LITTLE GLORIA
ααΈα αΆ 2011 Β· Knopf
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This is a story of money, glamour, and scandal (on the highest level); a story of American society and of European royalty; a story of family strife exploding into one of the most dramatic and publicized court battles of the centuryβthe battle for a solemn ten-year-old child, βlittle Gloriaβ Vanderbilt, who in 1934 was the object of the epic custody suit between her mother, the beautiful and penniless Vanderbilt widow, and her aunt, the famous Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, whose $78 million could buy her anything she wanted. And what she wanted was βlittle Gloria.β
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The leading characters:
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Gloria Morgan, who was one of the fabled Morgan Twins (invented by society reporter βChollyβ Knickerbocker as the quintessential CafΓ© Society beauties) and who, as a shy, stammering eighteen-year-old, living on nothing a year, did what she was raised to do, becoming the wife of . . .
Reggie Vanderbilt, at forty-three a worn-out alcoholic who had managed to go through almost $25 million in fourteen years and who died only two years after his marriage to Gloria, leaving his beautiful young widow nothing but their baby, their babyβs untouchable trust fund, and the Vanderbilt name . . .
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Gloria Morganβs twin, Thelma, who, as Lady Furness, was for years the mistress of the Prince of Wales (until she introduced him to her βbest friendβ Wallis Simpson) . . .
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Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Reginaldβs sister, a formidable Society woman, a sculptor and the founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art, a woman who conformedβon the surfaceβto everything expected of American royalty and yet lived a hidden second life as a passionate bohemian . . .
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And the childβlittle Gloria herselfβshunted out of her motherβs life, carted around Europe, depending for her existence on her neurotically overprotective nurse, Dodo, who never left her for a single day, and her mad Morgan grandmother, who insisted that her own daughter might murder the child for the Vanderbilt millions. Deserted, βdressed in rags,β neglected, she became an almost mythic incarnation of βthe poor little rich girl.β This child, who was to grow up to become a world-famous fashion designer, her nameβGloria Vanderbiltβa household word.
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We come to understand and care about this child as we observe, close up, the astonishing lives and intrigues surrounding her. We see her at the age of ten brought to the courthouse, rushed through mobs of spectators, reporters, photographers. We follow a courtroom drama of sensation after sensation, the judge ultimately banning both public and press, the final scandalous testimony reaching to the heart of the English royal family. We listen to the parade of witnessesβservants, millionaires, society celebrities, aristocrats, family retainers. We watch the judge himselfβa classic Tammany polβbecoming another of the many victims of the case, reviled on all sides. And finally we see little Gloria pushed to choose between her mother and her aunt, making the decision that will affect her whole lifeβwith nobody ever asking her the basic question, βWhy are you afraid?β
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For the first time, the thousands of pages of documents and sealed court testimony have been unearthed and explored. Hundreds of people have been interviewed. And a writer completely knowing about society and the period has used all this material to create a compelling narrative of vitality, resonance, and fascination. Combining her extraordinary abilities as an investigative reporter with the skills and sensitivity of a novelist, Barbara Goldsmith has given us a galvanizing story, a whole world of astonishing emotional and social circumstances, unforgettably revealed.
Β
The leading characters:
Β
Gloria Morgan, who was one of the fabled Morgan Twins (invented by society reporter βChollyβ Knickerbocker as the quintessential CafΓ© Society beauties) and who, as a shy, stammering eighteen-year-old, living on nothing a year, did what she was raised to do, becoming the wife of . . .
Reggie Vanderbilt, at forty-three a worn-out alcoholic who had managed to go through almost $25 million in fourteen years and who died only two years after his marriage to Gloria, leaving his beautiful young widow nothing but their baby, their babyβs untouchable trust fund, and the Vanderbilt name . . .
Β
Gloria Morganβs twin, Thelma, who, as Lady Furness, was for years the mistress of the Prince of Wales (until she introduced him to her βbest friendβ Wallis Simpson) . . .
Β
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Reginaldβs sister, a formidable Society woman, a sculptor and the founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art, a woman who conformedβon the surfaceβto everything expected of American royalty and yet lived a hidden second life as a passionate bohemian . . .
Β
And the childβlittle Gloria herselfβshunted out of her motherβs life, carted around Europe, depending for her existence on her neurotically overprotective nurse, Dodo, who never left her for a single day, and her mad Morgan grandmother, who insisted that her own daughter might murder the child for the Vanderbilt millions. Deserted, βdressed in rags,β neglected, she became an almost mythic incarnation of βthe poor little rich girl.β This child, who was to grow up to become a world-famous fashion designer, her nameβGloria Vanderbiltβa household word.
Β
We come to understand and care about this child as we observe, close up, the astonishing lives and intrigues surrounding her. We see her at the age of ten brought to the courthouse, rushed through mobs of spectators, reporters, photographers. We follow a courtroom drama of sensation after sensation, the judge ultimately banning both public and press, the final scandalous testimony reaching to the heart of the English royal family. We listen to the parade of witnessesβservants, millionaires, society celebrities, aristocrats, family retainers. We watch the judge himselfβa classic Tammany polβbecoming another of the many victims of the case, reviled on all sides. And finally we see little Gloria pushed to choose between her mother and her aunt, making the decision that will affect her whole lifeβwith nobody ever asking her the basic question, βWhy are you afraid?β
Β
For the first time, the thousands of pages of documents and sealed court testimony have been unearthed and explored. Hundreds of people have been interviewed. And a writer completely knowing about society and the period has used all this material to create a compelling narrative of vitality, resonance, and fascination. Combining her extraordinary abilities as an investigative reporter with the skills and sensitivity of a novelist, Barbara Goldsmith has given us a galvanizing story, a whole world of astonishing emotional and social circumstances, unforgettably revealed.
α’αααΈβα’ααααα·αααα
Barbara Goldsmith is an award-winning journalist, a founding editor of New York magazine, and former Senior Editor of Harperβs Bazaar. She is the author of the highly acclaimed novel The Straw Man. She lives in New York with her husband, film director Frank Perry.
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