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The Season
- A Social History of the Debutante
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
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Publisher's summary
Kristen Richardson, from a family of debutantes, chose not to debut. But as her curiosity drove her to research this enduring custom, she learned that it, and debutantes, are not as simple as they seem.
The story begins in England 600 years ago when wealthy fathers needed an efficient way to find appropriate husbands for their daughters. Elizabeth I's exclusive presentations at her court expanded into London's full season of dances, dinners, and courting, extending eventually to the many corners of the British empire and beyond.
Richardson traces the social seasons of young women on both sides of the Atlantic, from Georgian England to colonial Philadelphia, from the Antebellum South and Wharton's New York back to England. She delves into Jazz Age debuts, carnival balls in the American South, and the reimagined ritual of elite African-American communities.
The Season shares the captivating stories of these young women, often through their words from diaries, letters, and interviews that Richardson conducted at contemporary balls. The debutantes give voice to an array of complex feelings about being put on display, about the young men they meet, and about what their future in society or as wives might be.
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Little black dresses. Fake pearls. Jersey knit. Blazers. Ballet flats. Today - and for nearly the last hundred years - we all see some version of Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel every time we pass a woman on the street. But few among us realize that Chanel’s role in the events of the twentieth century was as pervasive as her influence on fashion, or how deeply she absorbed and then brilliantly reimagined the historical currents around her.
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An Unlikable Portrait
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The Cartiers
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Cartiers is the revealing tale of a jewelry dynasty—four generations, from revolutionary France to the 1970s. At its heart are the three Cartier brothers whose motto was “Never copy, only create” and who made their family firm internationally famous in the early days of the twentieth century, thanks to their unique and complementary talents.
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Wonderful Experience to Listen to This Story
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First Ladies
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Story
Betty Boyd Caroli's engrossing and informative First Ladies is an essential resource for anyone interested in the role of America's First Ladies. Caroli observes the role as it has shifted and evolved from ceremonial backdrop to substantive world figure. This expanded and updated fifth edition presents Caroli's keen political analysis and astute observations of recent developments, including Melania Trump's reluctance to take on the mantle and former First Lady Hilary Clinton's recent run for president. Caroli here contributes a new preface and updated chapters.
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Thorough
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The Queen and Di
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Quite one sided.
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Prince Albert
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- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
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Drawn from the Royal archives, including Prince Albert’s voluminous correspondence, this brilliant and ambitious book offers fascinating never-before-known details about the man and his time. A superb match of biographer and subject, Prince Albert, at last, gives this important historical figure the reverence and recognition that is long overdue.
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Well Worth Reading
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By: A. N. Wilson
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The Grandees
- America's Sephardic Elite
- By: Stephen Birmingham
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 13 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In 1654, 23 Jewish families arrived in New Amsterdam (now New York) aboard a French privateer. They were the Sephardim, members of a proud orthodox sect that had served as royal advisors and honored professionals under Moorish rule in Spain and Portugal but were then exiled by intolerant monarchs. A small, closed, and intensely private community, the Sephardim soon established themselves as businessmen and financiers. They became powerful forces in society, with some, like banker Haym Salomon, even providing financial support to George Washington's army during the American Revolution.
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Amazing American History - Jews Made a Profound Impact
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Self Made
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Overall
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The daughter of slaves, Madam C.J. Walker was orphaned at seven, married at 14, and widowed at 20. She spent the better part of the next two decades laboring as a washerwoman for $1.50 a week. Then - with the discovery of a revolutionary hair care formula for Black women - everything changed. By her death in 1919, Walker managed to overcome astonishing odds: Building a storied beauty empire from the ground up that would be run by four generations of Walker women until its sale in 1985.
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Please read the book and not rely on the Netflix series
- By Sweet Pea's Mommy on 04-27-20
By: A'Lelia Bundles
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Heiresses
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Heiresses: Surely they are among the luckiest women on earth. Are they not to be envied, with their private jets and Chanel wardrobes and endless funds? Yet all too often those gilded lives have been beset with trauma and despair. Before the 20th century a wife’s inheritance was the property of her husband, making her vulnerable to kidnap, forced marriages, even confinement in an asylum. And in modern times, heiresses fell victim to fortune-hunters who squandered their millions.
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Too much fluff
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By: Laura Thompson
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Martha Washington
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With this revelatory and painstakingly researched book, Martha Washington, the invisible woman of American history, at last gets the biography she deserves. In place of the domestic frump of popular imagination, Patricia Brady resurrects the wealthy, attractive, and vivacious young widow who captivated the youthful George Washington. And even as it brings Martha Washington into sharper and more accurate focus, this sterling life sheds light on her marriage, her society, and the precedents she established for future First Ladies.
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In-depth portrayal of a woman we all think we know
- By Clarence on 04-05-21
By: Patricia Brady
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The Mistresses of Cliveden
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- By: Natalie Livingstone
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden
- Length: 17 hrs and 8 mins
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Overall
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Story
Overlooking the Thames, the Cliveden mansion is flanked by two wings and surrounded by lavish gardens. Throughout its storied history, Cliveden has been a setting for misbehavior, intrigue, and passion - from its salacious, deadly beginnings in the 17th century to the 1960s Profumo affair, the sex scandal that toppled the British government. Now, in this immersive chronicle, the manor's current mistress, Natalie Livingstone, opens the doors to this prominent house and lets the walls do the talking.
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disappointed
- By Galina M. on 11-14-16
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No Stopping Us Now
- The Adventures of Older Women in American History
- By: Gail Collins
- Narrated by: Gail Collins, Tanya Eby
- Length: 13 hrs and 27 mins
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Overall
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Story
In her lively social history of American women and aging, acclaimed New York Times columnist Gail Collins illustrates the ways in which age is an arbitrary concept that has swung back and forth over the centuries. From Plymouth Rock (when a woman was considered marriageable if "civil and under fifty years of age"), to a few generations later, when they were quietly retired to elderdom once they had passed the optimum age for reproduction, to recent decades, American attitudes towards age have been a moving target.
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amazing
- By Elaine Sharon Davis on 06-09-20
By: Gail Collins
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Proust's Duchess
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- By: Caroline Weber
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
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Geneviève Halévy Bizet Straus; Laure de Sade, Comtesse de Adhéaume de Chevigné; and Élisabeth de Riquet de Caraman-Chimay, the Comtesse Greffulhe--these were the three superstars of fin-de-siècle Parisian high society who, as Caroline Weber says, "transformed themselves, and were transformed by those around them, into living legends: paragons of elegance, nobility, and style."
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Enthralling, entertaining and brilliant
- By Uli Baer on 01-14-19
By: Caroline Weber
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Jefferson's Daughters
- Three Sisters, White and Black, in a Young America
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Thomas Jefferson had three daughters: Martha and Maria by his wife, Martha Wayles Jefferson, and Harriet by his slave Sally Hemings. Although the three women shared a father, the similarities end there. Martha and Maria received a fine convent school education while they lived with their father during his diplomatic posting in Paris. Once they returned home, however, the sisters found their options limited by the laws and customs of early America. Harriet Hemings followed a different path. She escaped slavery — apparently with the assistance of Jefferson himself.
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Don't waste money on this book.
- By Amazon Customer on 02-17-18
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What listeners say about The Season
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amy Adams
- 03-29-20
I thoroughly enjoyed this book!
From beginning to end, this historical view of the debutante season was fascinating, a bit sad, and explained so much about so many women I have known in my life. Enjoy!
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- Etoile NEOhio
- 03-09-21
Fascinating!
Listened to the audio version and kept thinking, this should be required reading/ listening for anyone interested in Women's Studies, Feminism, Economics, Race Relations, or just Social History.
NOT a novel, but a written documentary of the history and value of female children on the cusp of becoming women.
I was taught that women had "no value" until we started claiming it for ourselves in the 20th century. This is actually incorrect. Daughters were marriageable commodities upon whom family fortunes could be rescued, lost, or enhanced.
Through the recitation of the history of court presentations, coming outs, debuts, and "charity" balls, this book documents the history of The Season and sheds light on Balls, Galas, and Debuts, in every age.
If you have any interest in social history or want a new perspective on class, feminism, or even race relations, read / listen to this book.
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- A.A.E.
- 06-08-23
Well researched, focused on origins, not much information about current debuntantes
Not exactly what I was excepting. The author seems to have done a great job researching the origins and history of debutantes/ the season. She tell the story over time, and in different countries. She does get in the weeds with specific debutantes, with personal letters. One thing that is felt was lacking was any detailed information about current debutantes and seasons. She only discussing the international debutante ball in NYC. I’d love to know more about if local balls are still happening across the US and England.
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- Gayblaze
- 11-30-19
As serious as the subject
which is not to be taken very seriously. Anecdotal, occasionally mildly amusing. The author actually confuses George V and George VI, which is pretty amazing considering how anglophilic her subject is. And the narrator consistently mispronounces W E B Dubois's name - in a putatively serious sociological history.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Megan Dorsey
- 12-14-19
Interesting Facts But Reads Like A College Paper
Had to make myself finish this one. I did learn things from reading (hence the two stars), but the interesting facts did not offset the hours spent slogging through what felt like a college research assignment. Most of the book reads like a literature review— any novel, newspaper, or documentary mentioning the society season included. It is sprinkled with a few of the author’s personal experiences written in such a way to make her unlikable— (I felt of out place without my own kid leather deb party gloves.) The attempt at cultural criticism is shallow (all examples of racially disparate balls ignored any northeast examples and tended to focus on the south.)
This book was a real disappointment.
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- pam
- 06-01-22
Boring
Slow and not interesting at all. This book was a big waste of my time.
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