2013 book by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr.
Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune is a non-fiction book by the American authors Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr., about the heiress Huguette Clark (1906–2011), daughter of the copper baron and United States Senator William A. Clark (1839–1925), one of the wealthiest men in the world at the time. The book chronicles the Clark family's involvement across much of American history, from a log cabin in Pennsylvania to mining camps during the Montana gold rush. 
"Empty Mansions" debuted at number one on "The New York Times" bestseller list for e-books and number four for hardcover books for the week ending September 14, 2013. It was on the "New York Times" bestseller list for 13 weeks and the "Los Angeles Times" bestseller list for 37 weeks. "Empty Mansions" also appeared on bestseller lists from "Publishers Weekly", IndieBound independent booksellers, National Public Radio, "The Wall Street Journal", "USA Today" and "Maclean's" magazine in Canada.
The film rights to "Empty Mansions" were optioned by Fremantle, which is developing a TV series with HBO, director Joe Wright, and screenwriter Ido Fluk. The book was optioned earlier by film and television director Ryan Murphy.
Overview.
"Empty Mansions" chronicles the life of Huguette Clark, the daughter of the wealthy copper industrialist William A. Clark. Clark was a controversial senator, builder of railroads, namesake of Clark County, Nevada, and the founder of Las Vegas. Huguette grew up in the William A. Clark House at 962 Fifth Avenue, the largest house in New York City. She owned paintings by Edgar Degas and Renoir, a Stradivarius violin, and a vast collection of antique dolls. During her life, she used her wealth to buy gifts for friends and strangers alike while quietly pursuing her own calling as an artist and guarding the privacy she valued above all else.
The book weaves together Huguette's seemingly charmed life through her personal history including possession of a first-class ticket and stateroom on the second voyage of the "Titanic" to the anxiety nine decades later of the terror attacks on 9/11. During the last 20 years of her life, Huguette lived in hospitals in New York City despite owning multiple homes and having a fortune worth more than $300 million.
Huguette's intimate circle of family members, including her infamous father and publicity-shy mother; acquaintances like her nurse who received more than $30 million in gifts; and the relatives fighting to inherit Huguette's fortune. The book contains more than seventy photographs, many never before seen outside of the family. "Empty Mansions" tells the story of a woman who has been described as the "last jewel of the Gilded Age".
Research.
In 2009, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Bill Dedman was looking at real estate in New Canaan, Connecticut, and came across a listing for an expensive home that had been unoccupied but maintained for nearly sixty years. From there he began research that led him to Huguette Clark and into American history that was still being lived out. After publishing his initial story on NBC.com, Dedman was led to Paul Clark Newell, Jr., Huguette Clark's cousin and one of the few relatives who had any contact with her. Together, Dedman and Newell (1936–2016) collaborated, combining Dedman's findings with years of family research by Newell, telling the tale of a bright, talented woman born into a family of wealth and privilege who voluntarily removes herself from the outside world to live a life of relative seclusion.
Translations.
Originally published in the United States and Canada, "Empty Mansions" has been translated and published in China, Brazil, and Italy, and also published in English in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries.
References.
 ;templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" / ;