The lives and troubles of celebrities has always fascinated those who would never be able to experience the highs and lows of those with money, lots of money. When Emma Radetsky was researching her documentary on women and their jewelry, she meets Oliver Wendell Shaw, a friend and confidant of Doris Duke. The information he shares with her leads to this historical fiction of the lives and times of Doris Duke and Barbara Hutton, two of the most famous and infamous heiresses of the 20th century. I've read biographies of both women before this. Stephen Greco does not take license with their stories. He does add the fictional stories around the facts that kept them on the front page of the paper for most of their lives. The book was a good read that I'd recommend to any one who shares the fascination with the lives of celebrities.

Although a bit slow at the beginning, this book was interesting, gave some great background about the lives of Barbara Hutton and Doris Duke, and jumped around the world with the story telling. Told in two timelines, present and past, by one man, Ollie, who knew each woman very well and was asked about them by a young woman, Emma, who was hoping to do a movie about their jewelry and where it is now.

Through a many layered meandering story, I was pleasantly surprised that although the heiresses were rich beyond my wildest dreams, they also had a personal side that was sometimes quite needy. For decades, they had each other, then Doris had to go without her closest female friend. She did have Ollie.

Enigmatic Ollie to Emma, who became a man of means for others rather than himself.

A wonderful tale about these two strong women who bucked the tide of fitting in or being 'normal' and went forward living life to the fullest on their own terms.

The Last American Heiresses, the story of Barbara Hutton (Woolworth heiress) and Doris Duke (tobacco heiress) captivates you from the beginning. It takes you on a very sumptuous and wealthy tour of their rich lives and not so glamorous tragedies.

The story takes you through two different stories that intertwine exquisitely. Oliver Wendall Shaw, a former friend of these fabulous women, is helping Emma with her film about the jewels these eccentric and often misunderstood women wore during their golden era. Oliver has so many stories to share about Doris and Barbara and their long lasting but often tumultuous friendship.

A must read for those who appreciate the socialites and heiresses of the past, the glitz, glamour and tragedy that often follow these larger than life characters and their endless wealth.

Thank you Netgalley and Kensington Publishing for this majestically fabulous read!

🍨Review: The Last American Heiresses

💌Rate: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 Stars!

🥞Praise: What an insightful and delightful literary treat! Barbara Hutton and Doris Duke we're always women I seen on documentaries here and there or heard even my teachers talk about back in college! But to finally read a fiction book about the lives of these two amazing women is a grand time!

🍭Naturally Stephen Greco, the author, is the best person to give voices to historical figures such as these ladies! I can only imagine growing up in that time being the heiress to an amazing fortune! And not only that! Having a rival/friend right next to me LOL talk about elegant and juicy gossip wrapped up in one!

💗 This book tells the tale of both these women's lives how they intertwined and how they both lived it in general! The pros and cons! Fabulous beauty and carefully coordinated flaws they both entertained the world and gave way to opinions. So so so so razzle dazzle!

☕ Characters: There were many interesting juicy characters in this book! Besides Barbara and Doris we have Ollie, Emma, and the husbands!! I felt as if I was watching Netflix! Heiresses truly air the most laundry lol

👑Extra/Tropes: I cannot wait to read all other books by Stephen Greco! He gives voice and grace to two ladies of the past who had a great impact on the present day!

🍪 Historical Fiction
🍪Romance
🍪Drama
🍪Must Read!

I seem to gravitate toward the glamour of the gilded age so I was really looking forward to yet another book about two famous wealthy women - Doris Duke and Barbara Hutton.

There was plenty of glamour within the story and lots of stories that wound together. As a bonus, Emma is making a film about the jewels in this same era when she calls upon an old family friend, Oliver Wendall Shaw, to help her with some history. As the story goes back and forth (although most of it was directly Doris (Dodo) and Barbara (Babbo). With a couple of twists at the end, this was a fun read.

I did feel, however, that this book was just way too long and at times there was far too much detail in the telling that bogged it down. I would still recommend it (just skim over the parts you might find too detailed).

I was given this book by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

This will probably be most appreciated by those unfamiliar with the incredibly wealthy Doris Duke and Barbara Hutton, about whom reams have already been written. This is distinguished, however, by its focus on the friendship between the two. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. This wasn't for me but I am certain others will enjoy it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I am such a big fan of historical fiction books about real people, and The Last American Heiresses excels at creating narratives for both Doris Duke and Barbara Hutton, as well as Emma, a filmmaker working on a documentary about famous jewelry and the women that wore them. I’ll be honest, I knew very little about Duke and Hutton going in, other than that Hutton was married to Cary Grant for a few years.

Doris and Barbara were born about a week apart, and the press dubs them the “Gold Dust Twins” because they are both heirs to large fortunes. They grew up mingling in the same circles of society and had a friendly and not-so-friendly rivalry, too. Duke was an heir to a tobacco fortune, while Hutton was the heir to the Woolworth store’s fortune.

I was able to immerse myself immediately into the women’s world because of the stellar writing of Stephen Greco. I did not realize that I had read one of his other books, Such Good Friends, and I did not like the way it was written. So, for me to pick up another book by this author and like the way it was written is saying something.

Doris is always trying to get Barbara to not be so impulsive with her money or her love life. Barbara wishes she could be more like Doris, who is fun loving yet very serious about her philanthropy and never careless with her money. Barbara ends up marrying something like seven times and fritters away her fortune, while Doris invests her money wisely and is a billionaire by the time of her death in 1993.

I did enjoy the other POV presented, that of Emma, the filmmaker, and Ollie, who was friends with The Gold Dust Twins and relays many stories to Emma.

This was a very interesting historical fiction novel that makes me want to read a few non-fiction books and find out more about Doris Duke and Barbara Hutton. A solid 4-star book!

I would never have picked this book had I realized that this is the same author that wrote Such Good Friends: A Novel of Truman Capote & Lee Radziwill. This is a perfect book club choice. You will love this book if you love lush, never-ending descriptions of clothing, decor, architecture, art, dated gossip, and a supposed friendship between the two wealthiest women in America (at the time).

Frankly, I just don't have what it takes to enjoy books of this caliber. I need something that takes me away from this world. I need something that will make me think, laugh, cry, and use my imagination, something that will pique my curiosity. This book did none of those things for me. It felt as if the longer I read it, the longer the book became until I felt that it would never end.

I wanted to read more about Emma and Ollie and the film she was making. That would have been interesting. Instead, we got a book about the two most selfish women in the world.
I understand that the rich are different from the likes of me, but this was just a mishmash of spoiled, entitled behavior---yes, yes, I know it was a different era. I think what really did it for me was the apparent padding of this book with all of the never-ending descriptions---of EVERYTHING.


The era that is the basis for this book will make it a little awkward for those of us who were born in the late 50's and only know of some of these people when they were already past their prime. But, on the other hand, if you are much younger than me, then you might find this an exciting slice of mid to late-20th-century history. But, of course, it is history about the wealthy jet-setters, and it only touches briefly on anything significant that was going on in America at the time.

Although this wasn't my cup of tea, I think that many out in Bookland will enjoy this look into the rich and famous.

*ARC supplied by the publisher A John Scognamiglio Book, the author, and NetGalley.
Edit Review

Doris Duke and Barbara Hutton are born in 1912, a week or so apart, both heirs to an incredible fortune. Their upbringing is with an eye to their gender, and their fortune and no one really understands how restricting both can be, and… warping. Partners in crime and best friends for life in a changing world: women are getting jobs, education, philanthropy is changing, the (role of the) press is changing too.

This book tries to tell their story, relating their friendship, painting a picture of the life of the über-rich in a certain era, and does so by ways of a film maker wanting to document jewellery, and her contacting Doris’ (and at some point Barbara’s) close friend, a closeted gay, now old and not rich, and losing relevance in this changed world.

Two storylines, as is common, if not the norm, for this kind of historical fiction. Usually these lines come together by a surprise/ hidden/ neglected child, that’s not the case here.
In fact, I found the past and present at odds, random even and -unfortunately- the overall storylines without arc, and so I ended up not caring for either present or past.
1,5 stars rounded up

I received an eARC from NetGalley in return for my honest opinion.

I was so excited to read this book once I received an ARC of it through NetGalley. This book focuses on the colorful lives of two heiresses, Barbara Hutton and Doris Duke, who have a long and complicated history with each other. The two of them were born within a week of each other in 1912; Barbara is the heir to the Woolworth fortune while Doris is also one of the richest women in the world at the time. The lives of both of these women are so interesting and I found the author’s writing to be engaging. I felt like I really knew these women based on what I was reading. Another character in the novel named Emma Radetsky is a filmmaker who is creating a documentary on influential women and their famous jewelry collections, and ends up researching Barbara and Doris. Emma discovers some details about the complex nature of these women’s relationship with each other that is very surprising and is not well known by others through the course of creating her documentary. I really enjoyed this story as I love novels about powerful women, so I think a lot of people will enjoy this book as well. The cover is so beautiful and eye catching. I am looking forward to reading more of this author’s book.

I did not finish this book. While I enjoyed reading about their relationship when they were young, as they grew older, I discovered I no longer cared.

Various U.S. and World Locations - 1912 to Present Day

Born a week apart in 1912 in Manhattan, Doris Duke and Barbara Hutton were known to the public as "The Gold Dust Twins". Both inherited multi-millions of dollars at young ages. Hutton was the heiress to the Woolworth money, and Duke was a tobacco heiress. They were friends, and even ended up marrying the same playboy! While Duke was a savvy businesswoman, Hutton was known for her partying and lavish lifestyle.

Emily Radetsky, a filmmaker, is hoping to produce a documentary about famous women and the jewelry that they accumulated. She is well aware of the stories surrounding Betty Hutton and Doris Duke, and is helped in her research by an old friend of her father's, Oliver Wendell Shaw, who was especially close to Doris Duke. It is through Ollie that Emily learns of the games the women played on the press and the public. And she learns of the jewels the women bought without thinking of the cost. Emily learned of the life-long friendship between the women, and how one would help the other when life got tough.

THE LAST AMERICAN HEIRESSES moves from one era to another as it follows the sometimes chaotic society events that the two friends lived through. Doris Duke, fun loving, but also a serious, thoughtful woman, versus Barbara Hutton, unpredictable, sometimes careless, they nevertheless were loyal to one another. An interesting and detail oriented book, THE LAST AMERICAN HEIRESSES is a must read for anyone curious about the lifestyles of the rich.

Such an interesting fictional story about Doris Duke and Barbara Hutton throughout their lives. It’s clearly sanitized, from what little I know about Doris Duke (there’s only a scant mention of Bernard the butler who, by most accounts, defrauded her throughout the end of her life (there IS a fabulous line though where he is described as “stranger than Jesus in a sundress”) and next to no mention of the girl she adopted then renounced), so I assume the same is true of Barbara Hutton. Also, the book reads as if the two had a lifelong friendship, and perhaps they did; I’m certain they connected, but I have some caution after reading SCANDALOUS WOMEN all about a friendship between Jackie Collins and, oh, what is her name, author of VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, I’ll have to come back an edit it, when the two never even met each other.

The story is centered in the present day by Emma Radetsky, a filmmaker who is researching then making a film about wealthy women and their jewelry collections (which is, sadly, a movie I would like to see, but one maybe people shouldn’t be funding when there are stories to be told about the war in Ukraine? I don’t know. I digress.). She has the great good fortune to meet the absolutely delightful Oliver Wendell Shaw, one of Doris’s great friends in life and also a friend of Barbara’s and he has lots to share with her. The author does a fine job making Shaw a character unto himself, not just a hanger-on to Duke.

The book is a very sympathetic look at both women, especially Duke, which is not that surprising considering the tone the author took in his recent book about the friendship of Truman Capote and Lee Radziwell. I have to admit I’m a sucker for these sorts of books and this author does it well…sign me up in advance for his next one. Listen, you’re going to know if this is your thing or not, and if it is, you’ll enjoy this…for whatever truth may or may not be here.