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

What I loved most about Empty Mansions was the history. As interesting & puzzling as it may be to have an elderly lady happily living in a hospital by choice, the history of the family, trying to imagine owning paintings by artists from whom you almost exclusively, see reproductions, is a world unto itself.Then there was Huguette. What I found sad was the way the hospital hit her up for cash, yet made fun of her eccentricity. By all accounts, she was a kind person. She may have been eccentric, yet she did not abuse anyone who came in to contact with her, and by all accounts, she did provide for those she cared about.Empty Mansions does raise questions on ethics, whether it be the lawyer, accountant, the hospital... Even her own relatives who challenged her will. I was glad to see an investigation to determine whether elder abuse had occurred—under the circumstances, it makes complete sense. That said, I was angered by the greed of her family... If one can use that term at all.In the end, while we never receive concrete answers about how/why Ms. Clark was so isolated, it's almost beside the point. Perhaps most fascinating is this one woman outliving her family by an extraordinary number of years. At nearly 105 at the time of her death, she saw more of history than most people. While I'd have loved to see a diary or journal of some kind to possibly understand Huguette's mindset, as an artist myself, the mystery is also part of the beauty. Nothing is necessarily clean & wrapped in a bow. We can choose to interpret the words on the page in multiple ways. I can't help but imagine that although her privacy was violated following her death, in the end, her story is that of an artist, through & through. Much is still left to the imagination, a world we may create. Perhaps that is the true gift the authors deliver to the readers, as well as Huguette in the end.

This book is well researched and spans the lives of W. A. Clark, his second wife, Anna, and their surviving daughter Huguette. It is an inside look at the making and spending of an inconceivable fortune. It is also introduces the reader to the fairy-like, in many ways, Huguette who lived her life as she chose to live it.Yes, she was very generous to those she cared about, and to some charitable causes. However, she could have done so much, to better the world, with the millions she gave to her private nurse, doctors who were, IMO, taking advantage of Huguette's fears, and eccentricities.At the end of reading, I don't feel sad for Huguette. She isolated herself so that she didn't have to deal with anything that might make her feel uncomfortable or sad. She only wanted to think about things that were beautiful, things that made her happy to do. In that sense, she seemed selfish and immature.I think that Huguette Clark's life disproves the adage that, "Money can't buy happiness." I believe that she was absolutely content with the restricted world she created, no matter how stunted it was. I did not find myself admiring Huguette, despite her generosity to those with whom she was loyal.

As a Montanan I found this a wonderful and enlightening read. Here in our state we have copious amounts of the historical doings of the Copper Kings as well as the physical remnants of that time. However there is little that tells us of their posterity and surely Hugette Clark is among the most interesting. As I walk the streets of Butte I will remember "Hug". Columbia Gardens is only a memory, unfortunately but the mine heads still stand to remind us of the days when copper made kings. If you have never visited Butte/Anaconda area, you should put it on your bucket list. But go after boning up on the history. It was one of the most fascinating periods in Montana history. The city has been named as a historical site. And there is much to explore. This book was well researched and well written and should be part of your 're-visit research.

Instead of reading like a novel, this book reads like a history textbook. It is based on the timeline of real estate transactions that overlap in many instances. It's a little hard to follow unless you really pay attention to the dates. There is no development of the Huguette's personality. There are suggestions that she may have been immature on some levels while quite intelligent on other levels. There is really no medical or psychological explanation regarding her behavior, just theories.

I wanted to read about this mysterious woman when I read a summary of the book. It was such an interesting look at a family that was so influential in building America as we know it, yet were forgotten due to their own desire to retreat from the public. It is also an amazing example of how money can provide motivation for so many different types of behavior. I had to read short snippets at a time since my inability to relate to Mrs Clark's spending just blew my mind and I became frustrated and sometimes disgusted with the waste that it seemed to be. But I also realized that for someone who had no choice in her family or financial status, she found ways to make the best of her world and to enjoy it as long as she could. So many people benefited from her life, not just her financial gifts. We are all just trying to be happy.

The life story of Huguette Clark is truly incredible. What should have been a joyful time, filled with parties, travel and ease, for some unknown reason was instead reclusive and sad. What impressed me most about Clark's life is in spite of her self-imposed isolation she remained interested in the lives of others. This is illustrated by her many phone calls and letters to her family, friends and acquaintances as well as gifts of toys for children and extravagant gifts of money to many people. Even her collection of the Japanese dolls and the houses she ordered show an interest in others. I believe there is a lesson to be from there. Perhaps her connection to others extended her life. Definitely an interesting read. I remember her story in the news around the time of her death.

an absorbing story of massive wealth, waste and greed. None of the characters are likeable, or even have much personality, but the houses, estates and the secondary players revolving around the action keep us interested. In the end I felt quite sorry for Huguette, an ageing lady doing her best to maintain her wealth and dignity in the face of an army of vultures. If she wanted to spend the last 20 years of her life in a hospital why shouldn't she?

This is a fab read exploring the life of Huguette Clark, an elusive heiress with more money than most of us can even imagine. Shying away from the limelight, Huguette lived over a 100 years - yet most of her employees and extended family had never seen her, and for the last decades of her life couldn't even be sure if she were alive or dead...I had never heard of W.A. or Huguette Clark before reading this, but the book does a great job of covering the family history - and outlining how W.A. became so fabulously wealthy. Huguette's life comes across as equal parts mysterious and tragic and, I suppose, just goes to show that money really can't buy you everything.

This book has everything; money by the truckload, truly fabulous stuff and people who couldn't really appreciate any of it. Both Huguette and her mother were shy, sensitive souls whose way of dealing with life was to make it small, so that they could cope with it.Huguette was a kind and generous person with an artistic nature, possibly somewhere on the autism scale and lost without her family but she seemed happy with such a little life. Inevitably, being America, many of those around her took advantage of her generosity and by and large, she was happy to give.A really interesting, thought-provoking read from beginning to end.

I really enjoyed this book - it was well written and a very interesting and fascinating story. This span of this lady's life and that of her father is just quite incredible. It made me want to Google more about the case when I had finished the book to see what had happened since the book was published. This is the first book I read on my new Kindle - was very glad to read it on my Kindle as I could easily link to characters and see where they had been in the story earlier. My only disappointment is that the faily tre was so low res that it was unusable on the Kindle version so I felt a bit short-changed over that.

This is an unusual story about someone who shut themselves away from the world despite great wealth or maybe because of it. The authors do a great job on investigating the family back to the 1800s and the source of the wealth. Recommend to anyone really