Recommended Reading.

     Sitting in Joanne's recliner one evening I glanced up at the bookshelf above the secretary. "What's that" I wondered as opened the glass door and pulled out a book with which I was not familiar. In it was an undated note to Joanne and also book notes dated October 2017, both from M.J.V. Did Joanne ever read the book? In October of 2017, Joanne was undergoing radiation treatments and in less than six months she was dead. It's very possible she never read it.
    The Last Castle: The Epic Story of Love, Loss, and American Royalty In The Nation's Largest Home, Denise Kiernan, is much more than the story of the Biltmore House. It also covers much of the history of The Gilded Age and major players in that milieu.  The ca.12 million that George Vanderbilt was worth in 1888, would be translate to ca.325 million today. So he built a house, with 250 rooms and 175,000 square feet, not to mention bought 100s of thousands of acres of forest, and, and.... The book is so much more than the house. George's wife, Edith, is the real heroine of the story in many respects. George's and Edith's descendants have been able to preserve the house against all odds.
    Several years ago I attended a week long theological conference as continuing education at Montreat Conference Center near Asheville, NC. Joanne accompanied me using the week as vacation and occasionally sitting in on lectures. During the week we drove the Blue Ridge Mountains and onto the grounds of The Biltmore Estate so I could see the house. Joanne had toured the mansion previously so we decided not to do it this time as ticket prices then were $50. per person. Perhaps had I to do over I'd spend the money. Reading this book would be great preparation for a visit,or, of interest for those who have visited but also of interest for all the ancillary information...well written, too.
    The book covers a significant length of time so characters with whom I found myself engaged were followed until their deaths. The reports of their deaths caused little pangs of grief in me which was a measure of my engagement in the story.

Takk for alt,

Al