Hello Friends,

I’m happy to have this time to chat with you because I’m introducing a new post to my blog. I’m calling it “Reflections”.

Like many of you, I am a life-long book-lover. I loved writing my Charli book series and I hope to write a new series in the future, but for now I am in book heaven, reading and reviewing as many books as I can.

I try to post many of the books I have enjoyed right here on JenaBooks. But, in my zeal to share So.Many.Good.Books, I’ve missed the opportunity to share a bit of me with you. I stopped my slice-of-life Stay Golden posts and now I’d like to get back to some personal blogging.

So, I’m combining books and my personal musings in this new post format, “Reflections.” The book part of this blog will feature an in-depth look at a book that truly engaged me. In this first post, I have added some historical material, as well as sharing my review, advance praise for the book, an Amazon link and information about the author.

And I will also be including some of my thoughts. In today’s Reflection, I have been thinking about “Palm Trees”. My husband and I recently spent two sun-filled relaxing weeks in Florida. On our daily swims and walks, we remarked at the variety of palm trees and I decided to make friends with them. (My “Reflections” banner features palms!)

I learned that palm trees are not trees. Scientifically they are classified as plants, actually herbs. Boasting over 2,500 varieties, palms have been around through most of recorded history. Some palms varieties can grow over 100 feet. Palms really can survive the force of a hurricane.

Do you like to vacation in a warming sunny clime? Well, you may want to visit Palm Beach- the subject of the book I read and want to share with you.

Here it is!

When it was completed in 1902, the New York Herald proclaimed that Whitehall, Henry Flagler’s Gilded Age estate in Palm Beach, was “more wonderful than any palace in Europe, grander and more magnificent than any other private dwelling in the world.” Today, Whitehall is a National Historic Landmark and is open to the public as the Flagler Museum, featuring guided tours, changing exhibitions, and special programs.

Flagler Museum.us

Praise for Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago, and the Rise of America’s Xanadu:

“The author of Last Train to Paradise tackles a topic that Palm Beachers know all too well: Mar-a-Lago. Standiford chronicles how the cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and her husband E.F. Hutton built the Gilded Age mansion that is now dubbed ‘The Winter White House.’”―Palm Beach Post

“Standiford returns to the Floridian territory of the rich and famous that he chronicled in his biography of Henry Flagler, but this time the author will likely attract even more readers with the newly relevant Mar-a-Lago . . . Recounts the epic struggle of the ultrawealthy to transform what are now known as Palm Beach, Boca Raton, and Key West into a previously unimaginable enclave for conspicuous consumption.”―Kirkus Reviews

“Mar-a-Lago immediately conjures references to Donald Trump. However, this detailed social history of Palm Beach, Florida, reveals that Mr. Trump is only one of the many celebrities, political figures, and mega-rich entrepreneurs associated with this exclusive enclave . . . This is enjoyable social voyeurism for those who hanker after tales of the rich and famous, past and present.”―Booklist

“A readable history of the wealthy Americans who developed Florida for their vacationing pleasure . . . This chronicle focuses less on the personalities of the rich and famous and more on land acquisition and building, about which Standiford writes effortlessly . . . Will appeal to those interested in business history.”―Publishers Weekly

“A Florida tale always has unpredictable turns, and Les Standiford has the craftsmanship to guide us through in an utterly engaging way.”―Mark Kurlansky

“Hubris and gilded dreams are good subjects for Standiford, who has previously written about Henry Frick and Andrew Carnegie, among others; he artfully captures small moments while maintaining the historian’s broader view . . . Like Mulholland’s aqueduct, the book covers a lot of ground while moving along in episodic but dramatic fashion.”―New York Times Book Review, on Water to the Angels

“[An] incredibly timely book . . . A powerful―and beautifully told―story of hubris, ingenuity, and, ultimately, deepest tragedy.”―Erik Larson, author of Dead Wake, on Water to the Angels

“A refreshingly engaging tale.”―Los Angeles Review of Books, on Water to the Angels

“Oozes with tales of back-room corruption and opportunism . . . Unearths some new archival nuggets along the way.”―Miami Herald, on Water to the Angels

“Masterful . . . Standiford has a way of making the 1890s resonate with a twenty-first-century audience.”―USA Today, on Meet You in Hell

“Standiford tells the story with the skills of a novelist . . . A colloquial style that is mindful of William Manchester’s great The Glory and the Dream.”―Pittsburgh Tribune, on Meet You in Hell 

“A dramatic story . . . Les Standiford has a good deal of fun with it all.”―Washington Post Book World, on Last Train to Paradise

“A definitive account of the engineering feat that became known as ‘Flagler’s Folly’. . . A rousing adventure.”―Atlanta Journal-Constitution, on Last Train to Paradise

“This is a wonderfully told tale, a strange and compelling story about a strange and compelling part of the world. With sharp, evocative reporting, the book captures an era, the Florida landscape, and the very human dream of doing the impossible.”―Susan Orlean, author of The Library Book, on Last Train to ParadiseRead more

About the Author

Les Standiford is the author of the bestselling Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean, Water to the Angels: William Mulholland, His Monumental Aqueduct, and the Rise of Los Angeles, and Meet you in Hell: Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and the Bitter Partnership that Transformed America, among many other works of fiction and nonfiction. He lives with his wife, Kimberly, in Florida.

JENA’S REVIEW

Palm Beach, Mar-A-Lago, and the Rise of America’s Xanadu by Les Standiford
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have been bubbling over and entertaining my friends and family with scenes and stories from this wonderful fairytale history of Palm Beach. That’s all I’ve been talking about- so let me share my findings with you, my reading friends. The title of this book spotlights the places in Florida we’ll be learning about in author Les Standiford’s engaging non-fiction history. But in truth, this is a character driven book not a dry book about buildings and cities, and will we meet some characters!

When we think of Mar-a-Lago, we think of…Marjorie Merriweather Post. She built this iconic entertainment palace, but she wasn’t the first wealthy person to be beguiled by Palm Beach as we learn when Author Standiford takes us back to the beginning of what would become Palm Beach. Surprising to me, it hasn’t been that long ago since the playground of Palm Beach emerged from the Palmetto brush and mango trees. It was April of 1893 when Henry Flagler first came to the area. He was an energetic tycoon- he had partnered with John D. Rockefeller and made his fortune with Standard Oil. By 1895, Flagler had built the Royal Poinciana Hotel, and the famous Breakers hotel and with that, Palm Beach became a destination. He also built a railroad line, which before too long went to Biscayne Bay and Key West.

So who came on the railroad? Everyone on the Who’s Who list, every winter for “the season”. We are treated to many entertaining stories of the parties and society events, the food, clothes, entertainment and also the scandals on the beautiful island by the Atlantic Ocean. The book features stories of the rich and famous, but we also get to know entrepreneurs and architects, and even the workers who all helped bring the place to life.

While there are many fascinating people in the book, including Paris Singer the 23rd child of Isaac “sewing machine” Singer, no one can really top Marjorie Merriweather Post and her new husband E.F.Hutton (“when E.F. Hutton speaks, everyone listens.”). She was the heiress to the Post Company fortune, and to her credit, she was active in the company. For example, she pushed the purchase of Clarence Birdseye’s freezing company. MMP and E.F. built and furnished Mar-a-lago at a fantastic level. Again, to her credit in my mind, she believed money was to be used to benefit everyone, and building her enormous property during the Depression helped many workers, as did her years of charity benefits and the pleasure she gave to her family and friends at her welcoming estate. (Henry Flagler, the father of Palm Beach and Miami also was guided to develop the east coast of Florida from a desire to share a world he loved with many others.)

Time and tides always keeps rolling, and as MMP neared the end of her days she tried to find a way to keep Mar-a-lago going. Eventually the place was saved by Donald Trump in 1985. Of course he is now the President, and he gets very fair treatment in the book.

Beautiful Palm Beach lives on and I hope I have convinced you to read this riveting book about the people who created this lovely place. As you plan your next trip in Florida, think about Henry Flagler and what he created! His enormous Palm Beach home Whitehall is now a museum. I can’t wait to visit it and I am also eager to discuss this book with you. Do you have some Palm Beach memories?

Les Standiford is a well-known best-selling author. Like me, you may also have enjoyed his book and also movie, “The Man Who In ended Christmas”.

Thanks to NetGalley, Grove Atlantic and Atlantic Monthly Press for an advanced digital review copy. This is my honest review.

View all my reviews