The Remarkable Rise of Eliza Jumel: A Story of Marriage and Money in the Early Republic - Hardcover

An engaging and thoroughly researched account of the spectacular rags-to-riches rise of Eliza Jumel. Meryl Gordon, author of "Mrs. Astor Regrets" and "The Phantom of Fifth Avenue"
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Oppenheimer vibrantly recreates Eliza Jumel s rise from poverty to affluence, skillfully peeling away generations of rumors about this intelligent and resourceful woman. "Publishers Weekly""

ideal for researchers, history fans, or general readers interested in women s history, gender roles, or 19th-century New York society. "Library Journal""

This book will appeal to a variety of readers. Those with a penchant for American history will enjoy the insights into the early years of the United States. Readers who thrive on stories about strong, independent women will find a kindred soul in Eliza Jumel. And those who think the court system is out of control will, no doubt, relish the tactics used by long-ago lawyers aggressively representing their client s interests. "The New York Journal of Books"
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[I]deal for researchers, history fans, or general readers interested in women s history, gender roles, or 19th-century New York society. "Library Journal""

an amazing true-life story, [a] meticulous and sprightly history, and ripe for a cable mini-series. Liz Smith, New York Social Diary"

A true story that needs no invention, "The Remarkable Rise of Eliza Jumel" is a vivid narrative of the sacrifices that a woman makes as she acquires and holds onto a fortune in early America. Bill Dedman, coauthor of the New York Times bestselling" Empty Mansions""

Readers who thrive on stories about strong, independent women will find a kindred soul in Eliza Jumel. "The New York Journal of Books""

Before Horatio Alger, there was Eliza Jumel. Her story has long been mired in mystery, scandal, innuendo, and outright fabrication. No more. Margaret Oppenheimer s deeply researched, trans-Atlantic biography moves Eliza Jumel from the shadowy margins to the central events of turn-of-the-nineteenth-century France and the United States. The Remarkable Rise of Eliza Jumel is just that a remarkable work of history. Timothy J. Gilfoyle, professor of history, Loyola University Chicago, associate editor, "Journal of Urban History"
"Ms. Oppenheimer recounts quotidian early-19th-century New York and imaginatively fills the gaps in the biographical record of that rare woman involved in financial affairs by invoking romantic literature and the ribald gossip of the day." "The New York Times" Move over Alexander Hamilton....Far from a steamy beach read featuring men in white wigs, this meticulously-researched tale paints a detailed and scholarly portrait of New York City and the way in which the city s growth provided fertile ground for the ambitions of its heroine. Untapped Cities

Presented in novel-like fashion, the book will appeal to all audiences. The narrative is punctuated with valuable information about cultural, economic, and political life in the US and France during that time, making it a useful primer on the era. "Choice""

Born Betsy Bowen into grinding poverty, the woman who became Eliza Jumel was raised in a brothel, indentured as a servant, and confined to a workhouse when her mother was in jail. Yet by the end of her life, “Madame Jumel” was one of America’s richest women, with servants of her own, a New York mansion and Saratoga Springs summer home, a major art collection, and several hundred acres of land. During her remarkable rise, she acquired a fortune from her first husband—a French merchant—and almost lost it to her second—notorious vice president Aaron Burr. Divorcing Burr amid lurid charges of adultery, Jumel lived on to the age of 90, astutely managing her property and public persona. After her death, a titanic battle over her estate went all the way to the United States Supreme Court—twice. Family members told of a woman who earned the gratitude of Napoleon I and shone at the courts of Louis XVIII and Charles X. Claimants to her estate painted a different picture: of a prostitute, the mother of George Washington’s illegitimate son, a wife who defrauded her husband and perhaps even plotted his death. Eliza Jumel’s real story—so unique that it surpasses any invention—has yet to be told, until now.