As a fan of Downton Abbey, I thought this would be right up my alley. The prospect of reading the true stories of American ladies who, like the fictional Cora Crawley, had bartered family money to marry into English aristocracy was beyond intriguing. The book fell a bit short for me. Maybe my expectations were too narrow. It's clear a lot of research went into the book. There's a lot of history recited, both about the English peerage and about the American elite. Rather than being full of intrigue and anecdotes, the book reveals a lot of unhappiness and disappointed hopes, unnecessary cruelty and bending of wills. Guess I was hoping there were more happy-ish endings like Cora's.

New York - 1873 - The Gilded Age

The wealthy of Fifth Avenue vs. the tenements of New York City. The wealthy strolled Fifth Avenue and Central Park and dined at places like Delmonico’s. The Irish squatters had to be removed from Central Park and many of them found jobs as servants to the wealthy.

The Astors were “old money” and of Dutch origin and New York City was the place to be. The Astors “ruled” whether or not someone was accepted. Then the daughters of the newly rich were being sent across the Atlantic to, hopefully, marry into the English aristocracy. The rights of American women vs. English women differed greatly. American women were essentially equal to their husbands, but not so for the English women. American women were popular with Englishmen because they were vivacious, pretty, and educated. The House of Worth was very popular for wealthy women in America and England for their wardrobes.

Thus begins a wonderfully informative book that documents many of these English/American marriages. It describes the incredible wealth of the Americans, their homes, jewelry, clothes, and especially the elaborate parties they held. The wealthy families of the time period are obviously well-researched by this author. Their relationships were often portrayed by oneupmanship events. Everyone tried to out-do the others. The author gives names and the history of the families both American and English, including their relationships, marriages, love affairs and elegant homes. The amount of money that was brought to England by these heiresses was enormous.

I enjoyed reading this book and learned so much more about the tradition of these marriages. I have read about many of the people mentioned, but this book added much more information than I have encountered before. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the time period and especially for authors who write about it.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Husband Hunters, written by Anne de Courcy is a fascinating look how American and British culture shaped The Gilded Age (1870-1910) and how the young daughters from prestigious wealthy American families married into the elite English aristocratic class. These ambitious young brides included Jennie Jerome (1854-1921) who married Lord Randolph Churchill mother of Sir Winston Churchill (1875-1965). The stunning beauty Adele Beach Grant who was the portrait for “The Lady in White” was also a friend of American novelist Edith Wharton, desired only to be a member of the highest society when she married the Earl of Essex at Saint Margaret’s, Westminster in 1893. Later, her social connections would include the Prince of Wales.

Following the ending of the American Civil War (1865) enormous fortunes were made in the railroad, mining, steam engines, wheat from the vast prairies and beef/cattle ranching from the west. The ‘old money’ included the vast wealth of the Astor’s, who controlled elite NYC society. Admission to attain prominent social standing was by invitation only. If a family wasn’t recognized by the powerful Mrs. Astor, exclusion was a certainty. Families as the Rockefellers, Carnegies and the Gould’s—remained on the outside. Clever matriarch’s discovered other ways to attain the social standing they coveted.
Edith Wharton, before her famous posthumous novel “The Buccaneer’s” (1938) was released, observed: “I wish the Vanderbilt’s didn’t retard culture so thoroughly. There was a shortage of marriageable American men, and mothers from wealthy families began looking abroad for suitable husbands for their daughters. In England, eligible aristocrat bachelor’s may have had impressive formal titles and vast landholdings on country estates, that required income and resources to maintain. A wealthy American heiress was a suitable option for Englishmen strapped for cash in an economy where agriculture was depressed and taxes were high. The American socialites were proper, well-mannered, confident, open-minded, and always charming. For many Englishmen, it was love at first sight—yet, getting through maternal check-points was challenging, a young wealthy bride-to-be was usually carefully monitored and managed by her mother and/or a chaperone. A beautiful educated daughter could boost the social standing of her family, whereas in England, a daughter was entirely dependent on her family for social status, and only son's could inherit resources and property..

Americans were always quite naturally drawn to Europe, some heiresses renewed ties with their ancestral culture there. The inner circle of British nobility was by invitation, through elegant balls and parties. There the American families could display their wealth, the heiresses spent a fortune on clothes, may custom made on travels to Paris with top fashion designers.
May Goelet was left a $20 million USD trust, and at 25, considered approaching dread, but was a matrimonial target. Rejecting a potential groom, she was holding out for a genuine marital love relationship.
Anna Gould (b.1875) was the wealthy daughter of robber barron Jay Gould. Overcoming her father’s b reputation would be challenging. Respectability for Anna in American high society wouldn’t be possible. Her first husband Boni de Casteilanes was a spendthrift and debts quickly mounted. Nonetheless, Anna enjoyed her place in French society from her husband’s name. After a shrewd maneuver, (she was her father’s daughter) she divorced Boni and married his cousin Prince de Sagan, who was just as rich as Anna.
Although Grace Wilson was from a vastly wealthy hardworking prominent family, and received well in high society-- Alice Vanderbilt finally welcomed her son Neily, Grace, and their son Cornelius Vanderbilt IV after years of estrangement, as the Wilson name was never good enough for marriage to a Vanderbilt.

The Gilded Age that supported grand styles and extravagant displays of wealth in society had ended. The wealthy elite were less concerned excess and the rise to the top. There were campaigns against sweatshops, village schools and improved conditions at orphanages brought more attention to public welfare reform. Alva Vanderbilt donated large sums to the Political Equality League (1909) as the conditions related to the Women’s Suffrage movement gained attention.
In England, the grand country estates, many fully restored with American money were now open for public tours. Maude Burke had introduced English opera. Nancy Astor was the first woman elected to Parliament. One of the greatest most influential leaders in modern history was Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The American effect in English culture was unmistakable and very good indeed. ** Many thanks and appreciation to St. Martin's Press via NetGalley for the DDC for the purpose of review.

THE HUSBAND HUNTERS tells the real story of the Cora Crawleys of Downton Abbey, the American heiresses who traversed the Atlantic with their riches for marriage with British blood bloods. Author Anne de Courcy has penned an addictive read, as we follow this coterie of American debs England-ward. Winston Churchill’s mother, Jennie Jerome, was considered the first “Dollar Princess” after she left America and married Randolph Churchill in 1874. The heiress exodus continued to 1905, bringing dozens of these wealthy women to prop up land rich but dollar poor British aristocrats. Detailed source information, derived from letters, memoirs and diaries, produces a rich biographical tapestry of the Husband Hunters and their resultant English lives. Highly recommended!

Pub Date 07 Aug 2018

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are fully mine.

#TheHusbandHunters #NetGalley

Fans of history, Gilded Age and Downton Abbey will find out how women and society really lived.
While I sometimes lost the lineage of a certain young lady, I found this fascinating as to the life they lived. On a larger scale, the intertwining of Americans and Britons are forever.

The Husband Hunters is ostensibly about those heiresses who popped over the pond for a quick season and stayed forever. It's well-written, atmospheric, but it is not about these heiresses. It is about the times they lived in. There are long paragraphs about only Newport and New York society, mostly about people with no connection across the Atlantic. Astors are not discussed in the UK, only the New York ones and about their societal reign. It's done very well, but it is not what was bleeping promised. de Courcy also makes slight errors such as referring to Mamie Fish as Mamie Stuyvesant Smith, naming the Lord Craven as the Queen of Bohemia's husband (he was a lover/friend) and saying that William Henry Vanderbilt as William Kissam's brother. These errors happen only once each, but it looks a little sloppy, though it affects nothing. There just isn't much focus here (a serious pet peeve of mine), though some of the heiresses highlighted like Miss Bradley-Martin and Maud Burke make this a must read because the lack of focus takes up specific sections and don't encroach on the descriptions of the husband huntresses and their hunt. The standard heiresses like Consuelo Vanderbilt are in here, as are strangely the marrying Wilsons (and not the one who actually did marry a Brit). Honestly, it's fine if you can deal with the focus issue and a miniscule errors here and there.

The Husband Hunters by Anne de Courcy starts off a bit slowly but picks up steam upon further reading. de Courcy's book gives the reader a good background of what life was like in what some historians would call the Gilded Age. She describes in detail some of the differences between upper and lower classes and the London filth for example. She also details why American wealthy young women were much in demand when they visited England when looking for a husband.

Overall, this is an excellent book if you are interested in the time period 1870 to the mid 1900s..

I received a free Kindle copy of The Husband Hunters by Anne DeCourcy courtesy of Net Galley  and St. Martin's Press, the publisher. It was with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and my fiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus pages.

I requested this book as  I am a fan of Downton Abbey and the description of the book sounded interesting and covered a subject about which I have not previously read. This is the first book by Anne DeCourcy that I have read.

The subtitle of the book is a good synopsis of the contents - American Heiresses Who Married into the British Aristocracy. It tells of several who were wooed by poor British Aristocrats who needed their fortunes to continue to be able to afford their estates.

The author does a good job of covering the subject, although looking at the list of her other books, I'm inclined to believe that this may be a rehash or update of her earlier works. Overall, the book is good, but it does drag at times.

This is a good book if you are interested in the subject and wish to learn more about some of the women highlighted in the book like Jenny Churchill.

An easy to read non-fiction that gave me a side of history I did not know much about. I found the author's descriptions and explanations of not just the American side of these events but also the British side to be very informative and interesting. I enjoy books that can take what might appear to be just a snippet of history and delve into it to show a much deeper and intriguing story.

The Husband Hunters opens up the audacious, bold, glittering, and gauche extravagance of the 'beautiful people' who belonged to the social set of the Gilded Age. Anne de Courcy compiles the lives of numerous American women who had tons of money and married into the European aristocracy. While this subject has been addressed from various aspects before, the selections the author used are compelling. Some of the women were crafty, some were pawns, some came to regret their marriages and divorces ensued. Alva Vanderbilt continued to be a force to reckon with, from scheming society maven to self proclaimed suffragette.
Readers will marvel at the outrageous excess that these people embarked from dripping with jewelry to spending millions on one party. Such a time, however indulgent, will certainly never be witnessed again.

Thanks St. Martin's Press and netgalley for this ARC.

Anne de Courcy writes nonfiction like a novel which is always the best way to read it. Loved this one.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for the chance to read and review this book!
This is the story of the American heiresses who married into British aristocracy-a few of these marriages were based on love, but most of them were made in an effort to save the impoverished British aristocracy. This took place during the late 19th century and early 20th century. Sadly, most of these couples were not happy. In spite of these bad marriages, these women managed to find a place in society.
I found this book fascinating! I loved all the historical facts and the stories of all of these women! Highly recommend if the reader likes stories about the Gilded Age!















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Thanks to NetGalley.com and St. Martin’s Press for the chance to read this for an honest review.
First, the cover is amazing as it represents the Guilded Age perfectly. If you are a fan of historical fiction, this is the truth behind the fiction. High society, the start of the societal prowess in the late 19th and early 20th century. The women who were in charge of who’s who and The Four Hundred.
It didn’t read so much as a novel, but of a history lesson. Very informative and extremely interesting!

I gave this book a 4 out of 5 star review. I feel it had the potential to be good but was very factual. (I am more of a Biography / Auto Biography reader).

"A deliciously told group biography of the young, rich, American heiresses who married into the impoverished British aristocracy at the turn of the twentieth century – The real women who inspired Downton Abbey.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century and for the first few years of the twentieth, a strange invasion took place in Britain. The citadel of power, privilege and breeding in which the titled, land-owning governing class had barricaded itself for so long was breached. The incomers were a group of young women who, fifty years earlier, would have been looked on as the alien denizens of another world - the New World, to be precise. From 1874 - the year that Jennie Jerome, the first known 'Dollar Princess', married Randolph Churchill - to 1905, dozens of young American heiresses married into the British peerage, bringing with them all the fabulous wealth, glamour and sophistication of the Gilded Age.

Anne de Courcy sets the stories of these young women and their families in the context of their times. Based on extensive first-hand research, drawing on diaries, memoirs and letters, this richly entertaining group biography reveals what they thought of their new lives in England - and what England thought of them."

Let's read about some Buccaneers!

Such an interesting book about the young women who went after titled Europeans after their American families had become the roaring barons of the Gilded Age.

Plenty of anecdotal stories are shared and the reader has to smile as these young warriors are sent to conquer Europe.

Really enjoyable, perhaps accompanied by the wonderful video of THE BUCCANEERS by Edith Wharton. This is a great read for a social history class or book club.

This has always been a popular topic in the US, and should do very well! I know a lot of people will want to read this one!