miguelc524fc1

Unlike many famous wealthy people, Mrs. Astor appears to have devoted most of her time and most of her millions to investing in charitable and artistic organizations and projects. Her philanthropy was simply incredible and she seems like she was an interesting character as well. However, as a mother, she was a total flop. She ignored her only son, to devote time to socializing and taking care of her 3rd husband, Vincent Astor. She allowed her husband to fire the nanny, who had the only close relationship with her son, and insisted he sleep in the third floor of their New York apartment by himself. She sent him to boarding school as soon as humanly possible and then to summer camps and supervised childcare program, so that her time with him was extremely limited. His own father was an alcoholic with a gambling addiction and actually took his son to court to try to get the money out of a trust fund which belonged to the son. Small wonder the son grows up to be a miserable human being, who becomes embattled with his own sons over the remaining Astor fortune. This is a good read, but a sad story. I was annoyed by excessively long, rambling sentences throughout most of the book, but it was such an interesting story that my curiosity won over my irritation.

2022-09-27 09:47