---
product_id: 40897067
title: "The Glitter and the Gold: The American Duchess—In Her Own Words"
brand: "consuelo vanderbilt balsan"
price: "32355CFA"
currency: XOF
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.sn/products/40897067-the-glitter-and-the-gold-the-american-duchess-in-her
store_origin: SN
region: Senegal
---

# The Glitter and the Gold: The American Duchess—In Her Own Words

**Brand:** consuelo vanderbilt balsan
**Price:** 32355CFA
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** The Glitter and the Gold: The American Duchess—In Her Own Words by consuelo vanderbilt balsan
- **How much does it cost?** 32355CFA with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.sn](https://www.desertcart.sn/products/40897067-the-glitter-and-the-gold-the-american-duchess-in-her)

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- consuelo vanderbilt balsan enthusiasts

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## Description

The Glitter and the Gold: The American Duchess—In Her Own Words

## Images

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    Wonderful Read
  

*by J***T on Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2024*

It is a most interesting story from her own words.  I'm glad she did finally find happiness.  I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in a gilded age woman.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    Good read but a bit off
  

*by G***E on Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2013*

What I found interesting about this book was first the insight into so many "worlds" Consuelo was allowed viewing from talks with Winston Churchill to meeting the Czar of Russia to the endless requirements of being an "English" Duchess. She gives fairly detailed information on various aspects of her life. However, there are many illusions to moments that were considered vulgar, or distressing or disconcerting to her that she expects her readers to understand without any explanation as to why we should. Little anecdotes dot sceneries here and there and they have some meaning to her personally but no meaning to the reader.I also found that at the beginning of her book, she granted great liberalness of mind and generosity of heart to people she didn't find quite so agreeable. In her pages following her divorce and subsequent marriage to Jacques Balson, she's not quite so kind and spends a good two pages expressing her dislike of Edith Wharton as an example.Though she lived an incredible life and contributed much to her world and to those around her, it seems that she could never quite reconcile herself for being what she was and always would be, American and a bohemian at heart. Though a lady in many sense of the word as witness in her attempts to reign in some of her true feelings, she let them slip through at times and her husband was quite wrong in assessing her as lacking in any snobbishness. She had plenty particularly amongst her discriminations between various nationalities.All said, she was still an amazing person but it would've been far more entertaining to let her reader see more clearly the woman than the lady.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    A daughter of fortune, a servant to the under-served
  

*by F***E on Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2013*

This autobiography of the granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt chronicles the life of a daughter of fortune born in 1877 to William K. Vanderbilt of the New York Central Railroad empire.Consuelo describes her father as having a happy nature and disliking strife. Speaking of her mother, she tells of a woman with towering ambition, one who is combative and domineering. She once told Consuelo, "I don't ask you to think, I do the thinking, you do as you are told."One of the things Consuelo's mother told her was who she would marry. The Duke of Marlborough, whose family estate was Blenheim Palace, became the groom of this arranged marriage. With him Consuelo produced two sons, and after eleven years of strained relations she sought a legal separation. For several more years, Consuelo remained in England, and then following her divorce, remarried and moved to her second husband's native country, France. There, Consuelo and her husband, Jacques Balsan, enjoyed many happy years in Paris, on the Riviera, and in Saint Georges Motel. When France fell to Hitler in 1940, Consuelo and Jacques escaped to the United States where she regained her citizenship.This self-portrait of a privileged life reveals a woman deeply concerned about those less fortunate. Throughout her years in Britain and France, Consuelo championed many causes to benefit the poor, the working women, and children of the underprivileged.In 1913 she helped organize a conference to draw attention to the plight of poorly paid female workers. When World War I broke out, she helped the Women's Emergency Corps, a group of women who took over jobs of men sent off to fight. In 1916 she spoke on infant mortality, metioning the prevalence of venereal disease and its disastrous effects. As Honorary Treasurer of the Medical School for Women, she secured donations to establish and equip an extension of the Physics Department at the Royal Free Hospital.In France, her philanthropic efforts continued. She helped secure funding for a hospital for the middle class. After moving to Saint Georges-Motel, she established a children's sanatorium where children could recover from tuberculosis.Along with her philanthropic efforts, Consuelo maintained an active social life. While married to the Duke of Marlborough she hosted a shooting party which included the Prince of Wales on the guest list. Over a hundred guests were accommodated in the house.In France her social circle included ambassadors, archbishops, counts and countesses, renowned writers, artists, and prime ministers.The book contains many black and white photos of family members, homes in Britain and France, and artistic portraits of Consuelo and her family when she was a duchess.While the text is engaging and the eras and opulence described in terms that will never fail to impress, Consuelo's frequent inclusion of French phrases sans translation leave those illiterate in French in the dark as to the meaning.The autobiography ends with Consuelo's return to the United States at the start of World War II, but no information on how she spent the years between 1940 and 1952, the date of publication of her autobiography. She lived until 1964, dying when she was 87 years old. Evidently, she wrote no other books but this one.Further information on Consuelo and her mother can be found in Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: The Story of a Daughter and Mother in the Gilded Age, by Amanda Mackenzie Stuart, Harper Perennial, 2005The Glitter and the Gold: The American Duchess---in Her Own Words

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*Product available on Desertcart Senegal*
*Store origin: SN*
*Last updated: 2026-02-21*