To Live Happily, Live Hidden

This blog post has nothing to do with the current state of my health, directly, but I'd like to make the argument that reading does much to benefit one's health generally. So, I submit to you, a review of a book that just...surprised me: Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of the Great American Fortune.

I thought I would skim this book and send it on back to the library, but instead I found I physically couldn't put it down. I started reading from part of the intro out loud because I couldn't help myself. My husband interrupted: "Is this real?"

Yes, yes it is. Dear Hollywood, please option this story.

This is the story of Huguette Clark. More than that, it's the story of her father, how he came to be filthy rich, what happened to his money after he died, and what became of Huguette. She was his youngest child out of 9 (though two died young). She was from his second marriage and, it appears, wasn't very connected to her half-sisters and half-brothers from her father's first marriage. When Huguette's father died, he split his wealth evenly among his children, but this doesn't stop Huguette's cousins (generations removed) from falling all over themselves to claim their 'inheritance' when Huguette dies. Huguette eventually became a recluse--only speaking to others through phone calls (but never giving our her own phone number) and indirectly through others. She owned hilariously extravagant properties and collector's items (you know, just a Monet, Renoir or Stradivarius...). She was a closet philanthropist, handing out large sums of money easily to those close to her.

Her story is a twisted fairy tale, or, as the authors put it: "...the story of the Clarks is like a classic folk tale--except old in reverse, with the bags full of gold arriving at the beginning, the handsome prince fleeing, and the king's daughter locking herself away in the tower."

I particularly respected Huguette for, as it appears, choosing to live outside the spotlight. When her Renoir (valued at 10 million) was stolen and miraculously reappeared in someone else's home, she declined to sue to get it back just to protect her privacy. Her favorite French fable (which she could recite in THREE languages):

The Cricket

A poor little cricket

Hidden in the flowery grass,

Observes a butterfly 

Fluttering in the meadow.

The winged insect shines with the liveliest colors:

Azure, purple, and gold glitter on his wings; 

Young, handsome, foppish, he hastens from flower to flower,

Taking from the best ones.

Ah! says the cricket, how his lot and mine

Are dissimilar! Lady Nature

For him did everything, and for me nothing.

I have no talent, even less beauty;

No one takes notice of me, they know me not here below;

Might as well not exist. 

As he was speaking, in the meadow

Arrives a troop of children.

Immediately they are running

After this butterfly, for which they all have a longing.

Hats, handkerchiefs, caps serve to catch him.

The insect in vain tries to escape. 

He becomes soon their conquest. 

One seizes him by the wing, another by the body; 

A third arrives, and takes him by the head.

It should not be so much effort

To tear to pieces the poor creature. 

Oh! Oh! says the cricket, I am no more sorry; 

It costs too dear to shine in this world.

How much I am going to love my deep retreat!

To live happily, live hidden. 

Pour vivre heureux, vivons cache. 

When this book was published, Huguette's (greedy!) relatives were still contesting her will. She hadn't left a penny to them, but to those who kept her company and maintained her health on a day-to-day basis (who, frankly, also seem like greedy bastards). I'll be curious to see how this story ends. Are there really any winners after drawn-out, expensive legal battles? It pains me, though, to see Huguette get turned into a butterfly in the end, instead of remaining the cricket she clearly preferred.