Madness Under the Royal Palms: Love and Death Behind the Gates of Palm Beach [Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Laurence Leamer (Author), Todd McLaren (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 16, 2009

In March 1999, a Palm Beach matron and her socially ambitious husband invited the elite of the island for a dinner dance honoring Prince Edward. Among those dancing to the string orchestra that evening would be those accused of murder and spousal abuse, and others who would suffer fates both unseemly and unspeakable. Among the outer circle there would be murders, suicides, and fatal fires. There would be those who would rise from the dust of obscurity to the heights of wealth and those who would fall to oblivion and disgrace.Thus begins Madness Under the Royal Palms. Leave it to Laurence Leamer, the bestselling author known for getting the inside story on his elusive subjects, to take us behind the walls of America's most exclusive enclave of wealth and privilege. Here Leamer tells a braided story involving a socialite determined to make it to the top of Palm Beach society, two infamous murders, and a powerful society reporter. As a backdrop, Leamer tells the story of the clash between old money and new, religion and status, and the love, lust, and fatal hatreds that determine the shape of a fiercely protected society. The cast of characters include trophy wives, trophy husbands, purported gigolos, glamorous widows, a pioneering gay couple, a wildly irreverent event planner, a sociopathic multimillionaire, and an elegant society queen.For 100 years, Palm Beach has been a fantasyland nurtured by, and maintained for, the megawealthy. In the end, Leamer's tale of money, murder, and mad pretension reveals a darker strain. Uncovering that strain, the author writes, "turned into as fascinating, in some cases as shocking, and always as unexpected a journey as I have ever taken."

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Guest Reviewer: Meryl Gordon, Author of Mrs. Astor Regrets

Just the name--Palm Beach--conjures up an American fantasy of wealth, privilege and exclusivity. Laurence Leamer, in his well-written and entertaining new book, Madness Under the Royal Palms, offers up an inside look at this playground of the rich, and its under-class of social-climbing wannabes. Tracing the history of Palm Beach and its magnificent real estate, describing the fabulous parties, investigating some of the city's sordid secrets, Leamer's book provides a memorable, and at times haunting, portrayal of high society at a moment of transition, where things are often not what they seem. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Leamer (The Kennedy Women) reveals the secrets of the Palm Beach elite who reside behind the high walls and manicured hedges of this exclusive enclave. A winter resident since 1994, the author gains the trust of his subjects, playing tennis with them and attending their parties. Such firsthand experience is supplemented by newspaper articles and interviews with scores of men and women who, although usually guarded, are unusually open to Leamer (the informant for the chapter Palm Beach Millionaire Seeks Playmate gave the author access to his personal papers, including unpublished memoirs). The book's highly visual vignettes—dominated by divorce, infidelity, excessive drinking and violence—produce a depressing picture of sad, angry, insecure and frequently nasty people hiding behind empty smiles, luxury cars and socially invisible servants. Leamer reflects: Like [Henry] James, I found that few of the lives have the beauty of the surroundings, or the depths of the artistic vision that inspired this island. Some readers may find this book a penetrating portrayal of a privileged segment of the American population; others might regard it as a book-length gossip column. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Tantor Media; Unabridged,MP3 - Unabridged CD edition (February 16, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400160715
• ISBN-13: 978-1400160716
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,141,646 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

86 of 94 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Leamer's Madness Under the Royal Palms is going to be a hit, January 5, 2009

By 

Coffee Infusion "coffeeinfusion" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Madness Under the Royal Palms: Love and Death Behind the Gates of Palm Beach (Hardcover)

Given the name and uber wealthy playground about which Madness was written, I was expecting an oblique assault on an elitist and secretive sliver of society suspected of profligate spending, narcissism and caste systems.

Instead, I found that the book is more of an amusing anthropological study that offered layers of depth and insight into individuals, relationships and social groups. The result is a humorous parable with some heavy moral lessons.

Leamer used multiple sources to build a penetrating character analysis of some of the more notable Palm Beach residents who, as an aggregate, are symbols of the various cliques that define the essence of Palm Beach.

NON-FICTION THAT READS LIKE FICTION
While it's a non fiction work, it has the literary ardor, flow, and the readability of a sticky novel you can't put down. The structure and clever collation of the vignettes is a thing of genius; like a movie that presents a montage of time periods in a character's life, Leamer seamlessly builds the story, jumping from one vignette to the next, and then taking us backwards and forwards in time. As you move through the book, the building of the individual events sculpts the big picture, and lives are viewed through different lenses. The result is a story that comes together so artfully, that it's hard to believe it's non fiction. For this reason, among others, Leamer has become my favorite contemporary writer.

STORIES THAT WILL MAKE YOU CRINGE
As Leamer draws us into his world and follows the lives of the characters, like with Aesop's Fables, we cannot help but predict the tragic outcomes of the paths they have chosen. The irony here is that these are real people, illustrating that the tragic flaw of humanity is our inability to step outside our selves and get past the artificial world of our own construct. This is the real-life version of Faust, and a lesson in perception, misperception and mortality. Some of the characters were blessed with not surviving to read about their own catastrophic social failures.

KEEPING UP WITH THE JONES' IS NOT ENOUGH
Money seems to be the fulcrum in the lives of the residents, an ends and not a means. Greed is the corrupting factor that invariably crushes relationships, family, trust and trust funds. In a twist of the plot, however, money is the engine that fuels their existence, and yet it is still a limiting factor on the island. For the very privileged, social status is determined by caste, not wealth alone. You can keep up with the Jones', but they'll never have you over for dinner. The elite must maintain their exclusivity at all cost. The "caste" of characters is so colorful and the world so utterly bizarre, that it is hard to fathom such a place exists.

It's the American Dream stretched to extremes, at which point it becomes distorted and absurd. We get the special insight and understanding from an author who has lived among these people for fourteen years.

After putting down Leamer's new book, I was reminded of the profound statement that some ascribe to Samuel Johnson: "The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good."

Leamer's Madness Under the Royal Palms is a must read for anyone aspiring to "achieve" the American Dream. This book might put things in perspective and make you a little more satisfied with your lot in life.

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars awesome book, January 20, 2009

By 

Paulette Cooper Noble "Happy Writer" (Palm Beach FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Madness Under the Royal Palms: Love and Death Behind the Gates of Palm Beach (Hardcover)

I live in palm Beach and saw a copy because a friend of mine was mentioned in it and once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. It's absolutely fascinating and filled with interesting little stories. I don't think you have to live here to enjoy it.
It reminded me of "Midnight in the Garden of Eden," only there were more characters in this one so it was a very lively read. Very definitely recommended for those who like to read about the rise and fall of the rich.

61 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but flawed by lack of access, February 2, 2009

By 

david brown (Montreal Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Madness Under the Royal Palms: Love and Death Behind the Gates of Palm Beach (Hardcover)

I hadn't planned to comment on this book but after reading the existing "five star" comments I felt that some balance was required. The book is presented as an "insiders" look at Palm Beach by an author who has lived there for more than a decade. However, as with any community, there are different social circles. The author has far more access to what I would characterize as low level hustlers, most that he met on "public" tennis courts (hardly Palm Beach exclusivity) but apparently no real access to the "establishment" per se. The author does a commendable job in bringing these characters to life and, in this regard, I can strongly recommend the book to readers. However, in the broader sociological context, the book has little to offer that is unique. For example the author writes at length about the probable discrimination against Jews in traditional clubs. However this has been a staple of books on Palm Beach for the past fifty years or more and, in this regard, there is simply no new information presented by the author to differentiate this book. Towards the end of the book the author does interview two purported representatives of the traditional WASP establishment in Palm Beach. While not perfect, they don't seem to share any of the author's desire to ruminate on the distinctions between the rich and poor, they do come across as far more humane and accomplished than any of the would be "socialites" elsewhere in the book. Quite frankly, if I were them, I wouldn't want to associate with any of these hustlers either. In summary I have given the book a three on the basis of colorful characters, many of whom would fit easily into an Elmore Leonard or Donald Westlake novel, but feel that the lack of unique insight into the broader issues prevents me from giving a higher rating.