Showing results by author "Robert Goolrick" in All Categories

With the literary chops of Bonfire of the Vanities and the dizzying decadence of The Wolf of Wall Street, The Fall of Princes takes listeners into a world of hedonistic highs and devastating lows, weaving a visceral tale about the lives of these young men, winners all...until someone changes the rules of the game. Goolrick paints a magnificently authentic portrait of an era, tense and stylish, perfectly mixing adrenaline and melancholy.

When a wealthy man first meets his mail-order bride in 1907, he realizes this statuesque beauty is anything but a "simple missionary's daughter." But he doesn't know of her devious plan to leave Wisconsin as a rich widow. Nor does she know of the furious demons he longs to unleash during the lonely months of snowbound isolation.

It is the summer of 1948 when a handsome, charismatic stranger, Charlie Beale, recently back from the war in Europe, shows up in the town of Brownsburg, a sleepy village in the Valley of Virginia. All he has with him are two suitcases. Finding work at the local butcher shop, Charlie befriends the owner and his family. And it is through the shop that Charlie gradually meets all the townsfolk, including Boaty Glass, Brownsburg's wealthiest citizen, and most significantly, Boaty's beautiful teenage bride, Sylvan.

Diana Cooke was "born with the century" and came of age just after World War I. The daughter of Virginia gentry, she knew early that her parents had only one asset, besides her famous beauty: their stately house, Saratoga, the largest in the commonwealth, which has hosted the crème of society and Hollywood royalty. Though they are land-rich, the Cookes do not have the means to sustain the estate. Without a wealthy husband, Diana will lose the mansion that has been the heart and soul of her family for five generations.

Les Goolrick étaient des princes. Et tout le monde voulait leur ressembler. C'étaient les années 50, les femmes se faisaient des coiffures sophistiquées, elles portaient des robes de taffetas ou de soie, des gants et des chapeaux, et elles avaient de l'esprit. Les hommes préparaient des cocktails, des Gimlet, des Manhattan, des Gibson, des Singapore Sling, c'était la seule chose qu'ils prenaient au sérieux. Dans cette petite ville de Virginie, on avait vraiment de la classe, d'ailleurs on trouvait son style en lisant le New Yorker.

Winsconsin, automne 1907. Ralph Truitt, magnat local craint et respecté, attend, fébrile, sur un quai de gare enneigé. Ce train en retard renferme son dernier espoir. Après vingt ans de veuvage, l'homme a enfin décidé de se remarier et a placé plusieurs mois auparavant une petite annonce dans un journal de Chicago. Catherine Land a répondu. Se décrivant comme "une femme simple et honnête", elle est celle qu'il appelait de tous ces vœux. Mais les apparences peuvent être très trompeuses. Et l'épouse modèle cacher bien des secrets.

For one little boy, however, life had become anything but "normal." To all appearances, he and his family lived an almost idyllic life. The father was a respected professor, the mother a witty and elegant lady, someone everyone loved. They were parents to three bright, smiling children: two boys and a girl. They lived on a sunny street in a small college town nestled neatly in a leafy valley. They gave parties, hosted picnics, went to church - just like their neighbors. To all appearances, their life seemed ideal. But it was, in fact, all appearances.

Da Catherine Land, som har overlevet en traumatisk fortid ved at bruge sin intelligens og seksualitet, falder over en avisannonce fra en succesfuld forretningsmand, der søger efter en "pålidelig hustru", udtænker hun en plan hvorved hun kan udnytte hans rigdom og behov. Hendes nye mand, Ralph Truitt, opdager at hun har bedraget ham i samme sekund hun sætter sin fod i hans afsidesliggende hjemby. Drevet af blandede følelser og simpelt begær, gifter han sig med hende alligevel.

Diane Cooke, descendante d'une grande lignée, habite à Saratoga, une magnifique propriété de Virginie qui fait la fierté de la famille. Mais cette maison, comme son nom, est lestée par deux dettes abyssales. La première est financière, et le seul moyen de s'en acquitter est au prix d'un mariage. La seconde est plus profonde : le prestige des Cooke est bâti sur le plus sombre péché du Sud, l'esclavage. Et cette dette-là ne se rembourse que par une malédiction. La voici peut-être qui s'avance sous la forme du capitaine Copperton.