I thought this was a very well written biography about Allene Tew. A very colorful woman with an interesting history. Granted I have never heard of Allene before this biography, but I now know more about her and I find her to be someone I can start doing my own personal research about. I love stories about these kinds of women who have gone through a lot of ups and downs their entire life, but still have some what a positive outlook on it. Allene was a young girl at 18 from Jamestown, VA who fell in love with a young rich man from Pittsburgh and eloped with him after she found out she was with child. This begins her journey to 5 husbands, two kids, two World Wars, and many different countries. Annejet van der Zijl, a Dutch author, did such a great job on the research and filled the book with a lot of American/World History.

The writing in this book did often feel rather dry. While I think it could have been more interesting, I definitely enjoyed the story of Allene Tew. The writing was well detailed and surprisingly something I wanted to keep reading about. I've never read anything by Annejet van der Zijl before but I'm definitely going to read more from her now.

If you've ever wondered whether Edith Wharton and Henry James were exaggerating about Old New York society--they weren't. This extremely well-researched book tells the life story of a woman whose life story seems beyond belief and would fit in the pages of a turn-of-the-century novel. Allene Tew survived and even prevailed through circumstances that would have broken many others. As others have noted, it is hard to truly feel close to her character, as we don't get a lot of direct dialogue from her, just phrases here and there from books she wrote. Still, I found this an interesting perspective on a time period I enjoy reading about.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a digital ARC.

This was a great journey into someone I didn't know a whole lot about. It's well written and informative.

An American Princess was an interesting true story of a woman with great drive and ambition to make the most of her life. Beginning in Upstate New York, and spanning Pittsburgh, NYC and Europe, Allene Tew brilliantly reinvented herself. This story was told in a factual voice, yet, was engaging and inspiring. Thank you NetGalley for the e-copy, all opinions are my own.

An American Princess: The Many Lives of Allene Tew is an interesting read. It was a little slow at times and I had a hard time to get into it. But it was worth a read.
Three stars.

I loved how detailed this story was, the descriptions really were what made this book for me. I would definitely recommend this to anyone that enjoys US history and wants a lot of detail.

I got a copy of this book thankfully to the author and publisher, in exchange for a fair review on NetGalley.
All the opinions are mine.
I was disappointed by the difference between my expectations from the title and the reality of the contents. The book is more a whole compilation of data about economics, buying and selling of houses, relations with the in-laws (from a very distant perspective), and different biographies of different people, than a true, vivid, lifeful tale of a life out of the ordinary. If, as a reader, you have never heard of the socio-economics of the USA between 1880-1930, if you don't know anything about WW1 in Europe and in Russia, then the book, like a textook, will provide detailed descriptions. If you already know and have read the Great Gasby, then, I wonder what you are going to learn. There is no dialogue, no vivid description or imagination. Everything is a synthesis from books and press articles. The title is explained at some point, but this is not a more vital element in the book.
Truth to be told, the author worked hours on this production, but this is not a biography, nor a textbook. Perhaps an account from a journalistic point of view, under several scopes.

There are so many reviews for this I can't add any value, so I'll just say this is a pretty good read. A bit academic in tone but still interesting.

I really appreciate the comp copy for an honest review!!

I must admit that i wasn't sure whether this book was a book that i would enjoy reading or not, but there are times when i like to read something a little different. So glad that i did read 'An American Princess' as i found it quite interesting. I have never heard of Allene Tew, but that could be because i don't know a lot about American history.

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my copy. This is my honest review, freely given.

Awaiting Amazon to approve my feedback.

“An American Princess, The Many Lives of Allene Tew” by Annejet van der Zijl is an interesting historical fiction novel. It is about the fascinating and remarkable life Allene Tew who lived during the end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. I enjoyed reading about Allene Tew. She was a beautiful and intelligent woman who became one of the wealthiest women in the US in this time.

Along well developed chapters, we follow Allene in her very busy life through US and Europe. She was married multiple times, experienced the grief and anguish of losing her children as well as she went through scandals of divorce. Despite the fact that her life was at times dramatic, she never lost her determination and she had never allowed her personal tragedies to limit her life or threaten the future.

Not only Annejet van der Zijl wrote an admirable biography of an American lady but she also described very well the society where Allen lived in. Descriptions of the time period were really interesting and informative. Actually the author drew a good picture of events that happened at that time: mass arrivals of immigrants to the US, pioneering families building American nation, the Gilded Age, the Spanish epidemic flu in 1918, the Great Depression of 1929 that led to financial crisis that changed millionaires into poor, WW I and WW II, etc.

The only disappointment was that sometimes there were so many details to the point that I was wondering what certain details had to do with Allen. Despite this issue, I think the book is well written.

I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction

Noun: The Gilded Age: is defined as the time between the Civil War & World World War I during which...

... the U.S. population and economy grew quickly, there was a lot of political corruption and corporate financial misdealings and many wealthy people lived very fancy lives.

If you enjoy reading about American pioneers and their immigration to America; the Gilded Age, or/and the Victorian/Edwardian eras, American Princess is the book for you.

A well-crafted, researched and interesting story about American girl from Wisconsin that was ahead of her time and a trail blazer.

Before there was Meghan Markle, Rita Hayworth , Grace Kelly, Princess Caroline Lee Radziwill , Queen Noor of Jordan there was Allene Tew.

Allene was married multiple times, experienced the grief and anguish of losing all her children. Went through the scandal of divorce but by 1945 she was one of the wealthiest women in the world.

She was a socialite , trend-setter and a world traveller before it was a thing. Her hobbies was buying and decorating houses and apartments from New York , Newport , Paris, Rome, and the south of France . She decorated them and then move on to collect something new.

I enjoyed reading about the life of Allene Tew , she is an interesting subject . In some ways, her life remicent to some of Edith Wharton book's characters and The Custom of the Country comes to mind.

#AnAmericanPrincess #NetGalley

Interesting! I had never heard of her before, but I’m glad I took the time to read this and get to know a fascinating woman a bit better. Annejet van der Zijl does a fine job bringing an unknown story to light.

An American Princess The Many

Lives of Allene Tew by Annejet van der Zijl is an amazing and engaging portrait of an American lady and the upper society where she lived in.
Born in Jamestown at the end of 1800s this city was famous mainly for woodworking, textile industry and for exporting large ice blocks for keeping at a cool temperature various foods. It was this one a little, big revolution.
Charles and Jenette were the parents of Allene.
Allene was born on July 7 1872 in Janesville, Rock County. She was the only child of this couple.
The destiny of Allene a girl ready to conquer the world thanks to her rebel character was at first Tod Hostetter. We speak of the upper class of New York City.

The one who monopolized the mundane life of New York, if I can use this expression was the powerful family of the Astors, in grade to saying who was in and who was out in their list (400 names) of absolutely acceptable rich and powerful, aristocrat people with which sharing feasts, business, or vice-versa the ones out, unwanted because in the past that families experienced problems: so unwelcomed. The family of Vanderbilt was in the black list, for example, although incredibly rich.

The family Hostetter made fortune selling a special potion, an herbal potion in grade of curing a lot of illness and pains. It was a big and lucrative success for the family. They mainly became rich because of this potion. In 1870s David, the dad of Tod sold a million bottles a year. Every year a free almanac of their society was available for everyone in every grocery store. Close to the Bible this one was the most important book that you could see in the American houses at that times. David left, when he died, a fortune of 18 million.

Tod was young, in love for Allene and it happened: Allene became pregnant and Tod married her. It was a secret marriage for let know to the family that he had choosen his wife.

The powerful family of Tod didn't appreciate this love-story and absolutely they didn't like at all the idea of this gold digger, who, according to their point of view, became pregnant for causing all this trouble at their family.

Unaccepted as couple, banned by the Astors, Allene and Tod re-created alternative clubs, alternative places where spend their vacations. We speak of people with an immense fortune and a lot of privileges.

Ted and Greta were their children; once Allene lost a baby, Verna. It was the day of the fourth birthday of Greta and Tod was devastated by this loss.
It was pretty common at that times to lose children also for a common flu but Tod didn't never recuperate, starting to adopt a dissolute life-style, losing a lot of money thanks to gambling and bad habits.
Vanderbilt after all said of inherited wealth: "It's a real handicap to happiness. It is a certain death to ambition as cocaine is to morality."

At the same time the elite of New York continued to celebrate with great and luxurious feasts. A democrat President was rejected for later choosing a republican one in grade to continue to keep things good for the elite and bad for the poorest ones.

But it was a big ball organized in 1897 that created a lot of polemics, although riches not touched by the protests.
Legend wants that the Astors opened the ball with this ditty: "When you Ain't Go No Money, You need Not to Come Around."

The terrible behavior of her husband Todd, brought Allene at a sad decision: she divorced from him. Tod anyway died pretty abruptly leaving her in profound costernation and sadness.

The second husband of Allene was Morton Nichols. He was 34 years when he met Allene.
It was a beautiful marriage at first. They traveled a lot but the union at the end was a fiasco and they divorced.

It's 1912: the Titanic hit an iceberg in the inaugural trip and sunk bringing with it the creme of New York. There were Benjamin Guggenheim, John Jacob Astor in that ship. This one was read by the elite of New York as a sign: a sign of new approaching disasters, a clear punishment for modern man's arrogance and presumption.

Anson Wood Burchard was the third and surely most beloved husband of Allene.
He loved her children (the second one detested them) he did all that he could for helping the family following also the children of Allene.When the first worldwwar started, Ted, a troublemaker at school decided to join the Aviation, as a pilot with great success.
Once, hit by the enemy, returned home. Allene, once understood that Ted wanted to return in the areas of war did all her best like also her husband for avoiding any danger. But it was impossible...
Ted died, and that same days, while they were still waiting for Ted's news, Greta died because of the Spanish flu.
Allene was devastated.
It was more than a trauma for her. Greta married a good man and they were ready for children. Now, everything, a future like a granny, a future surrounded by nieces and nephews, gone. Like also her role as a mother.

In the future Allene did her best for hiding the fact that she had had two children and once she was a mother. She tried all her best for being a mother for other children; helping the ones of her friends.

Abruptly, and because of a bad indigestion after a lunch attended at some common friends's house, Burchard died.

To Allen this one was a horrible shock, because this man represented to her the solidity she hadn't still known in the precedent unions.

While Henry Reuss started to become her fourth husband, the big crisis of New York City was approaching. The one of 1929.
Most people didn't have a roof anymore above their heads, and writes the author, "As Francis Scott Fitzgerald described the crisis-hit New York, stood the new Empire State Building, the tallest building in the world, empty- as thought to mock the megalomania and greed that had brought the city to its knees." The symbol of this crisis became the Empire, writes the author.

Allene decided of selling most of her estates.

She divorced by Ruess and her final husband was Armgard zur Lippe-Biesterfeld.

Allene died on 1955.

Wonderful book, written with joy, interest, enthusiasm and desire of sharing, it is a wonderful reading for everyone.

Highly recommended.

I thank NetGalley for this ebook.

Anna Maria Polidori

I love historical fiction. This was told from more of a true historical POV than a fiction POV but it works. Ms. Allene Tew was quite a character in her day and led an interesting a remarkable life. The fascinating thing in this book is to have the protagonist be a woman and for that time period, most of the powerful people were men. Hearing how a woman, who was clearly beautiful, intelligent and did not waste any time with men who were not meeting her needs is truly remarkable.

#AnAmericanPrincessTheManyLivesOfAlleneTew #NetGalley

An American Princess by Annejet van der Zijl is the fascinating true story of Allene Tew. Born to a pioneering family, she would grow up to be one of the most powerful people in the Gilded Age. I’ve always been fascinated with the Gilded Age, both with novels set in this time period and the architecture that remains from then. I was excited to read this book and learn more. Readers who love history will not be disappointed. This is a very good read. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

I kept seeing this title pop up on my Kindle Recommendations but never decided to read it until I saw the reviews on Goodreads. I'm so glad NetGalley allowed me to read this title! I loved learning more about Mrs. Tew and her life. The Gilded age has always fascinated me and being able to learn more about it in conjunction with viewing that time period through a woman's perspective was even better!

Vn der Zijl encountered Allene Tew while writing her dissertation about Prince Consort Bernhard of the Netherlands, and returned to her for a full biography. Tew, a townie daughter in Chautauqua, NY, eloped with a wealthy Pittsburgh quack medicine heir (who had a gambling and drinking problem) and eventually won over her snotty in-laws by leveraging the new Daughters of the American Revolution. When that marriage collapsed, she married (probably as a beard), a stockbroker who had been recently dumped by President Grant's grand-daughter. A third husband was a doting engineer crucial to the rise of General Electric, who stood by her as a son died in WWI air corps service and her daughter perished from the 1918 flu, but who died in 1927, just before the stock market crash dented her enormous fortune. A fourth husband, who offered European respectability and a ready-made set of step children, was German Prince Heinrich XXXIII of Reuss, who alienated Tew by becoming a Nazi, sending her back to the US with a sexy Russian bisexual ex-pat courtier in tow (who eventually became her next and final husband). Tew's presence in American and European social circles from the 1890s to the 1950s offers an outsider's view of the rise and fall of the American Gilded Age, European Lost Generation and post-war attempts to patch the upper class of the Atlantic world back together.

I usually avoid historical nonfiction but this book's premise sounded so intriguing I had to read it. It was a bit dry at times, but it would be impossible to make it less so since the subject of the book was not here to tell the personal details. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and strong female characters.

**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my review copy**

It was such an interesting time period. So many American heiress marrying broke royals! Allene Tew was one I'd never heard of so I had to learn her story. This didn't disappoint at all! Goodness she had a very busy and interesting life! I'm happy for my nice quite one. Money isn't everything.