The Sisters: Babe Mortimer Paley, Betsy Roosevelt Whitney, Minnie Astor Fosburgh : The Lives and Times of the Fabulous Cushing Sisters [Hardcover]

David Grafton (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Although Boston patriarch Harvey Cushing was a famous neurosurgeon, the real business in his family was the securing of highly advantageous marriages for the social-climbing daughters, according to this bland, psychologically unrevealing and repetitious biography. Betsey made it to the White House as wife of FDR's son Jimmy Roosevelt, but her friendship with the president was bitterly resented by Jimmy and First Lady Eleanor; a happier and wealthier second marriage to Jock Whitney followed. Minnie disappointed her family when she divorced Vincent Astor and his fortune and later married homosexual artist James Fosburgh. Grafton ( Red, Hot and Rich ) recycles anecdotes told better by Sally Bedell Smith in her biography of Babe's husband and CBS founder Bill Paley, All His Glory . The book is larded with lists of celebrities, and their clothing and jewels, but falls short of explaining Minnie's purported lesbianism and alcoholism or "caring and generous" Babe's neglect of her children. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

With this deftly stylish account of the three sisters from Boston who made marrying well into a social art form, beautiful people insider Grafton ( Red, Hot, & Rich!: An Oral History of Cole Porter , LJ 5/1/87) has created a sizzler. The Cushings became tastemakers who created the glitterati, setting standards for elegance as they presided over the transformation of the Cafe Society into the Jet Set. Participants have told their stories in other venues (Slim Keith's Slim: Memories of a Rich and Imperfect Life , S. & S., 1990; Brooke Astor's Footprints: An Autobiography , LJ 8/80; and Truman Capote's Music for Chameleons , LJ 8/80), but Grafton renders with feeling the betrayals experienced by the women who became role models for a generation and "expressed values for people who needed to believe in fairy tales." Glamorous and irresistible, The Sisters is every bit as fabulous as its subject matter and is highly recommended for libraries interested in social and cultural history and biography.
- Susan E. Parker, Harvard Law Sch. Lib.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 316 pages
• Publisher: Villard; 1st edition (February 4, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394584163
• ISBN-13: 978-0394584164
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.9 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #529,038 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An era no longer . . ., July 19, 2001

By 

"kidbookfan" (missouri) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sisters: Babe Mortimer Paley, Betsy Roosevelt Whitney, Minnie Astor Fosburgh : The Lives and Times of the Fabulous Cushing Sisters (Hardcover)

....Granted, not a great book - but a very good one. To me - this is a fasinating look at an era that exists no longer. These women led extremely interesting lives - not only in the people they married - but the way in which they chose to live them. Try and get a copy of this book - you won't regret it. It is one of my favorites.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars story was weak, May 10, 2005

By 

Delray (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sisters: Babe Mortimer Paley, Betsy Roosevelt Whitney, Minnie Astor Fosburgh : The Lives and Times of the Fabulous Cushing Sisters (Hardcover)

I tend to agree with reviewer, Margaret Ogilvie, about this book. I was interested in learning more about style icon, Babe Paley, and her family and although the author did tell the interesting story of her upbringing (father was famous brain surgeon, Henry Cushing) and subsequent marriages of the 3 sisters, I found the story lacked substance. I didn't really feel I left the book knowing anything more about Babe Paley or her sisters. I learned, for instance, that Betsy married to FDR's son and they had a troubled marriage but it (Grafton's story) seemed like distant heresay. I've read great biographies and this was not one - I felt I was, as Margaret Ogilvie said, reading a compilation of newsclippings. I read through this book, unimpressed and rather disappointed. I'm hoping there are other books available about the Cushing sisters, specifically Babe Paley.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous times in a bygone age, June 19, 2009

By 

Shirley Spady "love a good read" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sisters: Babe Mortimer Paley, Betsy Roosevelt Whitney, Minnie Astor Fosburgh : The Lives and Times of the Fabulous Cushing Sisters (Hardcover)

This book is a recommended read for those of us who missed the golden age " 30's and 40's. These sisters were the mold of modern day society seekers of today. Babe Paley, Minnie Astor, Betsy Roosevelt Whitney, were women of a certain drive that lead them to start trends, create style to always be associated with them that was replicated by Jackie O. From Truman Capote to the royals, these girls shook things up. Its a history lesson with a haute coutre fashions in between.

This is a must read, for the summer,winter or fall. You will not be disappointed, it is a who's who of the thirties and up to the 70's. I have reread it found things that peek my interest such as other books and artist I have forgotten, so buy it you will not regret it.