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- The Sisters: The Lives and Times of the Fabulous Cushing Sisters
The Sisters: The Lives and Times of the Fabulous Cushing Sisters
Grafton, David. The Sisters: The Lives and Times of the Fabulous Cushing Sisters. First Edition. 1992. Book and dust jacket are both in very good condition.
Thus far, this is the only biography on the three sisters, Babe Mortimer Paley, Betsey Roosevelt Whitney, and Minnie Astor Fosburgh, who captivated mid-20th Century society with their brilliant marriages into the great fortunes of their era. From our perspective, it would be as if three sisters married Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos. What is most fascinating about the Cushings, however, is they were not the gold-diggers that this suggests. In fact, those in their circle celebrated them not for their marriages but for their good manners and kindness. This author makes no claim to be an armchair psychologist, but what he lacks in that regard, he makes up for in access, most noticeably in the third act of the sister’s lives, in which the highly publicized betrayal of family friend Truman Capote looms large. Nearly half a century after the Cushing sisters left center stage, there remains tremendous interest. A more in-depth biography will someday be written, but until then, this entertaining book is just fine.
“Babe’s social and economic status was perhaps the hook that helped her form her numerous friendships, but it was her caring and generous nature that kept them. She was as ready to give as to take comfort, and she was invariably thoughtful.”
--David Grafton