newell, Jr., and included transcripts of actual telephone calls with Huguette before she passed. It’s a fascinating story, but honestly, I found myself struggling to finish the book. The beginning was great, but after Huguette retreated from the public, I found the book getting old. It was like the authors had to keep writing just to fill pages (which I know happens). Sadly, I kept waiting for Huguette to pass away so we could get to the part where her distant relatives start fighting over her money. She had no kids, after all, and at 104 years old, all her close relatives had passed on before her. But when the authors finally did get to that part, they glossed over it and ended the book quickly. I know this was the story of Huguette’s life (not what happened after she died), but once she disappeared from the public eye in the 1930s, the details were sparce and at times, uninteresting. I understand why my book club liked the book, but honestly, I liked the first half and then skimmed through the rest.