Download or read book The LeBaron Secret written by Stephen Birmingham and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2015-12-01 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An aging California vintner is determined to protect her empire from a hostile family takeover and the dark secrets that could destroy everything she loves At age seventy-four, Assaria “Sari” LeBaron is still a force to be reckoned with. For decades, she has run the Baronet Vineyards, one of California’s largest and most successful wine producers, maintaining sole control even after a suspicious accident left her permanently crippled. And now, in her golden years, the formidable Sari refuses to relinquish power to her own children, a decision that has only served to increase tensions among her already emotionally damaged family members. But Sari’s ambitious son, Eric, is no longer willing to play a subservient role, and has begun working behind the scenes to take over the business, forming alliances within and outside the family in his effort to dethrone the unyielding matriarch. The most difficult fight of Sari LeBaron’s long and eventful life has begun; a heartbreaking struggle that will pit loved one against loved one and expose long-hidden secrets that could destroy both Sari’s business and her family. The LeBaron Secret is another riveting excursion into a world of privilege that Stephen Birmingham knows intimately. It is a breathtaking tale of secrets and lies, shady double-dealings, family skeletons, and the inner turmoil of the fabulously wealthy as only the bestselling author of “Our Crowd” and The Auerbach Will could tell it.
Download or read book The LeBaron Secret written by Stephen Birmingham and published by Sphere. This book was released on 1987 with total page 403 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Le Baron Secret written by Outlet and published by Random House Value Pub. This book was released on 1988-06 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A dramatic confrontation between Assyria LeBaron, matriarch of a family of wealthy vintners, and her sister-in-law Joanna, a N.Y. advertising executive, over the proposed takeover of the business by Assyria's son reveals a dark secret from the past
Download or read book America s Secret Aristocracy written by Stephen Birmingham and published by . This book was released on 2016-08-15 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides an inside view of America's oldest and foremost families--their clubs, estates, schools, sports, marriages, financial empires, and their way of life.
Download or read book America s Secret Aristocracy written by Stephen Birmingham and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2024-05-14 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An “entertaining and perceptive” history of America’s most exclusive families, from the Brahmins of New England to the Grandees of California (The Washington Post). America has always been a constitutionally classless society, yet an American aristocracy emerged anyway—a private club whose members run in the same circles and observe the same unwritten rules. Here, renowned social historian Stephen Birmingham reveals the inner workings of this aristocracy. He identifies which families in which cities have always mattered, and how they’ve defined America. America’s Secret Aristocracy offers an inside look at the estates, marriages, and financial empires of America’s most powerful families—from the Randolphs of Virginia and the Roosevelts of New York to the Carillos and Ortegas of California. With countless anecdotes about our nation’s elite, including interviews with their modern-day descendants, Birmingham presents colorful portraits that capture the true definition, essence, and customs of America’s aristocracy.
Download or read book Our Crowd written by Stephen Birmingham and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2015-12-01 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The #1 New York Times bestseller that traces the rise of the Guggenheims, the Goldmans, and other families from immigrant poverty to social prominence. They immigrated to America from Germany in the nineteenth century with names like Loeb, Sachs, Seligman, Lehman, Guggenheim, and Goldman. From tenements on the Lower East Side to Park Avenue mansions, this handful of Jewish families turned small businesses into imposing enterprises and amassed spectacular fortunes. But despite possessing breathtaking wealth that rivaled the Astors and Rockefellers, they were barred by the gentile establishment from the lofty realm of “the 400,” a register of New York’s most elite, because of their religion and humble backgrounds. In response, they created their own elite “100,” a privileged society as opulent and exclusive as the one that had refused them entry. “Our Crowd” is the fascinating story of this rarefied society. Based on letters, documents, diary entries, and intimate personal remembrances of family lore by members of these most illustrious clans, it is an engrossing portrait of upper-class Jewish life over two centuries; a riveting story of the bankers, brokers, financiers, philanthropists, and business tycoons who started with nothing and turned their family names into American institutions.
Download or read book The Sound of Gravel written by Ruth Wariner and published by Flatiron Books. This book was released on 2016-01-05 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times bestseller, The Sound of Gravel is the remarkable true story of one girl's coming-of-age in a polygamist Mormon Doomsday cult. “A haunting, harrowing testament to survival." — People Magazine “An addictive chronicle of a polygamist community.” — New York Magazine Ruth Wariner was the thirty-ninth of her father’s forty-two children. Growing up on a farm in rural Mexico, where authorities turned a blind eye to the practices of her community, Ruth lives in a ramshackle house without indoor plumbing or electricity. At church, preachers teach that God will punish the wicked by destroying the world and that women can only ascend to Heaven by entering into polygamous marriages and giving birth to as many children as possible. After Ruth's father--the man who had been the founding prophet of the colony--is brutally murdered by his brother in a bid for church power, her mother remarries, becoming the second wife of another faithful congregant. In need of government assistance and supplemental income, Ruth and her siblings are carted back and forth between Mexico and the United States, where her mother collects welfare and her step-father works a variety of odd jobs. Ruth comes to love the time she spends in the States, realizing that perhaps the community into which she was born is not the right one for her. As Ruth begins to doubt her family’s beliefs and question her mother’s choices, she struggles to balance her fierce love for her siblings with her determination to forge a better life for herself. Recounted from the innocent and hopeful perspective of a child, The Sound of Gravel is the remarkable true story of a girl fighting for peace and love. This is an intimate, gripping book resonant with triumph, courage, and resilience.
Download or read book The Polygamist s Daughter written by Anna LeBaron and published by NavPress. This book was released on 2017-03-21 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: My father had thirteen wives and more than fifty children . . . This is the haunting memoir of Anna LeBaron, daughter of the notorious polygamist and murderer Ervil LeBaron. Ervil’s criminal activity kept Anna and her siblings constantly on the run from the FBI. Often starving, the children lived in a perpetual state of fear—and despite their numbers, Anna always felt alone. Would she ever find a place she truly belonged? Would she ever be anything other than the polygamist’s daughter? Filled with murder, fear, and betrayal, The Polygamist’s Daughter is the harrowing, heart-wrenching story of a fatherless girl and her unwavering search for love, faith, and a place to call home.
Download or read book Shades of Fortune written by Stephen Birmingham and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2015-12-01 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the New York Times–bestselling author of “Our Crowd”: A novel of a powerful family, a cosmetics empire, and the dark secrets that could destroy both. Mireille “Mimi” Myerson took her grandfather’s struggling cosmetics company and turned it into an empire. But suddenly, as she prepares to launch a new perfume line, Mimi is faced with hidden threats at every turn. Her efforts to further expand the enormously successful Miray Corporation could be sabotaged from within by her own treacherous family, for there is a dangerous rot beneath the surface of the wealthy and aristocratic “Magnificent Myersons”: a dark tradition of lies, sexual perversity, and criminal activity that could undermine everything Mimi hopes to accomplish. With the discovery of her husband’s affair and the return of real estate magnate Michael Horowitz, her first and most enduring love, Mimi must determine whom she can trust—especially in light of the shocking revelations that are about to emerge regarding the birth of the Miray Corporation. In both his bestselling nonfiction (“Our Crowd”, The Right People) and fiction (Carriage Trade, The Auerbach Will) author Stephen Birmingham has demonstrated an unparalleled understanding of the ways of America’s extremely rich. This unique knowledge comes into glorious play in his blistering novel Shades of Fortune, a thrilling and unforgettable breakneck ride through the darkest passageways of wealth and success.
Download or read book The Wrong Kind of Money written by Stephen Birmingham and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2015-12-01 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A gripping novel of dark family secrets, bigotry, lust, and lies set in the world of the phenomenally wealthy The Liebling family is among the wealthiest in New York, but in the eyes of “old money” gentile aristocrats like the patrician Van Degans, they will always be lower-class Jewish nouveau riche—especially since it’s common knowledge that patriarch Jules Liebling built the powerful Ingraham Corporation from the profits he made selling liquor during Prohibition while in cahoots with dangerous mobsters. Jules is long dead and his widow, Hannah, runs the business with a tyrannical hand. Hannah is reluctant to turn over the reins to the heir apparent, her capable son Noah, despite the fact that she is now well into her eighties. But when Noah’s wife, Carol, meets Georgette Van Degan for lunch at Le Cirque, gossip circulates around Manhattan about a thaw between the families and, quite possibly, a partnership. As rumors fly, family skeletons on both sides are exposed, leading to jealousy, betrayal, and even violence. Author Stephen Birmingham explores the dark side of wealth, family, and privilege in The Wrong Kind of Money, brilliantly displaying his phenomenal storytelling skill along with his intimate knowledge of the lives of America’s aristocrats.
Download or read book The Rothman Scandal written by Stephen Birmingham and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2016-09-06 with total page 719 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Long-held and terrible family secrets threaten to destroy the Rothmans, New York’s premier publishing dynasty, in this witty and suspenseful novel by one of America’s foremost chroniclers of the wealthy.
Download or read book A Writer Writes written by Stephen Birmingham and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2022-11-15 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A memoir by the New York Times–bestselling author and longtime chronicler of America’s wealthy elite. Born in Connecticut in 1929 and educated at Williams College, Stephen Birmingham went on to create a literary niche with his numerous nonfiction works about New York’s—and the nation’s—upper class, particularly focusing on Jewish, African American, and Irish communities, as well as old-money WASPs. He also drew on his “intimate knowledge of the private lives of the rich and famous” to write bestselling works of fiction such as The Auerbach Will (The New York Times Book Review). In this book, Birmingham’s attention is turned to his own life, both personal and professional, allowing us to learn about the man who created such compelling portraits of glittering parties, exclusive addresses, and, in some cases, rags-to-riches sagas that epitomize the American dream—and the American struggle. In the end, his story is as fascinating as those of the aristocrats he documented. “When it comes to the folkways of the rich, the powerful, and the privileged, Stephen Birmingham knows what he’s talking about.” —Los Angeles Times
Download or read book The Right People written by Stephen Birmingham and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2015-12-01 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An enlightening and entertaining inside look at the lifestyles of America’s extremely wealthy from the bestselling author of “Our Crowd” It’s no secret that the rich are different from the rest of us. But the rich, as author Stephen Birmingham so insightfully points out, are also different from the very rich. There’s Society, and then there’s Real Society, and it takes multiple generations for families of the former to become entrenched in the latter. Real Society is not about the money—or rather, it’s not only about the money—it is about history, breeding, tradition, and most of all, the name. The Right People is an engrossing and illuminating journey through the customs and habits of the phenomenally wealthy, from the San Francisco elite to the upper crust of New York’s Westchester County. It is a marvelously anecdotal, intimately detailed overview of the lives of the American aristocracy: where they gather and dine; their games and sports, clubs and parties, friendships and feuds; their mating, marriage, and divorce rituals—a potpourri of priceless true stories featuring the Astors, Goulds, Vanderbilts, Vanderlips, Dukes, Biddles, and other lofty names from the pages of the Social Register.
Download or read book California Rich written by Stephen Birmingham and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2024-05-14 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “[A] downright intriguing history . . . chronicling of the creation of the Californian Dream.” —Los Angeles Times Since the Gold Rush, California has represented a land of opportunity for a special breed of American. Heading west in pursuit of sunshine, riches, and elusive dreams, the early mavericks of California set out to make their fortunes—and often succeeded beyond their wildest imaginations. Prospectors became oil tycoons, squatters became cattle barons, and farmers’ wives became grandees of a new rough-hewn society. In California Rich, Stephen Birmingham explores this fascinating social history, showing how the ruling class of California was born and how it evolved a lifestyle that continues to fascinate the world. Its colorful array of characters include: the despotic media mogul William Randolph Hearst; governor and railroad baron Leland Stanford; and real estate magnate James Irvine, who attended business meetings with an entire pack of hunting dogs. In exploring how these self-made millionaires acquired their money—and what they did with it—Birmingham sheds light on the customs and quirks of California wealth, and how the state came to symbolize the easy, opulent life that still entices seekers of fame and fortune today.
Download or read book Real Lace written by Stephen Birmingham and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2015-12-01 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Extraordinary true stories of the Irish in America, their remarkable rise from urban poverty, and the powerful dynasties they engendered Author Stephen Birmingham, who chronicled the rise of Jewish immigrants to extraordinary wealth and success in “Our Crowd”, now turns his attention to the Irish. Real Lace tells the colorful and fascinating true stories of America’s most renowned Irish-Catholic families. Scions of courageous, driven, and resilient men and women who escaped starvation during Ireland’s terrible potato famine in the mid-nineteenth century, they battled their way out of the slums of Boston and New York, overcoming prejudice and poverty to achieve great wealth, fame, and political power. Here are the remarkable tales of the Kennedys and Cuddihys; the astonishing rise and tragic fall of the McDonnells of Wall Street; thrilling yarns of Floods, Mackays, O’Briens, and other so-called Silver Kings of California; and unforgettable stories about brilliant, if not always scrupulous, Irish politicos who learned how to retain enduring power by perfecting the urban political machine. Birmingham’s enthralling history celebrates the pluck, blarney, and unshakeable spirit of a remarkable group of achievers.
Download or read book Carriage Trade written by Stephen Birmingham and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2015-12-01 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The suspicious death of a New York retail tycoon reveals dangerous cracks in a family’s foundation in this page-turning novel of wealth, jealousy, betrayal, and murder One of New York’s most elegant and exclusive retail establishments, Tarkington’s has been the preferred shopping experience of Manhattan’s elite for decades. But the unexpected death of founder Silas Tarkington has raised serious doubts about the future of the enterprise, and his daughter, Miranda, must weigh the pros and cons of continuing her father’s legacy. Then, at the reading of Silas’s will, disturbing questions arise about the tycoon’s past and suggestions of a dark, secret life threaten to tear the family apart. For Miranda; her elegant socialite mother, Consuelo; her estranged son, Blazer; and Diana, the fieriest and most recent in the late entrepreneur’s long line of mistresses, the truth could destroy much more than the family business—especially as it becomes more and more likely that Silas’s death was no accident. Author Stephen Birmingham has spent his career documenting the lives of the wealthy and powerful in his bestsellers “Our Crowd” and “The Rest of Us”. Putting his unique inside knowledge of the privileged world of the upper crust to excellent use, he has devised a thrilling story of money, power, deception, and treachery that will keep the reader eagerly turning its pages.
Download or read book The Tower of Love written by Stephen Birmingham and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2024-05-14 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Back at his family’s New England estate, a man finds a second chance at love—and a devastating truth—in this novel by the author of Young Mr. Keefe. At thirty-one years of age, Hugh Carey has ended both his marriage and his advertising partnership. With his life at loose ends, he’s returned to the family home in Connecticut—that imposing castle built by his grandfather—to take stock and start over. His mother is only too happy to offer her counsel, as she does for Hugh’s sister Patsy. But her reputation as the most effective woman since Lady MacBeth is well earned. Also delighted to have Hugh back is Edrita Everett Smith. She’s the girl next door—and the one who got away. As Hugh and Edrita reconnect, it seems that little has changed, and their old romance is ready to blossom again. But in this quiet, well-heeled suburb, nothing is as simple as it seems. As buried jealousies come to light and new schemes are hatched, Hugh will learn what it truly takes to forge his own path.