The Last Castle by Denise Kiernan

The Last Castle: The Epic Story of Love, Loss, and American Royalty in the Nation's Largest Home
Denise Kiernan

2017

4/5 stars

The Biltmore House

The title of this nonfiction account implies that the book will be taken up entirely with George Vanderbilt, his grand North Carolina estate, the Biltmore House, and his marriage. That is, however, misleading.  Instead, Kiernan uses George Vanderbilt's experience building the house, the life of his future wife Edith Stuyvesant Dresser, their life together, and hers after his death as the jumping-off points for short discussions of other famous contemporaries, as well as local and world events.  There is a large amount of information on George and Edith, as well as their daughter Cornelia, but one needs to also be interested in America's Gilded Age, the Jazz Age, and the Great Depression to appreciate much of the book.  As I fall into that category, I enjoyed it tremendously.

I grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, home of the Biltmore House, and spent many hours visiting the house and enjoying the gardens.  As I've been interested in history most of my life, I had already done a good deal of research on the building of the house and the lives of the family.  Despite that, I learned new things about them and the history of Asheville.  I also gleaned many illuminating nuggets about the people and events that were also mentioned.

Kiernan's prose leans to flowery side, but the book was engaging, the facts presented well, and notwithstanding the broad span of data, it was informative and interesting.

Overall, I certainly recommend The Last Castle, with the understanding that the focus is not entirely on Biltmore and the family. but is much more wide-ranging.