Customer Reviews

The Last Mrs. Astor: A New York Story

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a good exercise in biography that goes just far enough in celebrating its subject without spilling over into fawning. Mrs. Astor lived an amazing life, from a girlhood spent trailing along with her Marine officer father and overachieving socialite mother to Central America and beyond, to multiple marriages, to her becoming, as the widow of Vincent Astor, the chair of the Astor Foundation, through which this "First Lady of New York" oversaw the investment (never charity) of millions into various people and projects. Mrs. Astor was a bright spirit whose recent passing at the age of 105 brought to an end an era that began in the days of the Manhattan society's fabled 400. Dealing appropriately and I think fairly with the dismal topic of the legal war that went on in the last several years between various Astor relations contesting one against the other the disposal and ownership of various Astor possessions, author Frances Kiernan also handled with delicacy the matter of whether or not Brooke Astor, who had done much for many, was herself receiving adequate care near her life's conclusion. I hope a future edition of this biography includes one more chapter that covers the period between the publication of its first edition and Mrs. Astor's actual passing this month. This biography of Brooke Astor is not only the tale of an extraordinary woman, but the story of a century's worth of people and events. It's a worthy investment of money and time.

Let's start by saying this isn't the definitive biography of Brooke Astor. I got the impression that it was written by a friend of a friend of Mrs. Astor's so there isn't a pretense to impartiality.

And if you have been a resident of New York and already inhabit the upper eschelons of that city's society, then there is probably very little for you to learn from this book.

But for those of us outside the NY upper crust, the book is an interesting look at Mrs. Astor's background prior to her marriage into the well-known Astor family. It also spends a decent amount of print explaining some of the projects Mrs. Astor supported through the Astor Foundation. If you happen to work with any non-profit organizations or civic groups, you'll be interested to learn how Mrs. Astor asked people much wealthier than herself for money and how she got them to contribute to her causes.

There is also a fair amount of information about the Astor family. And while there aren't any real skeletons revealed, it is a pretty broad history. The author also discusses the recent custody case over Mrs. Astor and the players involved.

I began to truly enjoy the book at its midpoint. At first, I found the author's writing style cumbersome, awkward, & difficult to understand. I put the book aside for a week & picked it up again determined to wade through it. Stick with it...it's a good story of a strong woman & a wonderful portrait of a past era. Initially, I was annoyed at the many references Kiernan made to "Footprints" & "Patchwork Child"...occasional references are understandable, but this was overdone.

"The Last Mrs. Astor," by Frances Kiernan, is rightfully subtitled "A New York Story," as the last Mrs. Astor did, indeed, have a lot to do with building the New York we have today. Kiernan, a former editor at The New Yorker, and author of "Seeing Mary Plain: A Life of Mary McCarthy," is herself a New Yorker, and had the privilege of meeting Mrs. Vincent Astor several times, and interviewing many friends, and family members. Her book is nicely done -- and why wouldn't it be--and although short, appears to have been thoroughly researched, though other reviewers have pointed out copy editing problems within. The book is, however, noticeably "tactful and admiring," as the author herself says of the newspaper coverage for Mrs. Astor's 100th birthday; it's not going to give you the real inside scoop on New York's famous, longtime benefactor: and surely Mrs. Astor would have preferred it that way.

Although Mrs. Astor, Virginia -born as Roberta Brooke Russell, only child, daughter of a naval commandant and an ambitious, flirtatious Southern belle, always did have a taste for flirting, dancing, and fun. The author quotes Mrs. Astor's good friend, television journalist Barbara Walters, as saying: "She is very kind. She is also very witty and likes being slightly wicked. She will tell a story about some young man she was sitting next to at dinner who was trying to impress her. The man said,'Mrs. Astor, how many lovers have you had?' And she said, `That's how I count myself to sleep.'"

Mrs. Astor's first marriage, entered at a young age, was not a happy one: her husband drank excessively and abused her. Nor was the son, Tony, born of that marriage, who would be her only child, going to give her much joy. So she took her leave of that unsatisfactory situation, without, unfortunately, stopping to nail down alimony for herself. She moved to New York, as a single mother, and became a hard-working, talented editor at Conde Nast's magazine "House and Garden," and so supported herself and her son. She was in New York at an exciting time, after the First World War. She met Noel Coward, Somerset Maugham, Osbert Sitwell, Aldous Huxley, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Linda and Cole Porter, Ezra Pound, Max Beerbohm, and the actor Brian Aherne, with whom she would have a close relationship, among others. As she worked at Conde Nast, she also became acquainted with the very beautiful young society widow Claire Booth Brokaw, an editor at Vogue, who was stiff competition in the contest of young society women looking for their next rich husband: Brokaw would eventually marry Henry Luce, founder of "Time" magazine. Astor remarked that although the other woman was more beautiful, they liked, found appealing, and were found appealing by very different men: there was no problem.

Astor married again, to Buddie Marshall; it was a happy, fairly long-lived marriage, and although Marshall never adopted her son Tony, the boy did take his last name. Unfortunately, Marshall died, leaving her a widow in her late 50's, not the best age at which to snag another rich husband. But Vincent Astor was around, of a rich and famous old New York family: some years before, Mrs. Caroline Schermerhorn Astor had made herself the gatekeeper of New York society, admitting only a select 400 people to her celebrated balls. Vincent already had a wife: but he was reputed to drink heavily, was not considered too pleasant a man, and his current wife wanted out. She thought her best route to leaving with alimony was to find him his next wife, and there was Brooke. For better or worse, Vincent lasted only five more years, leaving Brooke a relatively rich, healthy energetic widow in her early 60's. Vincent left the little-known Astor Foundation behind.

Brooke gained control of the foundation, and used it to pursue her charitable interests. It is fair to say that such essential New York institutions as The Metropolitan Museum, The Bronx Zoo, Central Park, the South Street Seaport, and The New York Public Library, among others, would not be what they are today without her generous support. Along the way, she wrote five well-reviewed books, and published many articles. She was 99 years old at the tragedy of September 11, 2001, and not what she had been, but then, too, she threw herself into the struggle to help her adopted city recover. Kiernan quotes Brooke's old friend Freddy Melhado as saying: "There's a term for a racehorse of known quality....The sort of horse you can always bet on. Does not disappoint."

Unfortunately, at the end of her life, as many readers will know, Astor's son Tony Marshall gained control of her affairs, and dishonestly abused his power, greatly mistreating his mother. As Shakespeare said in "King Lear," "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child." It's tempting to continue with Shakespeare, and quote him from "Macbeth," when Malcolm says of the Thane of Cawdor, "Nothing in /her/ life became /her/ like the leaving it," as her sad story, late in life, threw needed light on the problem of elder abuse, and undoubtedly helped many others. But it wouldn't be true: for most of her long life, she was a becoming ornament of New York social and civic life.

This book is so poorly written you sometimes wonder whom the author is talking about. If she talks about Mrs. Astor's "Footprints" once she talks about it 50 times. I thought to myself....I should have bought Mrs. Astor's book.

The author takes a great deal of time talking about Mrs. Astor and her mother Mrs. Russell and their love hate reltionshp. We are told where Mrs. Russell is finally put to live out her years...alas, we are not told of her passing.

The author also says that unlike the Duchess of Windsor ,Brooke would have never worn a mini skirt. Not ture! Vanity Fair has published photos of Mrs. Astor in a skirt at least two inches above her knees.

The photos in this book are of very poor quality.

I wish I had waited for the paperback!

Kiernan wrote a very even-handed bio of a very complicated subject. I could tell from her writing that Kiernan was fond of Astor, but had no problem including the bad with the good. The interesting thing is that Brooke Astor seems to be a woman about whom not much bad could be said. She seems to be bright, gracious, a well-meaning woman who has contributed much to both the City of New York since 1960 and to the high society in which she lived.

I'm looking forward to reading Kiernan's Mary McCarthy bio next.

Brooke Astor, the beloved lady-like (on the surface) doyenne of philanthropy, gets the biographer she deserves in the amazing Frances Kiernan. Kiernan digs deep and shows us two Brookes, the genteel lady we know from her good acts, and the one we could not have imagined. Brooke lived and loved large. Her life was full-blown, loaded with bad sex, great sex, abuse, genteel-poverty and in the end, all the money in the world. Kiernan lays this amazing saga in front of us with wit and brilliant writing. I adore The Last Mrs. Astor. A must-read.

History and drama--all you could want! Even my lawyer husband, who "never reads novels or other silly stuff" read it and couldn't stop talking about it. Five Stars well deserved!

This was a book club selection that was unanimously voted "thumbs down." Since the inception of our club, this was a first ever voting event. We are a diverse group of (mostly retired) women, educators, businesswomen, homemakers, etc. We felt that we could have saved our time by reading Mrs. Astor's "Footprints" instead since so much of the author's writing referenced this publication. We, as a whole, felt it was simply a chronicle of a name-dropping, superficial, pearl-wearing, aristocrat we couldn't have cared less about. It did not hold our collective interest and most were too bored to finish the book.

This biography of Brooke Russell Astor is interesting and respectful, although it lacks the narrative arc that makes _Mrs. Astor Regrets_ a more compelling read. Still, this book provides a balanced look at Mrs. Astor's entire life. I should note that she takes a more critical approach to Mrs. Astor's _Footprints_ than other reviewers suggest.

As I was reading the biography, it struck me how much Mrs. Astor had in common with Catherine the Great.

* She was disappointed in her first marriage. Catherine the Great had a famously bad marriage with Peter III. Mrs. Astor's first husband, Dryden Kuser, seems to have been abusive.

* These marriage problems led to issues with their sons. Both Tony Marshall (son of Dryden Kuser, actually) and Paul were involved with conflicts with their mothers. Paul was more open about this. Once he was emperor, he tried to reverse everything his mother did.

* Both women had close and loving relationships with their grandsons. Catherine's grandson, Emperor Alexander I, became a greater tsar than his father and approved the murder of his father, who was becoming increasingly unstable and threatened the stability of the state. Phillip Marshall took his father to court over the latter's treatment of Mrs. Astor. Luckily he was not required to take the extreme measures Alexander did.

* They were both very attractive, although not conventionally beautiful, and took many lovers. Neither were interested in horses, though.

* They were both great patrons of the arts. Catherine founded the Hermitage and was a major patron of Russian and European thinkers. Mrs. Astor played an important role in the revitalization of the New York Public Library. This aspect of her life was better covered here than in Mrs. Astor Regrets. It was interesting to see that the Vincent Astor Foundation donated $500,000 in 1962 to move the circulating books from the main library into what is now the Mid-Manhattan Library.

* They both had tremendous energy, people skills and administrative zest.

This is an interesting look at a woman who made a real difference to New York. I could imagine her as a successful autocrat of an earlier age without much difficulty.