Marjorie Merriweather Post was an entrepreneur and businesswoman. In this biographical novel, Marjorie narrates her life from the time she was gluing cereal boxes for her dad’s company in her father’s barn to her final moments. Before she turned thirty, she became the wealthiest woman in America. This novel also chronicles her four disastrous marriages. The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post tells the tale of a wealthy woman who spent her life searching for love.

Before reading this novel, I did not know much about the life of Marjorie Post. However, this novel shows that she lived a fascinating life. She inherited a successful business from her father and was a major philanthropist. Yet, I could not connect with Marjorie Post. Marjorie Post seemed very vain and selfish. She desires to be loved by all. The novel also spends a lot of time on her romances. Marjorie rushes headlong into marriage and always chooses bad men. She never seems to learn from her mistakes, and her marriages keep ending the same way. Therefore, Majorie Post was a very annoying and vain character. I did not feel sorry for her difficulties because I could not connect with her.

Overall, this novel tells of heartbreaks, ambition, and wealth. The characters are mostly bland. Marjorie’s husbands are stereotypical bad guys. The novel is very repetitive. Most of the novel focuses on her romances or how much she spent on her sumptuous and lavish lifestyle. The parts I did like were the scenes depicting her business, and I like the relationship with her father. I wished that this novel focused more on her career and her philanthropy. Therefore, The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post reads like a soap opera because it has enough glitz, glamor, and drama that it will keep you entertained. I recommend this for fans of American Princess, American Duchess, and The Second Mrs. Astor!

I enjoyed it and the research was very thorough, and it was an interesting read about a fascinating woman. However, I heard the author’s voice throughout the book instead of Marjorie’s. There was no depth of character. It read almost like an autobiography and list of her accomplishments and her spending. Thanks for the opportunity to read this book!

This is an in depth and very informative look into the life of Marjorie Post. Written in the first person, Ms. Post takes you on her life’s journey beginning with her family’s moving to Battle Creek, Michigan where her sickly father enrolled in Dr. Kellogg’s sanitarium. From living in small rented quarters to becoming the richest woman in America, Ms. Pataki takes you along. The tremendous excess of the 1920’s, through the dramatic days of the depression and even her days as Ambassadress of Russia …you get to see what Marjorie Post is all about. I don’t think there was a woman who gave more to help the needy in this country for decades…from hospitals to soup canteens, donating to the Red Cross and Girl Scouts, and countess other charities, to making sure her hundreds of employees maintaining 4 luxurious homes never went without in hard times. She was the brains behind General Foods for decades. The author details her four marriages and her final triumph of Hillwood. A miraculous life well lived. Very well researched. Very enjoyable reading.

Marjorie Merriweather Post went from pasting labels on the cereal boxes in her father's barn to heiress and leading lady of a food empire. She became the wealthiest woman in the United States, though her personal life was full of challenge and tumult. This is her life.

I’d heard of Marjorie Merriweather Post only in reference to being an American heiress. I was intrigued by the description of this book and eager to learn more about her. By the end, I mostly felt pity for her and the life she’d had. For being an intelligent and forward thinking woman, she rushed from one marriage to the next without really knowing the man she married.

I found the most interesting part was the very beginning with how her father first thought of the idea of Grape-Nuts. I would have loved it if the book had spent more time there. Instead, it is mentioned and then there is a jump in time. That is actually the biggest criticism I had with the book in general: just how much it jumped between what I guess were the incidents that the author considered important.

Overall, it was an interesting read. It is definitely a warning that money can’t buy everything.

This is one example of the best kind of historical fiction, a story that introduces the reader to someone they had no knowledge about and wanted to learn more about during and after reading. I had no idea about Marjorie Post, the history behind the Post Cereal company and the merger to become General Foods. This woman was driven and brilliant and while she comes across as overbearing at times she helped build one of the most recognized brands in the world.

I didn't know much about Marjorie Post before I read this book. What I knew was that she was a rich socialite.
While this book is not a biography, it is a well-done piece of historical fiction. It traces Marjorie's life back to her childhood. It gave a good feel for her father and her mother, where they lived, and how the beginnings of the Post cereal company affected Marjorie.
The people were all well-drawn. You felt that you knew her 4 husbands and her 3 daughters.
Her wealth, and her use of it both for herself and as a philanthropist, are described in detail.
If I have one complaint, its that the entire book is told in Marjorie's voice. No one else gets a chance to describe the same events from their point of view. Marjorie is unfailingly upbeat; that got on my nerves.
Putting that aside, the author expounds at length about all the sources and resources she used. She also recommends non-fiction biographies about Marjorie as well.
Overall, I would recommend this book.

Bestselling author #Allison Pataki's novel # The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie is a national bestseller. The cover alone will grab your attention. Also one of the most anticipated books of 2022.💜🐾🐾
Description:
As a child she glued cereal boxes in her father's barn. A wife four times and a shaker in society. Once the wealthiest woman in America. A woman who did everything on a grand scale.......

Thank you for the advance copy,
#Netgalley, # Allison Pataki, and #Random House Publishing 💜🐾🐾

The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post is an interesting historical fiction book centered around the life of the Post Cereal heiress. Marjorie wasn’t born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but rather watched her father build a successful business from the ground up through hard work and a willingness to take a chance. As Marjorie grows into adulthood, now surrounded by great wealth, it is fascinating to glimpse the lifestyle lived through the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, and beyond. I loved seeing the different phases of Marjorie’s life, the growth of the Post company, and the reminder that money really can’t buy happiness. I also greatly appreciated that this book is free of profanity!

Thanks go to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I don’t think I’d ever heard of Majorie Merriweather Post before reading this historical fiction version of her life. If even half of this was true, she lived an amazingly full and complete life. Ms Post was influential and contributed much to our American way of life, from her position at Post Foods to her ambassador’s wife role in the Soviet Union, to her charity work with the Red Cross. My only shock was of her many marriages and their completely horrible endings in a time when such things weren’t the norm. Entertaining, informative, and interesting, I could hardly put this novel down until I’d finished it.

Transport back in time to learn about the fascinating life of Marjorie Post. She is the daughter of C.W. Post the creator of Grape Nuts and originator of breakfast cereal. As the heir to the company, which becomes General Foods, she meets many influential people and experiences a very full life. Her story is one I hadn’t known and this charming tale was inspiring and heartening. Great insight into a magnificent life. Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC. This is my honest review.

I don’t think I have been disappointed by a Allison Pataki novel and The Many Lives of Marjorie Post was terrific. I love the way Pataki gets into the nitty gritty of her main characters. How you know so much about them and their lives that you feel like you could be a part of the story. Marjorie Merriweather Post is born to a couple who are comfortable with finances. Somewhat a society family but Marjorie’s dad, CW Post is not a healthy man and they head west to a sanatorium so that he can get help. He stays at Kelloggs Sanatorium and doesn’t seems to be doing all that well. Marjorie and her mother stay locally at a boarding house. They are running out of money and need to find answers for CW Post. CW winds up leaving the sanatorium and decides he needs to come up with something to make money. He starts his business in the barn and Marjorie is by his side the whole way. His venture turns out to be The Post Cereal Company which would grow to General Foods. They are never short on money again and Marjorie amasses a fortune. She has so much money, she doesn’t know what to do with it. As she gets older she finds her way in a man’s world. She must find a way to run her father’s company. She isn’t very luck in love but she does have a loving family. I read this book quickly, Pataki, has a way of telling a story in such a beautiful way. I was intrigued by Marjorie’s life. I did research while I was reading and also when I finished. If you are a historical fiction reader like me this is the book for you. This is not my 1st book I have read by Pataki and it won’t be my last. This was a five star read for me. I want to thank Netgalley & Pataki for my copy, for an honest review. It was an absolute pleasure to read and review this book. I hope you enjoy it too!!!!

A wonderful book about Marjorie Meriweather Post, a woman who seems to have lived many lives! Although I had a vague idea of Post, I didn't know how large a footprint on our society she had. Her father, C.W. Post, started the Post cereal company in the early 1900s and gained massive wealth by revolutionizing breakfast. We meet Marjorie as a young girl and are lead through her eventful life and vision throughout the late 1800s and 1900s. I especially enjoyed reading about her philanthropy and husbands. Allison Pataki has a wonderful style of writing that keeps you interested in whatever period she's writing about.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

Marjorie Post is one of the most fascinating people I have studied. She was such an enigma. Her life was full of many different stories and it was so interesting to learn about them in this book.

The start was slow and it took me a while to get into it. But, when I did get into it, I loved it! Allison Pataki did a fantastic job of giving all the information about her life while also writing a compelling story.

Allison’s writing was fantastic, this book was well-written and it was clear that she did her research. She did a great job of writing like it was really that time and it was easy to step into that time while reading this book.

This book is not for everyone, that’s true. I enjoyed it and I don’t typically read historical fiction. But, because of the way Allison Pataki wrote it, it is definitely not written for everyone. But, if you like historical fiction and you like stories written about real people, this is definitely a book you should give a try!

Allison Pataki’s novel The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post fictionalizes the life of a woman who actually lived. Many of us have heard the name Marjorie Post, the heiress to the Post cereal fortune. Her story is an amazing one beyond just that.





As a young child, Marjorie helped her father as he created breakfast cereal for the general public. As his only child, Marjorie inherited the company upon his death. The Post company became a conglomerate over the years, and one of the most interesting facts in this fascinating novel is that Marjorie Post brought frozen foods to the general public when she purchased a small company called Birdseye Foods. Her board of directors were against the purchase, stating that people would not want to buy frozen foods. She persisted, and that purchase solidified her company’s future as she changed the food business in this country forever.



Marjorie Post was a very wealthy woman, and while she was a brilliant businesswoman, she did not have the same prowess in her choice of husbands. She married and divorced three times.



Continuing with our WWII theme, Marjorie Post was married to a man who became the American ambassador to Russia just before WWII. I found the descriptions of life as the wife of an ambassador so interesting, and Post bought many of the treasures the Russian government was selling off, creating one of the most impressive collections of Russian art anywhere.



As I was reading The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post, I found myself saying “she knew who?”, “she did what?” “she went where?”. The title of this book could not be more perfect, Marjorie Post lived so many magnificent lives. I highly recommend it.

I really enjoyed this biographical novel and was previously unaware about the trials that Marjorie Post faced. The story itself was very entertaining. Some biographical stories lack in plot and read more like a list of facts, but Pataki shared Marjorie's life in a manner that grabs the reader's attention.

Loved this - there's so much I didn't know about this amazing woman! And now I want to read all of Allison Pataki's other books. Excellent writing and character development. The only reason this didn't get 5 stars is because I did feel it focused a little too much on her marriages and not enough on her life in between. She was obviously more than just a wife 4 times over and while her many failed marriages were important pieces of her history, I felt like there was too much attention paid to her husbands and her relationships with them. I would have liked to have that attention spent on her accomplishments and her life outside of her marriages. There were very tiny hints that she might have been a feminist and possibly a suffragette, but then no more information or follow-up - we weren't told how she felt or reacted when women received the vote. However, it was still a great read and I highly recommend to any fan of historical fiction.

Historical fiction tends to concentrate on specific areas and specific people. "The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post" is different in that it takes us to a woman both incredibly famous and, to a degree, lesser known to the public. Marjorie Post was the heiress to the Post/General Mills food empire; the book tells her story, along with that of the company, from her childhood onward. Although considered nouveau riche (and, worse, midwestern), Post went on to multiple marriages and a social life that actively engaged with the most wealthy and powerful. In addition, she was a significant force in philanthropy and made her talents as a hostess a gift to the nation.

What's good: The book's unique focus. I enjoy learning in historical fiction, and this one definitely added to my knowledge. In addition, Marjorie's life is not just about her children, which I greatly appreciated.

What's iffier: Marjorie's inner voice tends to be plucky and determined. As a result, when bad things happen, the impression is she (typically) dusts herself off and moves forward rapidly, almost too rapidly; the effect on the book is that it feels as if we're not going deep enough into her character at those moments.

With gratitude to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

Pataki has once again provided readers with the story of a powerful woman. Rich in historical detail, this book examines Marjorie Merriweather Post, the heir to the Post cereal fortune. Her father was a self-made man who developed meals that were easier and more convenient for everyday families. The company expanded and made the Post family one of the wealthiest in America.

Marjorie became a trend setter and socialite but she was so much more. Besides entertaining the President and other powerful people, she was deeply involved in her family's business. For a time, she lived in Russia while one of her husbands worked there as a diplomat. Her interaction with Russian leadership is a fascinating demonstration of capitalism facing communism.

Though she lived a lavish life, Marjorie didn’t dismiss the common people. She never forgot her simple upbringing and it influenced her business practices. While many of us may not be familiar with this stunning, influential woman, we certainly have heard of her magnificent home called Mar-a-Lago. It was just one of her many impressive homes.

Pataki’s research is abundantly clear. As before, she brings a historic woman to life and impresses us with the vast accomplishments and disappointments that comprised her life. Marjorie's relationships make her more human, exposing her vulnerability. Still, reading about the opulence and extravagant spending gives readers an insight into the world of the super-wealthy and entitled. As the title suggests, her story is actually a series of “lives” as she moves from one phase to the next. Fascinating and riveting, a fantastic fictional biography.

This was a really interesting book. I knew nothing about Marjorie Post except the she built Mar-a-Lago and was an extremely wealthy heiress. Her father invented grape nuts cereal and started a thriving company.
What a fascinating life she led! The story goes through the majority of the last century as it details her charity works, romances, and her real estate holdings. My only complaint is that it was possibly too long, and many times the historical facts overwhelmed the story. 3.5 stars.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

4 Stars. I was married in one of her former homes so of course I was drawn to this book, a well-researched historical fiction about the life of Marjorie Merriweather Post. But she was a more grand and inspirational woman than I would have imagined. Who was she? An heiress, a former diplomat to the US embassy in Moscow (another thing I have in common with her) and a businesswoman.

Her father started the Post Cereal Company when he overcame a grave illness and developed Grape Nuts cereal as a brand new kind of breakfast in 1895. Marjorie, a bright young woman, later inherited C.W. Post’s wealth and took over the business, expanding it from cereal to other foods. She changed the name to General Foods and made some other key decisions, even when her husband disagreed with her, that helped grow the company.

She married more than once, had children, collected art, amassed several homes, including Hillwood in Washington, DC (worth touring if you haven’t), and the now well-known, Mar-a-Lago, to name a few. She was one of the richest and most powerful women in the world who lived a storied life, but she found ways to give back to those in need. #TheMagnificentLivesofMarjoriePost #NetGalley