Archie and Amélie: Love and Madness in the Gilded Age by Donna M. Lucey

Final Rating: 2.8/5

Sadly, not the toast of my Gilded Age shelf

  This was not exactly the splendid carriage ride into intoxicating history that I was hoping for. I believe I found that unforgettable experience with Fortune's Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt (a title I highly recommend to anyone who is interested in the Gilded Age or all that glitters about history). Archie and Amélie: Love and Madness in the Gilded Age was more of a gossipy well-opinionated magazine article while Fortune’s Children takes you back and doesn’t let go with its sparkling narrative styling, Archie and Amélie occasionally accomplishes this entrancing way of sharing the past with the reader, especially in the beginning while introducing the massive family tree of John Armstrong "Archie" Chanler but completely loses that welcoming spirit as soon as the chapters of Amélie Rives appear. It quickly became apparent that the author absolutely detested Amélie Rives and it was very uncomfortable and irritating to read the liberally peppered passages of negative opinions and snide little commentaries that seemed to follow in the wake of any later fact about the southern belle or even a few more illustrious names from this era. I was seriously hoping when I picked this title up that I would be able to make my own mental pictures on personalities based solely on facts and non-biased evidence or research but this was not to be with Archie and Amélie: Love and Madness in the Gilded Age.

   Still I received a decent familiar portrait of the era I can’t stop reading about and there were chapters that held my full attention, mainly the passages about Newport, English Aristocracy and exclusive society circles or medical treatments etc. but I wish less biased attitudes, side thoughts on behavior and “it is supposed, we can only imagine, it is likely or possible” emerged throughout this work or that the middle and final chapters were as vibrant as the beginning. Such a shame, after reading and experiencing the Vanderbilt’s stories I wanted to find an equally impressive read about the Astors. Perhaps I will try in the near future A Season of Splendor: The Court of Mrs. Astor in Gilded Age New York, it looks very promising.

-purchased and read on kindle