Savage Grace — The True Story of Fatal Relations in a Rich and Famous American Family

這是一個被迷惑的上流家庭。《野蠻的優雅》是金錢、瘋狂、亂倫、弒母的悲劇改編自真實發生的故事，也是美國夢最陰暗的一角。

貴婦芭芭拉美麗、有錢又有社交手腕，先生風流，兒子則是英俊溫柔。這一切，人人稱羨；這一切，都是得來不易的。年輕時，憑著美麗的外貌，芭芭拉幾乎要踏上電影之途，但她卻選擇了努力上游向錢看齊。也終於，她攀附上權貴，擠身嫁入石油、塑膠、地產三財在握的富豪世家。然而，這一切，也都是易破碎的。習於玩樂與美色的先生，當然很快就對芭芭拉喜新厭舊。得不到丈夫歡心的芭芭拉，只好將全副心力放在兒子東尼身上，極盡的溺愛和保護。

《野蠻的優雅》的故事背景發生在歐美的大城市，紐約、倫敦、義大利與西班牙，故事中的主角也與當時歐洲名人有互動，作者也徹底研究了這個悲劇家庭的訪問、通信與日記，甚至還有就醫紀錄、監獄紀錄等等。絕對是一個真是犯罪小說，也揭露了世人最好奇的故事，所有最華麗、多金的生活。

A spellbinding tale of money and madness, incest and matricide, Savage Grace is the saga of Brooks and Barbara Baekeland -- beautiful, rich, worldly -- and their handsome, gentle son, Tony. Alternately neglected and smothered by his parents, he was finally driven to destroy the whole family in a violent chain of events.

Savage Grace unfolds against a glamorous international background (New York, London, Paris, Italy, Spain); features a nonpareil cast of characters (including Salvador Dali, James Jones, the Astors, the Vanderbilts, and European nobility); and tells the doomed Baekelands’ story through remarkably candid interviews, private letters, and diaries, not to mention confidential hospital, State Department, and prison documents. A true-crime classic, it exposes the envied lives of the rich and beautiful, and brilliantly illuminates the darkest corners of the American Dream.

Natalie Robins's books include Copeland's Cure, The Girl Who Died Twice, and Alien Ink. She lives in New York City.

Steven M. L. Aronson is the author of HYPE. A former book editor and publisher, he lives in New York City.