Summary of Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan's The Glitter and the Gold

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 My family has its origins in the Netherlands. My grandfather, William H. Vanderbilt, had an unmerited reputation for indifference to the welfare of others. However, according to a friend of the family, Mr. Vanderbilt said, the public be damned.

#2 My grandmother, Maria Louisa Kissam, was the daughter of a clergyman of the Dutch Reformed Church. She had eight children, with my father being the second son. She was a lovely old lady, and all her grandchildren loved her.

#3 My mother, Alva Erskine, was descended from the Stirlings, and she had a strong personality. She was a born dictator, and she dominated events about her as thoroughly as she eventually dominated her husband and her children.

#4 My mother, Consuelo Yznaga, was a leader of New York society. She had many ambitions, including becoming a leader of society. She gave a fancy dress ball for the opening of her new house, 660 Fifth Avenue, on March 26, 1883.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jun 9, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822536197

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Insights on Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan's The Glitter and the Gold

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

My family has its origins in the Netherlands. My grandfather, William H. Vanderbilt, had an unmerited reputation for indifference to the welfare of others. However, according to a friend of the family, Mr. Vanderbilt said, the public be damned.

#2

My grandmother, Maria Louisa Kissam, was the daughter of a clergyman of the Dutch Reformed Church. She had eight children, with my father being the second son. She was a lovely old lady, and all her grandchildren loved her.

#3

My mother, Alva Erskine, was descended from the Stirlings, and she had a strong personality. She was a born dictator, and she dominated events about her as thoroughly as she eventually dominated her husband and her children.

#4

My mother, Consuelo Yznaga, was a leader of New York society. She had many ambitions, including becoming a leader of society. She gave a fancy dress ball for the opening of her new house, 660 Fifth Avenue, on March 26, 1883.

#5

I had a difficult childhood, and I was extremely hyper-sensitive. I was also extremely timid, and I suffered from a inferiority complex and a quick temper.

#6

I was born in 1884 in a house that my mother had built. It was a large ornate white stone house in the French Renaissance style. It was demolished after my father's death to make room for office buildings.

#7

I had a room of my own when I was old enough, and I spent it looking forward to the holidays. I was always made to recite poems in French, German, and English, and I was terrified by the sight of Mephistopheles in Faust.

#8

I had a very happy childhood at the house on Oakdale, Long Island, with my brother Willie and my sister Winifred. We spent the early summer and autumn months there, and I loved fishing and sailing.

#9

I had a very privileged life. I grew up on a yacht with a governess and three men friends of my parents’. I was expected to write an account of all I had seen, and I was terrified by the hundreds of bats that clung to the low ceilings.

#10

We went to Constantinople, and from there to Nice, where we spent the carnival season. We took part in the Battle of Flowers, and threw nosegays at passers-by. Springtime in Paris was beautiful, but the city had a special beauty that made my heart ache.

#11

I