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Emily Post: Daughter of the Gilded Age, Mistress of American Manners
Laura Claridge
#UC2902
Hardcover, 525 pages; 2008
$30.00
 Members' Price: $25.50
In this first comprehensive biography of Emily Post, Laura Claridge's meticulous research and compelling narrative bring to life the inimitable "Mistress of American Manners." Born in 1872 to a talented architect father and a socialite mother, Emily Post grew up among the New York elite of the Gilded Age, consorting with families such as the Astors and the Roosevelts, the Morgans and the Vanderbilts. The bright, independent young girl with dreams of being an architect herself grew into a belle of society balls, marrying Edwin Post soon after her social debut. When the scandalous details of Edwin's infidelity became tabloid fodder, Emily weathered the very public divorce by focusing on her sons, dabbling in interior design, and concentrating on her writing. Her career as an author, of course, would culminate with the publication of Etiquette in 1922, which became a perennial bestseller (now in its seventeenth edition). Emphasizing that kind, thoughtful behavior, not birthright, were the hallmarks of "Best Society," Emily used her celebrity status to advocate for the less fortunate. Emily Post offers a fascinating lens through which to view a remarkable period of American history, from the 1870s to the 1960s.
(AG)
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