The Last American Heiresses

A dazzling novel based on the real, ultra-glamorous lives of Doris Duke and Barbara Hutton, the public rivalry that defined them, and the secret bond that sustained them both, from the author of the acclaimed Such Good Friends.

The press dubs them ＂the Gold Dust twins.＂ Born within a week of one another in Manhattan in 1912, Doris Duke and Barbara Hutton both inherit unimaginable fortunes. By the time of their lavish coming-out balls, they are two of the richest women in the world. Barbara, heiress to the Woolworth millions, amasses seven husbands over her lifetime. Doris, meanwhile, has a sophistication and financial savvy that Barbara tries endlessly to emulate.

When filmmaker Emma Radetsky begins researching her new documentary about prominent women and their jewelry collections, she’s familiar with the lore surrounding both Doris and Barbara--the couture gowns, exotic homes, and romantic interludes--including sequential marriages to the same notorious playboy. And of course, the priceless jewels they acquire as easily as candy.

Yet delving into their backgrounds with the help of one of Doris’s closest companions, Oliver Wendell Shaw, Emma encounters a deeper story--of a private game to manipulate the media, and a hidden, life-long kinship between two complex women who understood each other as no one else could.

Interweaving past and present, filled with sumptuous details from an age of excess, Stephen Greco’s novel is also a mesmerizing story about the nature of celebrity and the transformative power of friendship.

Stephen Greco is a novelist, journalist, media executive, editor, dramatist and Executive Director of the Ferro-Grumley Literary Awards, which he co-founded in 1988. He is a regular contributor to the magazine Upstate Diary and has contributed as a feature writer and editor to numerous publications including Interview magazine, New York magazine, Air Mail, The Advocate, American Way, Art News, Dance Magazine, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Latina, the London Observer, Stagebill, and The New York Times online. He is currently the Editorial Director of InsideRisk, an immersive experiential event company, and his theatrical writing includes several works produced by the entertainment company and multimedia studio Giants Are Small. He previously served as founding Director of Content for Classical TV and is a frequent panelist and speaker on cultural and branding issues. Stephen Greco lives in Brooklyn, New York and can be found on Instagram at @StephenGreco.